Looking Back

The 1989 Grapeland Sandiettes

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – During the 1980s, girls’ basketball in Grapeland was a site to behold. The year 1980 saw the Sandiettes make it to the Regional Finals, while the 1981 and 1982 seasons ended in the State Semifinals against the eventual state champs from Hardin.

From 1983 until 1987, the Sandiettes were in the playoffs every year and brought a certain swagger with them wherever they played

The 1987-1988 basketball season, however, was a spectacular one for the Grapeland Sandiettes. Sadly, it ended in heartbreak as they fell to the Godley Lady Wildcats, 60-58, in the UIL Class 2A State Championship.

The next year, the Sandiettes rebounded and were back in Austin to battle for the state title once again. In the State Semifinals, the Sandiettes defeated the China Spring Lady Cougars, 64-55. That win set up a championship showdown with the Abernathy Lady Antelopes.

Led by Trenia Tillis’ 25 points and 18 rebounds, Grapeland took the lead in the second period of play and never looked back as they won the 1988-1989 UIL Class 2A State Championship. Tillis was named as Tournament MVP while Lane Brown and Victoria Smith were named to the All-Tournament Team.

As another group of young Sandiettes prepares to make a title run, we celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the only girls’ state basketball championship in Grapeland and caught up with some of the members of that 1989 squad.

After the abrupt departure of Coach Don Tullos prior to the 88-89 season, Coach Chuck Bailey took over the program.

“I’m looking at the state championship medal as we speak,” Bailey said. “We were very talented all the way through. It wasn’t a situation where we only had five strong players. All of them were good ball players and good students.”

The Sandiettes breezed through the regular season and into the playoffs, the coach recalled, but ran into a wall at the Regional Finals.

In that game, the Sandiettes lost three starters to foul trouble and had to resort to “… intentionally fouling onevery play and hope that they would miss a shot. Fortunately, they did. Almost all of our points in the fourth quarter came from the foul line.”

Grapeland defeated the Edgewood Lady Bulldogs, 53-51, to advance to the state tournament in Austin.

Once they hit the capital city, the Sandiettes were ready to play, Bailey said.

Following a 64-55 win over the China Spring Lady Cougars in the state semis, Grapeland faced the Abernathy Lady Antelopes in the state title game.

“Abernathy probably had the most experience and offered us the biggest challenge at the state tournament,” he said.

The Sandiettes fell behind in the first quarter but came storming back to win the state championship by a final of 54-47.

Asked to describe the feelings he felt as the final seconds ticked off the clock, Bailey said it gave him a huge sense “… exaltation as far as saying we did what we intended to do. All the hours of hard work had paid off. It wasn’t a case of unfinished business but rather a case of do what you are capable of doing and do what you have been doing all year long.”

As the conversation concluded, Bailey said he was simply “… at the right place, at the right time and with the right bunch of girls. The fans were always supportive of Grapeland basketball.”

One of the integral parts of the championship team was guard Lane (Brown) Fabby. When contacted about the team’s anniversary she said, “First of all, I can’t believe it’s been 30 years since we won the state championship!”

“Being part of the Sandiette basketball team positioned all of us to succeed in the real world,” she continued. “We learned early on what it means to work together for one purpose, share the same values, challenge the status quo, and never give up.”

The drive, commitment, passion, and the championing of teammates resulted in the win, she recalled.

The championship was not just for the players, managers and coaches on the team, Fabby explained “… but also for our school, community supporters, and to serve as role models for female athletes for generations to come.”

She added, “Looking back and being reminded of how girls’ basketball brought the Grapeland community together is humbling. Dream teams don’t happen often, and I think we all realize, now in adulthood, just how special our team was.”

Another member of the squad was Assistant Coach Felicia Meador who had a unique perspective on the 1989 championship team. She had been a player on the 1981-1982 Grapeland teams that made it to the state semifinals and had also been on the sidelines as a coach for the Sandiettes in 1988 when the Sandiettes lost in the title game.

“That team was built on a lot of people’s hard work, effort and sweat. Losing Coach Tullos was hard but he had a vision and he knew where he needed to be at the time he left. Any good coach will tell you, you have to know when to make a move. Some people might not understand the moves that you make, but you have to believe they are fore-thinkers. It was a bittersweet year for him,” she said.

