Bulldogs Open District Play with Loss

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – The Crockett Bulldogs opened the district part of basketball season on Tuesday, Dec. 20 against the New Waverly Bulldogs. The Bulldogs in blue threatened to run away with the game in the first half, but ice-cold shooting from the floor in the third quarter doomed Crockett as the Bulldogs in maroon escaped with a 70-55 victory.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter as both Lucky Daniels and Keshaun Smotherman dropped in four apiece while Marcus Smith had three. B.J. Anderson scored two as did Harvey Stewart to make the score 15-10 in favor of Crockett.

New Waverly’s first quarter points were scored by Caleb Bell and Jamichael Williams with four apiece while Zeke Nixon netted two.

Crockett increased their lead in the second as they dropped in 13 to take a 28-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. Smotherman added four to his total and Marcus Shedd hit a three in the quarter. Drew Corry, Daniels and Stewart all had two to close out the first half scoring.

Quaddarrius Johnson led the way for New Waverly with five points while Nixon, Roman Pray and Ja’Keric Surgers all scored two in the second quarter.

After the break, the New Waverly defense clamped down on Crockett and held the visiting Bulldogs to eight points in the third quarter. Smotherman had four as Daniels and Derrick Sherman added two apiece.

Meanwhile, New Waverly poured in 22 points to overcome the seven point halftime deficit and take a 43-36 lead into the fourth quarter. Johnson scored nine for the home team. He was joined in the scoring column by Pray with five while both Surgers and Williams dropped in four.

The New Waverly defense kept the pressure up in the fourth quarter as they held the visiting Bulldogs to 19 while the home Bulldogs dropped in 29. Crockett was paced by Sherman with seven and Smotherman with five. B.J. Anderson had four while Daniels and Tyrese Anderson both scored two.

Williams led the way for New Waverly with 13 fourth quarter points. Bell dropped in six and was joined by four other New Waverly players with two points each as New Waverly defeated Crockett by a final score of 70-55.

Crockett was led in scoring by Keshaun Smotherman with 17 and Lucky Daniels with 10 points in the game. Derrick Sherman poured in nine, B.J. Anderson had six and Harvey Stewart had four. Marcus Shedd and Marcus Smith both had three, Drew Corry had two and Tyrese Anderson had one.

New Waverly was led by Jamichael Williams with a game high 21 points. Quaddarrius Johnson scored 16, Caleb Bell had 10, and Roman Pray dropped in nine while both Zeke Nixon and Ja’Keric Surgers scored six. Nikolas Silvis added two to close out the New Waverly scoring.

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