Sandiettes Keep On Rolling

Grapeland Defeats Slocum, 61-23

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – The second half of league play began on Tuesday night, Jan. 15 as the Grapeland Sandiettes welcomed the Slocum Lady Mustangs to town.

Between moving up to Class 2A, a coaching change, graduation and injuries, Slocum is having a down year – by their lofty standards – following back-to-back trips to the Class 1A State Semifinals. Before Tuesday’s game, the Lady Mustangs were 3-3 in district and holding on to the fourth and final playoff spot.

Meanwhile, the Grapeland Sandiettes are on quite a roll as they breezed through the first half of District 20-2A competition with an unblemished district mark of 6-0. That winning streak continued on Tuesday, as the Sandiettes kept on rolling with an easy 61-23 win over the Lady Mustangs.

As the game got underway, Slocum couldn’t seem to buy a basket as they only managed to put up two points on a Laney Lasiter shot.

The Sandiettes, on the other hand, were deadly accurate from the field as they opened up a 21-2 lead after the first eight minutes of play. Ragan Bowie knocked down two three-pointers as well as a two for eight points in the quarter. Teira Jones added six from inside, KeKe Harris netted four, Hannah Chipman had two and Kenya Woods closed out the Grapeland first quarter scoring by making one of two from the free throw line.

Both the Slocum offense and defense played better in the second quarter. Offensively they scored six on a Courtney January three-pointer, a Gina Lively two and a free throw from Gabby Skelton.

Defensively, the Lady Mustangs held the Sandiettes to just 12 points. Woods had four while R. Bowie, Chipman, Jones and Tatiyanna Bowie all had two as Grapeland took a 33-8 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Following the break, the Lady Mustangs found a little offense as January dropped in five while Jalyn Fletcher added four and Lasiter had two.

R.Bowie came alive in the third as she drained three, three pointers to pace the Sandiettes in the third. Chipman dropped in four and Jones added a pair of free throws as Grapeland pushed its lead out to 48-19 after three periods of play.

Slocum took a step backwards in the fourth quarter as they only scored four points on a pair of baskets from January and Jaidan Wickersham.

Grapeland slowed the tempo somewhat in the fourth as they began to milk the clock. T. Bowie paced the Sandiettes with four while R. Bowie, Chipman, Harris and Woods all had two. Jones closed out the Grapeland scoring with a free throw as the Sandiettes coasted to a 61-23 win.

On the game, the Lady Mustangs were led by Courtney January with 10 points. Jalyn Fletcher and Laney Lasiter both had four, Gina Lively and Jaidan Wickersham both had two and Gabby Skelton added one.

The Sandiettes were led by Ragan Bowie with a game-high 21 points. Teira Jones went for 11 and Hannah Chipman netted 10. Kenya Woods added seven, while both KeKe Harris and Tatiyanna Bowie chipped in six to round out the Grapeland point production.

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