Runnin’ Tigers open playoffs Saturday with Iowa Park

Jay Hinton

Glen Rose's Matthew Hammonds saves the ball from going out of bounds in Friday's season finale against Stephenville.

Glen Rose's Caden Schinagel rips down a rebound in front of a pair of Stephenville defenders on Friday night.

GLEN ROSE — The District 6-4A champion Glen Rose Runnin’ Tigers will open the Class 4A playoffs on Saturday at 6 p.m. when they meet Iowa Park at Mineral Wells High School.

The Runnin’ Tigers (24-2, 8-0) won the outright district title with a win over Brownwood on Feb. 9, and then beat Stephenville, 45-39, on Senior Night on Friday, to finish district play undefeated. The district title is the first in more than a decade for Glen Rose.

Iowa Park (10-15, 5-5) placed fourth in District 5-4A and enter the game after losing three of their last four games, while the Tigers have won nine straight games.

In the six-point win over Stephenville, Matthew Hammonds paced the Tigers with 18 points, while Kolton Mooney added 10 and Caden Schinagel added eight.

Glen Rose, who crushed the Yellowjackets, 56-36, on Jan. 26 in Stephenville, had trouble shaking them in the second go-round. They led by four at the end of the first quarter and just five at the end of the half.

Behind triples from Cross Arrington, Mooney and Hammonds, and two-pointers from Mooney and Schinagel, the Tigers increased their lead to seven heading into the final quarter.