Around the Rim in Anderson County – Dec. 18

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

EAST TEXAS – A the month of December hits the midway point, basketball has taken center court. The majority of teams have been on the road the past two weekends in tournament play. While some of the area teams have fared better than others, the Pool Play and Bracket Play has helped give some of the younger players some valuable experience as the season nears district action.

Since it’s Sunday, it’s time to take a look back at the week in Anderson County hoops.

The Cayuga Lady Wildcats started last Tuesday, Dec. 6 with a loss to the Slocum Lady Mustangs. Over the weekend, the Lady Wildcats took part in the Frankston Tournament and opened pool play with a 63-47 loss to West Rusk. Cayuga followed that up with a 48-35 win over Center but followed that up with back-to-back losses to Chapel Hill and Tenaha. Cayuga defeated Neches for seventh place in the tournament on Saturday and then opened district play in District 19-2A with a 62-16 win over Frost.

The Elkhart Elks started last week by falling to the Slocum Mustangs by a score of 69-59 on Tuesday, Dec. 6. On Thursday, the Elks opened play in the Crossroads Tournament. They were 0-3 in Pool Play and did not make the Bracket Play portion of the Tournament. On Tuesday, Dec. 13, the Elks traveled to Grapeland for a rematch with the Sandies and lost by a final score of 91-49.

The Lady Elks were also in the Crossroads Tournament over the weekend. On Thursday they opened with wins over Athens Prep and Robert E. Lee before dropping a game to Grapeland.  On Saturday, the Lady Elks took on the Crossroads Lady Bobcats in bracket play. They also lost to Eustace later in the afternoon to settle for 4th place in the tournament.

The Frankston Indians opened last week with a loss to the Oakwood Panthers and began to make preparations for their tournament shortly afterwards. On day one the Indians fell to Mount Pleasant JV and Tenaha. The Frankston woes continued on Friday as they lost to Neches and followed that up with another loss on Saturday to Onalaska. They also lost to Beckville on Tuesday, Dec 13 by a score of 56-50.

The Frankston Maidens started the week with a 39-25 win over Oakwood and followed that up with 44-29 win over Neches. On Friday, they defeated Hardin by a score of 36-34. They also defeated the Tyler Lee JV by a score of 41-40 before losing to Tenaha in the Championship finals. The Maidens opened district play in District 18-3A with a loss to the Westwood Lady Panthers on Tuesday, Dec. 13 by a final score of 49-36.

The Palestine Wildcats started off the week with a 59-36 loss to Center and then hit the road for the Great East Texas Shootout in Brownsboro.  They wound up in the consolation bracket of the tournament and defeated Van 45-40, La Poyner 57-53 and Bullard 66-36 to win the consolation side of things. They followed that up with a 65-56 loss to Brownsboro.

The Neches Tigers started the week on Tuesday with a win over Trinidad. On Thursday, they traveled to Frankston to compete in the Frankston Tournament and won their first three games by a wide margin. Unfortunately, the Tigers fell to the Westwood Panthers and suffered their first loss of the season by a score of 75-73. The Tigers were back to their winning ways on Tuesday, Dec. 13 as they defeated the Oakwood Panthers 82-72.

The Lady Tigers didn’t fare quite as well last week. The Lady Tigers defeated Trinidad on Tuesday Dec. 6 but struggled in the Frankston Tournament. Neches lost to Frankston and Arp on Thursday Dec. 8, but followed that up with a 50-40 win over Hardin on Friday. On Saturday, Dec. 10 they lost twice but got back into the win column on Tuesday, Dec. 13 with a 46-35 win over Oakwood.

The Slocum Lady Mustangs started last Tuesday, Dec. 6 with a 41-30 win over the Cayuga Lady Wildcats. On Thursday, they traveled to Centerville to play in the Centerville Tournament and wound up finishing third. The lady Mustangs defeated both Lovelady and Leon on Thursday of last week but lost to Buffalo in the tournament semis before defeating mart by a final score of   60-53. On Tuesday, Dec. 13 they played the Centerville Lady Tigers and defeated them by a score of 35-33.

The Slocum Mustangs opened the week on Tuesday with a win over the Elkhart Elks and then traveled to Centerville. They were 1-1 after the first day with a win over Anderson-Shiro and a loss to Hearne. The Mustangs defeated the Leon Cougars on Saturday but on Tuesday of this week they fell to the La Poyner Flyers by a final score of 55-21.

And last but not least, the Westwood Panthers opened the week last Tuesday with a win over the Lovelady Lions. They followed that with a loss to Tenaha but followed that with wins over Onalaska, Mount Pleasant and Neches. On Tuesday, Dec. 13, the Panthers fell to the Nacogdoches Dragons by a score of 55-44.

The Lady Panthers opened the week with a loss to the Lovelady Lions. They also lost to the Cushing GalKats by a score of 30-28 during the Frankston Tournament but defeated Neches to finish 2-3 in the weekend tournament. The Lady Panthers opened district play in District 18-3A with a win over the Frankston Maidens on Tuesday, Dec. 13 by a final score of 49-36.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

Similar Posts

One Comment

Comments are closed.