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Photos by Laura Skelding/Austin American-Statesman
Shaun Nixon (2) tries to get a shot up and over the Alamo Heights defense Tuesday night in San Marcos.

SAN MARCOS – Lake Travis could not lose until the little things got lost.
For more than two months, spanning 17 games, the Cavaliers kept finding ways to win. Heading into halftime ahead of Alamo Heights 37-26 in the regional quarterfinals Tuesday night, Lake Travis looked to be on its way to another victory. Then the confident Cavs (29-6) squad was thrown for a loss as they tried to slow down and pull the Mules’ towering big men away from the paint, but missed shots and turnovers turned to lost steam and that same confidence was nearly gone as Alamo Heights (32-2) came back to win 64-55 at San Marcos High School.
“We were very confident (at halftime) and we thought we kind of had it won,” senior Drew Nikolovski said, “but overconfidence hurts in the end … We were fired up at halftime, then we just couldn’t get some of the shots to go down.”
Alamo Heights roared back in the third quarter as Lake Travis scored just five points in the frame, and less than 30 seconds into the fourth quarter the Mules had climbed into a lead they would not relinquish.
The Mules boast three players standing 6-8, another at 6-5 and one more at 6-4, with a 6-foot point guard to boot.
“We can usually do that on other teams but they adjusted and knew what we were doing,” senior point guard Matt Tyson said. “There was a few mistakes – we didn’t drive it in in the second half, we kind of held it back and tried to slow it down a little bit, that might have been a mistake.”
The second half was a stark contrast to the first for Lake Travis.
Eight different Cavs scored in the first quarter as the Cavs took a 17-10 lead, and 11 different scored in the first half as Lake Travis made smart, quick decisions with the ball. On defense, the Cavaliers strength and smarts kept the Mules from utilizing their interior strengths.
Then, the Cavs scored just five total points in a sloppy third quarter, and Lake Travis never quite looked like the confident aggressor from the first half.
A noticeable difference out of halftime came as to start the third quarter Lake Travis intentionally let off the gas offensively and tried to run as much clock as possible before initiating the offense.
After shooting better than 50 percent in the first half while limiting Alamo Heights’ huge height advantage, coach Clint Baty and the Cavs dialed it back in hopes of their guard play winning out, but the plan backfired when Lake Travis could get into the paint but could not score through the Mules paint defense.
“Some people are going to say, ‘why’d you do that?’” Baty said of the delay-initiated offense in the second half. “Well, when we did we got just as good of looks as we did in the first half, we just turned the ball over a couple of times and let them back in it. We still got good shots.”
The Cavaliers led 39-27 with 7:05 to play in the third after a Luke Hutton leaner, coming on a drive through the paint against the drawn-out offense and the Cavs appeared to still have the advantage.
Bad decisions quickly plagued the Cavs with passes and shots deflected leading to multiple turnovers in succession. Alamo Heights still did not capitalize until scoring and getting a foul, then grabbing the rebound for a score on the missed free throw. A jumper later, the Mules were within two.
“We’re not going to shoot 60 percent from the field like the first half against that height, nobody does that for a whole game,” Baty said. “We got a basket as soon as we ran it, then we forgot what we did.”
Lake Travis did not score for nearly six minutes, until Jordan Manse had an offensive put back to give the Cavs a 41-39 lead with 1:21 left to go.
“There were a lot of little things,” Tyson said. “Every single little thing we had, that’s two points.”
It was tied 42-42 after three quarters, and that was as close as the Cavs would get to the lead again.
“They hit some shots, we couldn’t put the ball in the basket, we had a couple turnovers,” said Nikolovski, who would foul out near the start of the fourth quarter.
A familiar sequence put Alamo Heights up for good.
An inside score plus the foul put the Mules up two, and on the missed free throw Alamo Heights rebounded the ball and scored for a quick four-point lead not even 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.
A Collin Bowman 3-pointer put Lake Travis down 47-45, and though the long-armed Mules starting getting their hands on passes and blocking shots the Cavs kept Alamo Heights from getting on a big run. A second Bowman trey put Lake Travis within one again and in position to regain their edge.
