The Denton boys basketball team walked slowly into the locker room at halftime with its heads down. It appeared the Broncos were on their way to their fifth loss in a row.

Lucky for them, basketball has two halves, as the Broncos overwhelmed Wichita Falls Rider after the break to win 66-56 on Friday night at the Purple Pit for a victory that could save their season.

“Very big win,” said Denton head coach Harold Jackson. “We needed this.”

Denton entered the second half down nine points, but its defense picked up and its offense got rolling to help avoid the home court letdown.

What was the difference?

“Easy question,” said Jackson, whose team trailed 34-25 at the break. “We increased our intensity and we increased our pressure.”

The key ingredients to the Broncos’ second-half surge were senior guard Desmond Taylor and sophomore forward Rodney Brown.

Taylor started stealing the momentum early in the third quarter when he scored six points in 48 seconds to help cut the lead to 36-32.

Then Denton (7-19, 4-5) slowly chipped away at the deficit thanks to its full-court pressure and easy transition layups.

After three consecutive free throws by Taylor, Denton found itself ahead 41-40 heading into the final period.

“We only held them to six points in the third quarter,” Jackson said. “That was what I am most impressed with. We really came out and responded well after halftime.”

Then the Broncos stole the show. Literally. Denton’s defense forced 10 turnovers in the final period to frustrate a tired-looking Raider squad, which was playing its second consecutive road game on back-to-back nights.

“We wore them down a little bit in the fourth quarter,” Jackson said. “They were tired and we executed and took advantage of their mistakes.”

The defensive pressure helped open up the offense, especially for Brown, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. He helped ignite and finish a 13-1 run midway through the fourth quarter to help the Broncos pull away.

Taylor chipped in nine points in the final frame to finish with 25 for the night. He and Brown combined to score 19 of Denton’s 25 fourth-quarter points.

“Those two were huge down the stretch,” Jackson said. “Anytime we needed a big shot, one of them would knock a big one down.”

Rider (10-17, 2-7) shot just 24 percent from the field after halftime and tallied 27 turnovers on the night. Christian Sager, who paced the offense with 14 points, led the Raiders in scoring.

The win for Denton keeps the Broncos in the playoff hunt. But their chances of getting past the regular season are still slim.

Denton is two games back from the fourth and final playoff spot, held by Guyer, with five games to go. Jackson said his team still has hope to reach the postseason.

“We are not giving up yet,” he said. “Anything can happen. That is for sure. We just have to take it one game at a time.”

Girls

Wichita Falls Rider 63, Denton 43

Rider used a big third quarter to hand Denton its 10th consecutive loss on Friday night at the Purple Pit.

The Lady Raiders outscored the Lady Broncos 24-7 in the third period to win 63-43 and remain in fifth place, one game back of The Colony for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Denton trailed by 11 heading into the second half, but the Lady Raiders went on an 18-5 run through the first four minutes of the third quarter to pull away for the win.

Denton is still winless in District 5-4A play and has lost 22 of its last 23 games.

“We just were outsized like we have been all season,” said Denton head coach Dennis Krishka. “It is getting tough to win out there.”

Rider (17-8, 5-6) had a big advantage from the free-throw line by hitting 22 of its 27 shots from the charity stripe. At one point, the Lady Raiders hit 15 consecutive free throws.

“We let them get to the line too many times,” Krishka said. “And they beat us at the line. How many times did we go to the line?”

Denton (3-26, 0-11) only shot nine free throws, hitting four.

“That is the bottom line right there,” he said. “That is a big difference. That tells me we didn’t play good defense and we didn’t do enough to draw fouls.”

The Lady Broncos are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and have only three more tries to pick up a league win this season. Their next chance is at The Colony at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

MATTHEW MUENCH can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address in mmuench@dentonrc.com.

Boys

Denton 66, Wichita Falls Rider 56

Rider    16        18        6          16        --         56

Denton 12        13        16        25        --         66

Rider (10-17, 2-7) – Gary Broussard 9, Christian Sager 14, Jared Brooks 10, Paul Mason 12, Landon Lane 5, Will Toliver 4, Jordan Gee 2.

Denton (7-19, 4-5) – Keyvin Moss 3, Lontel Johnson 1, Desmond Taylor 25, Deven Crockett 9, Rodney Brown 14, Chris Moore 8, Jonathan Strait 6.

Girls

Wichita Falls Rider 63, Denton 43

Rider    16        12        24        11        --         63

Denton 10        7          7          19        --         43

Rider (17-8, 5-6) – Jessica Jones 2, Samantha Hislop 18, Samantha Smith 19, Ashleigh Ballard 1, Katie Blount 3, Merquirtia Spigner 1, Lauren Haley 12, Lindy Larson 2, Ashley Zimpel 5.

Denton (3-26, 0-11) – Asia Jones 2, Makenna Wiedower 2, Domonique Clayton 4, Michelle Williams 5, La’neacca Brown 9, Briana Harvey 9, Jasmine Taylor 4, Natisha Pendarvis 8.