Houston County Holiday Tournament Recap

Bulldogs Take Title

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT/GRAPELAND – The Houston County Holiday Basketball Tournament got underway on Thursday, Dec. 27 with 14 teams competing for what is quickly becoming a very prestigious Tournament.  

The field was divided up into four pools: Pool A; Pool B; Pool C; and Pool D. Pool A consisted of: the Grapeland Sandies (2A); the Krum Bobcats (4A); the Onalaska Wildcats (3A); and the Van Vleck Leopards (3A).

Pool B consisted of: the Edna Cowboys (3A); the Fairfield Eagles (4A); and the Central Bulldogs (3A).

Pool C consisted of: the Baytown Lee Ganders (5A); the Elkhart Elks (3A); the Trinity Tigers (3A); and the Lovelady Lions (2A).

Pool D consisted of: the Bosqueville Bulldogs (2A); the Crockett Bulldogs (3A); and the Jefferson Bulldogs (3A).

Pool A and B games were held in Grapeland while Pool C and D games were held in Crockett.

On Thursday, Dec. 27 in Grapeland: Van Vleck defeated Onalaska, 66-53; Fairfield defeated Edna 65-60; and Grapeland defeated Krum, 59-55 OT.

In Crockett: Baytown Lee defeated Elkhart 85-41; Lovelady defeated Trinity 98-79; and Crockett defeated Jefferson 75-63.

Friday’s action saw the intensity ratchet up.  On Friday, Dec. 28 in Grapeland: Edna defeated Central, 50-47; Grapeland defeated Onalaska, 81-32; Krum defeated Van Vleck 64-52; Fairfield defeated Central 65-34; Krum defeated Onalaska, 79-48; and Grapeland defeated Van Vleck, 70-50.

In Crockett: Baytown Lee defeated Trinity, 95-51; Lovelady defeated Elkhart, 106-67; Jefferson defeated Bosqueville, 69-48; Baytown Lee defeated Lovelady, 106-79; Trinity defeated Elkhart, 64-59; and Crockett defeated Bosqueville, 83-33.

After Pool Play was complete, the teams were placed in three brackets – Gold, Silver and Bronze.

In the silver bracket held in Crockett, the semifinals matchups featured Lovelady taking on Jefferson while Krum took on Edna. Lovelady defeated Jefferson, 80-75, while Krum took down Edna, 66-38.

That set up a matchup between Lovelady and Krum in the early afternoon and it was a track meet as both teams raced up and down the court before Krum managed to pull away to defeat the Lions by a final score of 117-94.

In the Gold bracket, the Crockett Bulldogs took on the Baytown Lee Ganders. In a bit of an upset the Bulldogs handled the 5A Ganders and pulled away to win by 10 points, 56-46.

In the other semifinal matchup, the Grapeland Sandies took on the Fairfield Eagles. The game saw the Sandies jump out early and frustrate the Eagles with their trapping style of defense as Grapeland rolled to the 66-47 win.

The win by Grapeland moved them into the finals against Crockett. The game was close throughout the first half as the score was tied at 21 at the break.

Prior to the Championship, Fairfield and Baytown Lee played for third place and it was the Eagles who sent the Ganders back to Baytown smarting from a blowout loss.

The Bulldogs took control of the game in the third quarter as they outscored the Sandies 18-11. Try as they might, the Sandies could not make a comeback and fell to the Bulldogs by a final of 58-47.

Along with winning the championship, Crockett’s AJ Owens was named as the MVP of the tournament.

Congratulations to all the teams who competed and thank you for helping to make this year’s tournament a success.

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