The next offensive set went awry and Hutton was eventually called for a kick ball, and Dylan Lieck hit his first of two huge 3-pointers to give Alamo Heights a 53-49 lead with 2:57 to play. The Mules scored the next five points, capped by another Lieck long ball and it was 58-49.
Hutton sank two free throws and Manse made one of two to make it 58-52, but the misses from the stripe caught up to Lake Travis and Alamo Heights, which did not shoot much better at the line, closed out the win with four makes by one of the three 6-8 players, sophomore Ben Lammers (game-high 21 points), largely closing the door on the Cavs 2012 winning streak, and season.
“We were spot on on how to beat them,” Baty said. “We just didn’t get it done, but I’m sure somebody will do the same thing we just did. They’ve got height and ability, there’s no reason they probably won’t make the state tournament. I thought this was the regional finals I just told our kids we had to play it early.”
Neither team hit a 3-pointer in the first half, and the Cavs could not get going from the outside. Stefan Vidovic, Bowman and Manse led Lake Travis with nine points each, Hutton had six and Henry Castner scored five.
After not making the playoffs a season ago, Lake Travis graduates nine seniors from this year’s first-ever outright district champion team in Tyson, Nikolovski, Bowman, Garon Watters, Andrew Chavis, Will Cefai, Drew Allert, Thor Kristjansson and Austin Mueting.
Four juniors will be back – Sean Steffen, Manse, Vidovic and Castner, while the team also sports two sophomores in Hutton and Shaun Nixon.
“The two things that hurt the worst,” Hutton said, “I’m never going to play with the seniors again, it’s my last game ever with them and two, we can’t prove the critics wrong. No one expected us to win, the only people that did were in our locker room, and we dang well could have but we just came short.”
Added Nikolovski, “We didn’t make the playoffs last year and it was tough on all the seniors. This year, we won 17 straight and if we would have just won that 18th it would have been great, we would have probably went to the Drum (Frank Erwin Center, site of the state tournament). This was the best team I ever played with. I love everyone on it, love the coaches, love the managers, best season of my life.”
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In a four-game stretch, Jordan Manse scored 94 points as the district-champion Cavaliers kept racking up wins.
In the regular season finale that saw Lake Travis go undefeated in District 25-4A, Manse had just three points as Henry Castner had 11 points to lead the Cavs.
And in the 79-49 bidistrict playoff rout of Travis, Drew Nikolovski led the Cavs in scoring.
Before Manse’s scoring outburst, the junior had solid performances mixed in with a couple standout showings, yet it didn’t have as much to do with his performance as it did of his teammates’ outings.
Manse separated himself in the later going, but his 11.5 average isn’t too far above the second and third highest scoring players on the team – Stefan Vidovic at 9.8 and Nikolovski at 9.5.
Each has led Lake Travis in scoring at differing points in the season, but just as likely to top the leaderboard lately is Sean Steffen, or Luke Hutton, or even Garon Watters or perhaps Shaun Nixon come playoff time.
“Jordan sure has played well lately,” Lake Travis coach Clint Baty said. “He’s doing the things he needs to do to be successful. Any night it could be any one of the guys though, everyone is capable of having that big night in the flow of the offense.”
Study sessions brought the team together and the inner competition to become better is at a high intensity level at all times.
“They are very conscientious about grades but they’re not just players of the game,” Baty said. “A lot of them are students of the game. They study their opponent, watch film, study themselves. Most of them have a pretty good IQ out on the floor, as far as carryover it goes a long ways.
“When you are disciplined enough to balance academics and basketball at 4A level you’ve got a little discipline in your life – that is good.”
Both Matt Tyson and Nikolovski have been on the team for three years now, starting out as sophomores. They are part of the strong leadership that has the team playing unselfish and willing to find the hot-hand.
“The time they’ve spent out on the court it makes it tough for someone to key on one individual,” Baty said. “As long as our guys don’t get too selfish, it’s going to be hard for them to guard all of our guys really well. You just have a hard time putting out there on the floor all the time five great defenders. It makes it tough when you can have an offensive threat at every position on the floor.”
The ball touches everyone’s hands, and the five-man units rotate in seamlessly.
