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Anderson coach Eric Swanson speaks to his team during a timeout at Burger Center on Jan. 31, 2026 in Austin, Texas. Anderson defeated McCallum 46-35 in a District 24-5A contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Colby Gordon\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not quite a stranglehold, but\u00a0Anderson tightened its grip<\/a> on the District 24-5A<\/a> boys title race Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Playing rival McCallum<\/a> roughly 24 hours after the game was postponed from Friday night due to water issues at the Knights’ campus, the Trojans used a stifling second-half defensive effort for a 46-35 win at Burger Center<\/a> to take a two-game lead in the district standings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe went in at halftime and knew our closeouts had to get better,\u201d said Anderson guard Ben Burris, who scored six of his seven points in the fourth quarter. \u201cWe were giving them too many open (3-pointers). So we just wanted to make sure we knew our personnel and fly around on defense, and that\u2019s what happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n After being tied 21-21 at the break, the Trojans allowed two points in the third quarter. They built a 39-27 lead midway through the fourth following Nick Briggs\u2019 3-pointer.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE PREPS:\u00a0‘District of doom’: Central Texas possibilities for UIL realignment 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Miles Rickards scored eight of his team-high 13 points in the second half as Anderson (15-15, 8-0) slowly took control. McCallum (12-13, 6-2) could never get on track offensively.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe started playing zone more, put pressure on their ball-handlers, got a lot of deflections and were wreaking havoc on their passing lanes,\u201d Trojans forward Zach Wallis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both teams had to adjust to the postponement. Saturday’s game took place on a court that has a different shooting backdrop and a much larger capacity than the typical high school gym. Anderson coach Eric Swanson, who used an 11-man playing rotation, held a 9 a.m. shootaround for his players, and Wallis said\u00a0the day almost felt like a postseason scenario.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was kind of tough showing up to the school, then learning we can\u2019t play and just having to turn around and go home,\u201d Wallis said. \u201cWe had a playoff game last year, so it was kind of set up like that, and we knew how it would go.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trojans fell behind 16-8 early in the second quarter, then rallied to tie the game at the break behind 3-pointers from Rickards, Will McElvaney and Jude McCharen. Anderson took its first lead after Damari Perkins opened the second half with a shot in the lane, and its defense made sure it never trailed again.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe kids responded in the second half and did a better job holding them to one shot and being done,\u201d Swanson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though the off-campus site and gym size took some of the heat out of arguably the Austin area\u2019s best rivalry<\/a> \u2014 “It wasn\u2019t as loud here as it would have been (at McCallum),” Wallis noted \u2014 the atmosphere was still solid. Both student sections swelled to more than 125 and provided jovial chants throughout the contest. And the parent\/community sections were just as big.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n