COLLEGE STATION Four Permian Basin teams got off to strong starts Thursday at the Texas State 7-on-7 Division III Championships at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
All four qualifiers — Wink, Crane, Alpine and Van Horn — each won their opening games before finishing a combined 2-2 in the second games.
Pool play was completed late Thursday due to a 2½-hour weather delay in the area. The final two games of pool play were cut down to 30 minutes from the regular 40 as a result.
In Pool E, Wink defeated Electra 40-12 and edged Comfort 49-41. The Wildcats fell to Bremond 27-19 and finished third in the pool after losing the head-to-head tiebreaker.
In Pool F, Crane beat East Bernard 31-14 and took down Rogers 20-13 in Game 2. The Golden Cranes edged Tenaha 14-13 in their last pool game to finish as the top seed.
In Pool G, Alpine cruised past Buffalo 34-19 in its opener before falling to Dublin 26-13 in the second game. The Fightin’ Bucks defeated Eldorado 42- 26 to finish second in the pool at 2-1.
In Pool H, the Van Horn Eagles got their state tournament debut off on the right foot with a 33-12 win over Ganado. The Eagles found things a bit tougher in the second game, falling to Daingerfield 27-7. Van Horn closed the pool strong with a 28-7 win over Albany.
After pool play is completed, all 32 teams will be divided into a single-elimination knockout bracket based on the pool standings.
In the first round of the bracket, Wink will face Tidehaven. Alpine faces off against Ballinger, Crane takes on Van Horn faces Flatonia. All games are scheduled to start at 8 a.m.
The tournament will eventually be cut down to two teams facing off for the championship at 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.
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