Though Tyson boats the team lead in assists at 94 (three/game), the Cavs never seem to have one player racking up the dimes as the team assisted on 450 of its 717 made field goals this season.
More than that, Baty relishes in the way the team has relished in taking roles, from setting a screen to knowing when to defer to each other and keeping an even-keep approach.
“That’s part of being a basketball player – you’ve also got to be humble enough to know, ‘hey, this guy over here is shooting better than I am; I need to get them the ball,” Baty said. “Those are the things that are disappointing as a coach that goes unrecognized when someone scores, but it could be the screener that got him open or it could be a great pass to give him time to do that or an unselfish guy getting it to his teammate to see if he can keep doing what he’s doing.”
Lake Travis closed district play with a very narrow win over Cedar Park, needing the last seconds of the ballgame to pull out the victory.
The Cavs tried to hold for the last shot with 45 seconds to go, but a miscommunication put the ball back in Cedar Park’s hands. The T’Wolves missed a shot to win it, and on the ensuing rebound, Vidovic was fouled and awarded free throws via the bonus. He made the first and connected on the second, and with no timeouts left, the T’Wolves missed a heave at the buzzer for a 45-43 Cavalier win.
“It was nice to get a close game like that right before you go into the playoffs so you can draw from that experience,” Baty said. “At this point in the season, it’s going to be all about execution and playing the full game, that full 32 minutes.”
Lake Travis will play Hays 7 p.m. at Canyon Lake High School.
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FISCHER— A late rally wasn’t enough for Lake Travis Friday night at Canyon Lake High School, as Lady Cavs fell to the NB Canyon Cougarettes, 55-51, in the Texas Class 4A Area playoffs.
Chamaya Turner’s free throw with 18 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Cougarettes (25-7), but it was the Lady Cavs’ remarkable comeback that was almost the story of the night.
Unable to match Canyon’s offensive production throughout the first half, the Lady Cavs (24-9) quickly fell behind and entered the third quarter trailing 38-29. The Cougarettes control continued into much of the quarter until, with 2:51 left in the period, the Lady Cavs began a Delaney Maberry-led drive.
Maberry, a sophomore point guard, ignited Lake Travis team trailing by 12 to a run which was created by lock-down defense and sheer competitive drive.
“(Maberry) said it at halftime — she wanted to make sure we had a good finish to this game,” Lake Travis coach Ted Dydalewicz said of Maberry. “She had committed to them that she would do everything, in her power, to get them a win.”
Maberry, who scored the final four points in the third quarter, took complete charge in the final quarter. After a Canyon layup to open the quarter, Maberry pushed the ball coast-to-coast on consecutive possessions and resulting in five-points in 20 seconds, including a powerful and-one layup.
“It meant a lot to me that my team was right there with me fighting hard,” said Maberry, who finished with 22 points, of her team’s late push. “I tried doing a little bit of everything there – driving, dishing and getting that 3-point play.”
Leading by five-points with 4:40 remaining, the Cougarettes began to stall on offense, hoping to calm the Lady Cavs momentum. After running off nearly a minute of game-time, Turner connected on a turnaround jumper.
Using her brute strength, as well as exceptional ball-handling abilities, Turner, Canyon’s junior swing-forward, totaled a game-high 26 points. However, in the second-half the Lady Cavs were able to do a better job of containing Turner, effectively holding their leading scorer to 10 points in the last half.
“We needed to key on her,” Dydalewicz noted of Turner’s ability. “Taylor (Dydalewicz) did a good job of shutting her down in the second-half, which helped us get back into the game.”
After an Abbie Mahlum jumper brought the Lady Cavs within four points, 51-47, senior Taylor Dydalewicz helped trap Turner in the paint, leading to a steal and a Kelsey Rause midrange basket.
Coming out of a Canyon timeout with 1:45 remaining and Lake Travis trailing, 51-49, the Lady Cavs again used suffocating defense to force the Lady Cougarettes’ Jackie Shaake into taking a wild shot. Lake Travis regained possession and quickly set up Kaci Eaton for the tying layup at 1:27.
