On Monday, March 6 the Judson Rockets took on the Hutto Hippos for the Semifinal round of the UIL Unified State Championship. 

To start the first quarter the Hippos won the jump ball, giving the Hippos the first possession. Both teams were trying to find their rhythm on the court. Senior Julius Calhoun was the first to make a bucket for the Rockets putting them on the board for three which hyped up the Rocket fans. Although the Rockets were making a statement by playing very defensively on the court only letting the Hippos score 5 points in the beginning, the Hippos seemed to find their rhythm and started to upset the Rockets. To finish off the first quarter Senior Julius Calhoun went up for two which was a great way for the Rockets to finish the first quarter strong. 

Going into the second quarter the Rockets did not let in so easily. With the Rockets playing so defensively it led to the Hippos being limited in what they can do on the court. Senior Gavin Harris went up for two which not only hyped up the crowd but also hyped up the bench. With 1:35 left in the second quarter, the Hippos took their first time out of the half giving the Rockets a chance to breathe. After the time out the Rockets and Hippos were both playing very competitively. The Rockets managed a way to overcome the Hippo’s defense which led to Senior Gavin Harris shooting for three which then put the Rockets in a three-point lead advantage. 

To begin the third quarter the Rockets came into the second half energized and determined to win this game. Senior Kavari Smith managed to find a way to the rim for two putting the Rockets in a five-point lead. As the clock ran down both teams’ energy started to die down. However, Senior Julius Calhoun picked the energy back up for the Rockets by floating the ball to the rim for two. With the Rockets being in the lead they stopped playing defensively which then the Hippos took advantage of. With 3:04 left in the 3rd quarter, the Hippos managed to take the lead by three. The Rockets were making many mistakes on the court which caused them to fall short in the third quarter. 

As the fourth quarter began The Rockets started to clean up all their mistakes on the court by playing smart and yet again defensively. Senior Gavin Harris went up for two which gave the Rocket fans hope that our boys would finish strong. After a steal, Junior Julius Calhoun went in for a deep three which tied the game 26-26 with 6:00 minutes left.  After many great offensive moves by the Rockets, they managed to lead this ball game once again with a score of 28-25. Which then caused the Hippos to call a timeout with 4:29 left in the fourth. As the clock ran down with 1:40 left the Rockets led by 4 points. With less than a minute the Rockets trailed by 1 making this game a nail-biting game to watch and a game that kept you on your feet. With a few seconds left the Hippos ended up getting fouled which then tied the ball game and sent the Rockets into overtime. 

Going into overtime the Hippos won the jump ball giving them possession first. The Hippos managed to score two on the Rockets but the Rockets responded with a floater for two by Junior Julius Calhoun. With 1:25 left in overtime the Rockets played very defensively and so did the Hippos which led to a tie-ball game with twenty seconds left. With only five seconds Junior Julius Calhoun went up to two, ending the game with a final score of 40-38 which brought joy to the Rocket fans. The Rockets advanced to the final round of the UIL Unified State Championship.

For the UIL Unified State Championship round the Rockets faced off against the Huntsville Hornets. With the Rockets beating the Hippos they had to play the Hornets right after. The Rockets seemed tired but managed to put up a great fight against the Hornets and ended up winning the UIL Unified State Championship title. The final score for the Rockets was 33-24 congratulations Rockets!