Now a counselor for Crockett ISD, Meador was asked what it took for the Sandiettes to pick themselves up from the heartbreak of losing a championship by two points to return to the finals the next year.

“That drive and determination for the state championship had been decades in the making. When we went in 1981 and 1982 – that was what Coach Tullos had been building for. We had all started together in Little Dribblers as third and fourth graders. Our parents and community backed it 1,000 percent,” Meador recalled.

When the Sandiettes made it to Austin “… we didn’t win. The fact that we got there – the younger kids saw what it took to get there and they wanted to have those same experiences. They had such good leadership and positive role models, it seemed to make them want to experience the same things we were able to experience.”

“The year that we lost,” Meador continued, “people said that was the super team. There were 12 players who could have pretty much started anywhere they chose. It was a phenomenal team. The drive to go back and finish it, was the same drive the program had for 30 years.”

As a kid, Meador said that was a goal of hers, but it took until 1989 “… to have had that moment. Our whole lifetime had been trying to get that gold medal. That was Coach Tullos’ and Coach Bailey’s goal m was to win that gold medal.”

The former assistant coach remembered when Bailey arrived in Grapeland, he had great respect for the Sandiettes’ basketball program and realized the program was founded well before his arrival.

“He respected the program and the traditions of the community, but at the same time, he came in with his own philosophy and his own way of doing things. His goal, however, was the same as everyone else’s and that was to the town of Grapeland a state championship,” she said.

Concerning the team’s playoff run, Meador was asked if she ever thought the Sandiettes might have run out of luck.

She laughed and echoed the words of Bailey – “Regional Finals!”

Starters Lane Brown, Trenia Tillis and Mary Jane Huff had all fouled out by the mid-point of the final period of play.

“That was where the hard work, perseverance and dedication all paid off. You also need a little bit of luck, too. Our kids had shot millions of free throws, millions and millions. In the Regional Finals of that year, Tabatha Jones had to hit two free throws for us to go to state.”

“What it all came down to was a girl and free throws. She had to make them or we were not going to go to the state tournament that year. It was a situation where yes she had prepared and at the same time the pressure was there. Also, you hated that she had to shoulder this massive weight but you had to have a little belief,” she said.

“If she had missed either one of those free throws,” Meador added, “Grapeland was not going to state that year. Tabatha had a lot of confidence and composure when she went to that line.”

Jones knocked down the free throws and the Sandiettes were headed back to Austin.

Once the team arrived in Austin, it was all about finishing, Meador said.

“It was about finishing. The expectation to win it was there, the determination to win it was there. It was something Grapeland had wanted for a long, long time. You never go just to show up. You go there to win. It’s not enough just to say I’m there,” Meador said.

After dispatching China Spring in the state semifinal, the Sandiettes moved to the finals against Abernathy.

When the horn sounded to start the game, Meador said the attitude on the team was one of let’s get it on.

“Everyone was ready,” she said. “It was a very committed group of kids who wanted to finish the job. It was all about finishing and it was also about a legacy. That program has a legacy,” she said.

The legacy grew a little that day as the Sandiettes defeated the Lady Antelopes from Abernathy by a final score of 54-47.

“Finally, its’ done,” Meador said when asked for her thoughts as the last few seconds ticked off of the scoreboard.

“It went back to everybody who started together in third and fourth grade. It went back to Coach Tullos and 10 or 12 straight years of district championships. It was about everyone who had gone before and the huge part they played in making us successful,” she said.

“It was sheer joy!”

Members of the Conference 2A girls’ state champion Grapeland basketball team were Kelly Musick, Tracy Singleton, Roshunda Pierson, Tara Mock, Maria Dillard, Lane Brown, Mary Jane Huff, Tabatha Jones, Marla Smith, Brenda Gall, Leatha Lott, Victoria Smith, Trenia Tillis, Asa Butler, Michelle Tillis, Assistant Coach Felicia Meador, Assistant Coach Natalie Ferrell, and Head Coach Chuck Bailey.

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