With the game tied, coach Dydalewicz saw an opportunity to get the last shot by intentionally fouling Shaake, who would sink both free throws to add to her 13 points, giving Canyon a 53-51 lead.
The ensuing Lady Cavs possession would result in an Eaton miss and Turner rebound to virtually assure the Canyon win, as the Cougarettes finished the game at the foul line, making bonus attempts in the waning seconds to defeat the Lady Cavs, 55-51.
The Lady Cavs caped off one of the most historic seasons in program history— tying for the most wins in the regular-season and recording the highest winning percentage in a season. Regardless of the night’s outcome, the Lady Cavaliers have enjoyed a season that will never be forgotten.
“It means the world to me,” Taylor Dydalewicz said of her senior season. “I wouldn’t trade it for a second. Like coach said in the locker room, we’re like a family. We have a sister-bond, and we’ll always be sisters.”

The wins just keep on coming for the Lake Travis boys basketball team, the latest a 79-49 Class 4A bidistrict playoff victory against Austin Travis Tuesday at the Burger Center in Austin.
The Cavs, led by Drew Nikolovski’s 21 points and nine points each from Matt Tyson and Sean Steffen, burst away from feisty but outmanned Travis squad in the second and third quarters. The Cavs cruised home for their 16th win in a row, dating back to a loss to San Antonio Madison on Dec. 27. Lake Travis (29-5) has won 21 of its last 22 contests. Ten players scored for the Cavaliers.
A week of practice but no games left the Cavs a little off-kilter in the early part of the game, but they would not be denied, wearing down Travis with a relentless full-court press and an offense that – after a half to find its timing – showed patience and prowess in the lane.
“We might have been trying to play a little fast in the first half, but the plan was to take the game right at Travis and use our depth to wear them down,” Lake Travis coach Clint Baty said. “We have a lot of guys that produce well for this team, and we just need to keep after it and continue to improve.”
The Cavaliers will face Hays (a 47-33 winner over Kerrville Tivy Tuesday) in the area round 7 p.m. Friday at Canyon Lake High School.
Travis, the fourth-place finisher from District 26-4A, was led by Sylvester Kincheon’s nine points, seven of which came in the first half.
The two teams battled through an up-tempo but ragged quarter that saw a combined 14 turnovers as the Cavaliers forged an 18-14 advantage.
Nikolovski had five points in the period but neither team could pull establish a solid attack; the largest lead belonged to Lake Travis at 16-11 at the 1:54 mark when Shaun Nixon hit on 1 of 2 free throws.
The Cavs used their extensive depth to break the game open in the second quarter. Ahead 26-20 at the 4:50 mark, Lake Travis – with key 3-pointers from Matt Robertson and Henry Castner and a driving layup from Nixon – used an 11-2 run to close the half up 37-22. The Cavs forced 10 Travis turnovers in the period while committing just three.
“I was able to make some shots tonight, but I got the ball in places I could score, and the credit for that goes to my teammates,” Nikolovski said. “We might have been a little anxious at the start, but we knew we would get back on track and use everything we have to wear down Travis. Those guys played hard, but they got a little tired there when we made our run.”
Any doubt about the game’s outcome was dispelled in the third quarter, when the Cavs outscored Travis 26-9 and outrebounded the Rebels 13-4.
Nikolovski had eight points in the period – all in the first four and half minutes before Lake Travis sent in five fresh players to end finish the quarter. Steffen had back-to-back layups on the break after Travis turnovers as the Cavaliers roared to a 63-31 advantage after three periods.
“We feel like we can play even better but we’ll take this win and move on,” Nikolovski said. “We have had a good ride so far, winning 16 straight, and we will continue to take each game as it comes.”

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The Lady Cavaliers continue their run on to the area playoffs.
Taylor Dydalewicz set the tempo and Kacie Eaton swatted the opposition as the Lady Cavs beat the Travis Lady Rebels 64-43 in Tuesday’s bi-district playoff game at the Burger Center.
Dydalewicz scored 12 points in the first quarter helping Lake Travis jump out to an early lead against the fast-paced Lady Rebels (18-14).
“It’s always important to come out strong in the first quarter to let the other team know you mean business,” said Dydalewicz, who scored all 12 of her first quarter points in a three-minute span. “We came out strong in the first and kept the lead all game.”
