The Jayton Jaybirds fell to the No. 1-rankedin-the-state and reigning state champion Texline Tornadoes 52–34 in the Region I-1A basketball tournament championship at the Texan Dome on the campus of South Plains College on Saturday.
Jayton (31–5) led the Tornadoes 19–18 midway through the second quarter. That lead lasted only a few seconds, however, as Texline answered with a Noel Lozano jumper, followed by an Elias Espino 3-pointer. The Tornadoes closed the final 2:30 minutes or the second quarter on an 8–0 run to take a 27–19 lead into halftime.
The Jaybirds spent the rest of the game trying to catch the Tornadoes.
Lozano, Texline’s 6-foot-5 post, was strong on both ends of the floor and for the game racked up a doubledouble with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tornadoes (33–3) are headed back to San Antonio’s Alamodome for the second time in as many years, as Texline looks to defend its reigning UIL Class 1A state championship crown. Texline was the only thing
Texline was the only thing standing between Jayton and a trip to the Alamodome for the state championship tournament. The Jaybirds had earned a trip to San Antonio for two of the three previous three years.
Texline, which does not play football, plays basketball from November to March, and after winning the state championship last March have been ranked No. 1 from November through March.
In the past decade one of three teams has always appeared at the 1A state basketball championship tournament in San Antonio—Nazareth, Happy and Texline.
Jayton’s state tournament basketball legacy is more recent, but is growing. Jayton made its first appearance at the state basketball championship in school history in 2019. At the Alamodome in 2019 Jayton defeated Nazareth, and was state runner-up to Slidell. In 2020 the Jaybirds won a trip back to the state championship tournament, where they lost to Slidell again, before state officials cancelled the tourney due to Covid-19 precautions.
Last year Texline defeated Jayton 57–55 in the regional semifinal, two games before the Alamodome state tournament.
The 2022 Jaybirds finished the season as undefeated district champions, bi-district champions, area champions and a regional semi-finals winner.
Jayton 9 19 28 34
Texline 14 27 38 52
J— Nathaniel Williams 11, Caleb Beck 6, Ben Blankenship 6.
T— Noel Lozano 22, Will Luther 13, Elias Espino 7. Records: Jayton 31–5; Texline 33–3.
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