Sandies Head to Regional Quarterfinals

Grapeland Blasts Bosqueville, 83-59

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

CORSICANA – The Grapeland Sandies are headed back to the Regional Quarterfinals after they destroyed the Bosqueville Bulldogs to claim the Area Championship by a final score of 83-59.

Chants of “We Want Grapeland” greeted the Sandies before the tip-off and unfortunately for the Bosqueville fans, they got what they wished for as the Sandies opened the game on a 14-0 run and never let up.

Grapeland posted 23 points on Bosqueville in the first quarter and held the Bulldogs to 10. The Sandies were led by freshman BJ Howard who went off in the first eight minutes of the game. He dropped in 14 points on four shots from three-point land and a pair of free throws. Deco Bryant joined Howard in the three-fest with two of his own, to go along with a free throw for seven points in the quarter. Javion Joseph added a two from inside to round out the Sandies scoring in the period.

The Bulldogs’ first quarter points came from Zastan Madkins with seven and Jacob Jean with three.

Howard continued to bedevil Bosqueville in the second quarter. This time, however, he moved inside the arc to knock down nine points. Bryant continued to bomb away from outside the Corsicana zip code and dropped in another two three-pointers for six in the period.

Rick Frauenberger added a pair of free throws while Josh Ackley and Tyrin Wiley also broke into the scoring column with two apiece to make the score 44-23 at the break.

Bosqueville was led in the second quarter by Tyler Webb with eight points. Jean added another three while Madkins and Dalton Zander both made one of two from the charity stripe to close out the first half of play.

Up by 21 to start the third quarter, the Sandies never let up on the gas. While Howard was relatively quiet in the third quarter, he did manage to knock down a shot from behind the arc. Bryant picked up his slack with his fifth three on the night to go along with a pair of mid-range jumpers for seven points in the period.

Keizion Ashford got in the books with a trey, Frauenberger made a three-point play the old-fashioned way (a basket and a free throw) while both Joseph and Wiley had two apiece to bring the score to 64-41 after three periods of play.

The Bulldogs were paced in the third quarter by Webb with nine and Madkins with eight while Tanner Sepulveda converted one of two from the line to round out the Bosqueville third period scoring.

As the final period of play began, the Sandies could sense they were headed to the next round of the playoffs and kept their foot on the gas. Howard hit his sixth three-point shot to go along with a two for five points. Ackley and Bryant both had four, Ashford went for three, Austin Driskell hit a pair of free throws and Wiley added a free throw of his own to help give the Sandies the Area Championship by a final score of 83-59.

For the game, the Bulldogs were led in scoring by Tyler Webb with 19 points and Zastan Madkins with 16. Jacob Jean netted 12, Dalton Zander had seven, Tanner Sepulveda added three and Dylan Kenniger chipped in two to close the Bosqueville point production.

The Sandies were led in scoring by BJ Howard with a game-high 31 points. Deco Bryant also had a standout game as he dropped in 24. Josh Ackley and Keizion Ashford both knocked down six, Rick Frauenberger and Tyrin Wiley both had five, Javion Joseph had four and Austin Driskell closed out the Grapeland scoring with two.

Following the game, Coach Cannon Earp commented on the Sandies Area Championship.

“This was a special night. That was a good team we just played. They were district champions

and they have a bunch of good young players. (Bosqueville’s) Webb is something special so we had to be special tonight to do what we did,” Earp said.

On the play of BJ Howard, the coach commented, “He was phenomenal. I think he had 23 in the first half and ended the game with 31. He has the potential to be as good as he wants to be. It comes down to how hard he wants to work, but tonight, it all came together for him.”

“When we play like that as a group,” Earp continued, “and with him leading we have a chance to do some special things.”

The Sandies next opponent has not been determined as of press time.

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