In a first half that would set the game’s pace, Lake Travis took advantage of numerous scoring opportunities. The Lady Rebels quick-play became sloppy, leading to easy fast-break baskets for the Lady Cavs.
Having a comfortable 26-13 first-quarter lead was vital for Lake Travis.
“(Leading early) was something we talked about in the pregame,” coach Ted Dydalewicz said. “We knew we had to set the tone. It was a very strong first quarter… I was very pleased with the way we handled ourselves.”
The Lady Cavs’ momentum carried throughout the first half as six players scored in the second quarter, giving Lake Travis a 39-26 lead going into the final half of play — a lead that would be too much for the Lady Rebels to overcome.
“They’re spreading the ball around and everyone is getting a play in it,” coach Dydalewicz said of his team’s cooperative play. “That’s important, it’s kind of what we’ve been working on all season… we hope we’re at a point right now where it really helps to be able to do that.”
Taylor Dydalewicz added 10 of her team-high 22 points in the second-half, while junior Annick Morris added seven of her 12 points after the break.
To match Dydalewicz’ huge offensive performance, Eaton was equally as impressive on defense.
With 4:26 remaining in the opening quarter, Eaton (six points) stole the ball from Travis’ Michelle Marshall, sharply outlet the pass to Dydalewicz, and ran the floor to receive the ball back for an easy layup.
Eaton’s 6-3 presence in the paint forced the Lady Rebels to adjust their shots throughout the night.
“I kind of expect it because I have a huge height advantage,” said Eaton of her blocked shots. “It gives me a rush because, all of the sudden, the ball is mine and usually one of someone up-court is open.”
Marshall would finish with 27 points for the Lady Rebels.
With the victory, Lake Travis (24-8) will play New Braunfels Canyon High School, who defeated Kerrville Tivy, to set up the Lady Cavs’ third match-up of the season with the Lady Cougars (24-7).
Coach Dydalewicz is aware of the implications of going up against a team multiple times in a season, but is confident in his teams ability to prevail.
“It’s a game between two good teams. They have beaten us (51-39, Nov. 12) and we got the best of them at their own tournament (63-48, New Braunfels Canyon Tournament Championship Dec. 3).”
“It will be a great game.”
The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Canyon Lake High School.

DRIPPING SPRINGS — It was a record-setting night for the Lady Cavaliers Tuesday as they defeated Dripping Springs 50-36, capping off the best regular-season the Lake Travis girls basketball has ever seen.
With a postseason spot already clinched, Lake Travis coach Ted Dydalewicz, knew that Tuesday’s game was as important as ever, as multiple records were at stake to be broken or tied by the Lady Cavs (23-8, 7-4 District 25-4A), including the highest winning percentage in team history.
“The girls knew, going into the game, that we could tie with the school record for most wins ever,” Dydalewicz said of the squads’ historic season. “But more importantly, they knew that they could go into the playoffs with the best winning percentage in school history”
The Lady Cavs — who also tied the program record for wins in a season (23) — used the momentum gained from a dominant first half to propel them to victory against a Dripping Springs (14-18-1, 0-11-1) team that was unable to get a single district win with their inexperienced team.
Being the last game of the regular-season, Dydalewicz decided to start every, healthy senior — Kamaryn Ehlers, Katie Neuse, Kaci Eaton, Kelsey Rause and Taylor Dydalewicz, who is his granddaughter.
The group of seniors, excluding guard Taylor Kan, who was out with an injury, played the first four minutes of the game together, each leaving the court with a standing applause by the traveling crowd of Lake Travis fans.
“This group of young ladies will be very hard to see move on,” coach Dydalewicz said. “They learned a lot last year as juniors, without a senior on the team — and it’s showing in what kind year we’re having now.”
After relieving Ehlers midway through the first quarter, junior guard Abbie Mahlum exhibited one of the reasons as to why Lake Travis, despite losing six seniors after the season, will be a in the hunt again next year as well. Mahlum immediately drained a 3-pointer and totaled seven of the Lady Cavs’ 10 points in the period.
