The Hallsville Bobcats defeated the visiting Whitehouse, 36-31, in a back-and-forth battle on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (Melenie McCullers/Marshall News Messenger)

In a back-and-forth battle between the Hallsville Bobcats (23-9, 9-5) and the Whitehouse Wildcats (7-19, 1-12), the Bobcats squeezed past the Tigers with a 35-31 win in Class 5A Region II District 10 matchup. 

The game started off as a defensive battle between the two squads. Neither team could get a shot to fall with Whitehouse starting off with a 6-5 lead. David Baliraine was able to get a pivot dunk against three defenders in and Cameron Bean hit a crucial three to help spark some energy heading into the second quarter. 

“I felt like we were going to take off this game but we would shoot ourselves in the foot. We’d make a turnover, have a defensive lapse and for whatever reason, we couldn’t get it going tonight,” said Coach Rusty Walker.

After starting off the game with some great looks but missed shots, Grayson Magestro shrugged off the slow start and scored seven points including a crucial three. 

“I felt like the last couple of games I’ve been shooting well. I just started off slow tonight but I tried to not let it affect me in the first quarter. I cam back in the second quarter and fixed my head and mindset and kept trying to get good shots up and stopped forcing them,” said Magestro. 

Baliraine continued to assert his dominance down low with four points in the paint and drawing a foul to get to the line. He finished with five points in the quarter. 

Bean capitalized the quarter with another critical three to give Hallsville a 20-16 lead heading into the half. 

“I’m in the gym working on my shooting. We didn’t have a good start so I knew I had to bring the energy off the bench. The threes helped keep us in the game,” said Bean. 

The whole second half for Hallsville was focused on playing some sort of keep away from Whitehouse. LV Williams hit two layups and Baliraine hit one for Hallsville to give them a 26-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

After some issues with jerseys and a lot of stoppage in play, the long fourth quarter came to an end. Hallsville took advantage of no shot clock and passed the ball around the perimeter for a few minutes. Whitehouse put pressure on Hallsville, forcing a few turnovers and scoring on them to put the game within arm’s reach. 

“We weren’t playing like we like to do so it got to the point where I told them that we had the lead so let’s see if Whitehouse would come out a little bit and they did,” said Coach Walker. 

A few buckets by Gabriel Moore and Baliraine and a total of five made free-throws, including a clutch one by Bean, helped secure the 35-31 win for Hallsville. 

“The free throw at the end, I got called for a lane violation so I only made one but I knew I had to make them. In a district ball game that we had to win [to advance to third place], losing could’ve changed the whole rest of the season,” said Bean. 

The game plan that Whitehouse came out with against a team like Hallsville is something Coach Walker admired. Their grit to almost take the upset in enemy territory shows a lot about a Wildcats team whose season is all but over. 

“You have to give credit to the other team. Whitehouse came in with a great game plan and they were trying to play the spoiler role and we have to be better then that,” said Coach Walker.

The senior leadership displayed by Magestro and Bean was critical to making sure Hallsville won this game. They did the little things, other than shooting, in the game like reassuring their teammates and making sure the energy was present at all times. 

“Being one of the older guys on the team, you have to keep everybody else in line and try and keep things together. We started getting in our own head and I knew I had to calm everybody down. We’re a senior led team with seven so I’m not the only one who does it but tonight I was one of those guys,” said Bean. 

“Even as something as little as a high five or checking on the guys to make sure the morale is boosted and not letting anyone get down on themselves was huge. Everyone was playing a bad game and it’s easy to start blaming others and start fighting but you just try and be your best especially with this team because it can get emotional. I wanted to keep everybody locked in for this game,” said Magestro. 

Coach Walker credits how his seniors really stepped up to make sure they could get this win. Knowing how important the game was and seeing his guys take their leadership role seriously helped him know his guys have each other’s backs. 

“Grayson, Cameron and the other seniors have done an amazing job for us this year on the court and on the bench. They’re been the glue for us and they brought the team together tonight. It wasn’t pretty but we pulled through and it counts in the win column,” said Walker. 

Up next, Hallsville heads to Nacogdoches (9-16, 3-9) and Whitehouse will host Texas High (13-11, 7-5) on Friday.