Mahlum finished the night with a team-high 15 points and junior Annick Morris pitched in with 10 points for the Lady Cavs.
However, Mahlum wasn’t playing for her own satisfaction, but rather that of her senior predecessors.
“I want to win for (the seniors),” said Mahlum of her play throughout the season. “I know it’s their last year, and I want to go out and give it my all for that group.”
Following a second quarter, led by post players Rause and Eaton, which gave Lake Travis a comfortable 31-21 lead, and the reality of the playing in their final games set in for the seniors.
“I felt like the win was deserved because everyone has worked so hard,” said the 6-2 Eaton, who had six points. “(The seniors) were all so excited to play together.
“We feed off each other so well, so obviously it’s going to be sad when it ends.”
Fortunately, for the Lady Cavs, the season isn’t over yet.
After clinching the district No. 3 seed, Lake Travis will play the Travis Lady Rebels (18-13) in the bi-district playoffs — a game that will test the Lady Cavs’ will.
Taylor Dydalewicz, who had seven points and considered it an “off-night,” said that their postseason matchup with Travis is going to be played as any other game would be.
“I expect it to be tough, just like any other game would be,” Dydalewicz said. “We’re going to go out with full intensity and give it our all. We’re not going to quit until the buzzer rings.”
However, coach Dydalewicz, who compared Travis with district opponent, Vandergrift, claimed that this season’s success is an indicator of things to come.
“Our record, the 15-game winning streak, the hardware — winning two (tournament) championships. These prove how hard we’ve worked this year,” Dydalewicz said of his team. “But we always seem to outperformed expectations.”
According to Eaton, however, one thing is clear as the Lady Cavs enter their highly anticipated playoff game.
Get a win.
“Coach told us in the locker room, ‘in the playoffs, you either win or go home.’ We don’t plan on going home.”
Lake Travis will play Travis 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Burger Center.

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We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Primed for the playoffs, the Lake Travis girls basketball team is planning to make a little postseason noise.
The Lake Travis girls basketball team topped Vandegrift 41-36 in the Lady Cavs last home game of the regular season, now the team waits to see who they will play in the bi-district round of the playoffs either Monday or Tuesday.
The Lady Cavs (22-8, 7-4) controlled the fourth quarter to snag the win against the Lady Vipers.
Delaney Maberry, Taylor Dydalewicz, Annick Morris and Kelsey Rause combined to score 34 of the Lady Cavs’ 41 points. Maberry topped the team with 10 points, while Morris, Dydalewicz and Rause scored eight points each.
To control their destiny and grab the third seed in district, Lake Travis needed that win over Vandegrift, and now the team is locked in and will face Travis in the bi-district round of the playoffs either Monday or Tuesday.
“It was huge, the girls knew their backs were against the wall and they had to have this one to get third place and secure a playoff spot,” coach Ted Dydalewicz said. “There weren’t any tactical changes, it was a matter of (saying), ‘look you’ve worked very hard and it comes down to the fourth quarter. You’ve got eight minutes left, if you want to get into the playoffs and secure the spot let’s see how much you want it.’”
Maberry scored six in the fourth quarter while she, Taylor Dydalewicz and Morris combined to go 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the final frame.
“It’s the first time they’ve made the playoffs as a group, and it’s just another legacy they can leave,” the coach said.
Lake Travis will have its hands full in the paint against Travis, as the team sports two physical post players that can control a game, similar in style to district foe Vista Ridge.
“They’ve got two big scorers, both happen to be post players,” coach Dydalewicz said. “I feel like we’ve been tested on that. Teams like Vista Ridge were able to work us hard, so it won’t be anything to catch us by surprise. We’re just going to have to be ready to play.”
Heading into the regular season finale at Dripping Springs Tuesday, Feb. 7, the Lady Cavs had a chance to set some new school records for the girls basketball program.
With a win, the team would have the highest winning percentage in program history, and the 23rd win of the season would tie them for the highest mark in team history.
“We’re very excited about that,” Dydalewicz said. “We want to finish on an up note, finish with the best winning percentage in the school’s history with a win. It’s just another milestone this group of young ladies ought to be able to be proud of.”
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