Next Stop – San Antonio!

Grapeland Defeats Marlin 63-43 to Advance to State

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

BRYAN – After the Grapeland Sandiettes defeated the Woden Lady Eagles, 53-44, on Friday night, they advanced to

the Region III Finals to play the Marlin Lady Bulldogs for a chance to advance to San Antonio and a shot at the state title.

This was rarefied air the Sandiettes were breathing as they hadn’t been this far in the postseason since their state title run in 1989.

Heading into the Regional Tournament, the Timpson Lady Bears were the favorites to come out of the region and play in San Antonio the next week. No one told the Lady Bulldogs, however, as they bulled their way past Timpson by a final score of 48-30.

With the finals matchup set, the two teams took the court in Bryan on Saturday, Feb. 23 for the opportunity to play in the State Tournament.

Despite a three-decade absence, it was the Sandiettes who came out and had the look of experience. Grapeland forced two turnovers in the first minute of the game and by the 6:51 mark, Marlin had called a timeout to regroup.

The TO seemed to settle down the Lady Bulldogs as they wiped out a 6-0 deficit to make the score 12-10, in favor of Grapeland, by the end of the first quarter.

The Marlin points came from Aniya Williams with six while both Yasmen Maxwell and Danielle Nobles had two.

Grapeland was paced by Hannah Chipman and Teira Jones with four points apiece while Ragan Bowie and Tatiyana Bowie both had two.

As the second quarter got underway, the Lady Bulldogs tied the game at 12 with 7:51 left in the half and then took a 16-4 lead at the 4:39 mark of the quarter. Jones completed an old fashioned three-point play with 4:19 left in the half to put the Sandiettes up by one and when KeKe Harris hit a three at 3:39, it appeared as if Marlin might fold.

 

To their credit, the Lady Bulldogs regrouped once again and came back to tie the game at 20 on a Mystique Womack shot with 2:19 left in the first half.

Jones put the Sandiettes back on top with a layup and then T. Bowie extended the lead to make it 24-20. A pair of Harris free throws closed out the half as Grapeland went to the locker room with a 28-22 lead.

Jones led Grapeland in the second quarter with seven points while Harris had five. T. Bowie and Chipman both had two to close out the Sandiettes’ first half scoring.

The Lady Bulldogs second quarter points came from Womack with nine and Williams with three.

With only 16 minutes standing between the Sandiettes and a trip to San Antonio, Grapeland seized the moment. The Sandiettes came out of the locker room with a renewed focus and forced back-to-back turnovers from the Lady Bulldogs.

A three-pointer from Jones put Grapeland up by a score of 33-28 with 5:15 left in the third. The Sandiettes pushed their lead to seven and when Harris knocked down back-to-back threes, it seemed to take the wind out of the Lady Bulldogs’ sails. Jones finished out the quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play to bring the third quarter to an end with the Sandiettes up by a score of 48-34.

Womack dropped in seven third quarter points while both Maxwell and Nobles added two apiece. Williams added a free throw to account for the Marlin third quarter points.

Grapeland saw Jones pour in 10 points in the third while Harris connected on a pair of three-balls. Chipman and Woods split the other four points for the Sandiettes.

Now, with a 14-point lead and only eight minutes remaining in the contest, the Sandiettes buckled down on defense as they held the Lady Bulldogs to nine fourth quarter points on six from Nobles and three from Womack.

On the offensive end, Chipman and Woods refused to let the Sandiettes falter as both players had six. Harris added two and R. Bowie made one of two from the line to help propel Grapeland to a 63-43 win and the Region III Championship.

On the game, Marlin was led in scoring by Mystique Womack with 19 points while both Danielle Nobles and Aniya Williams had 10 apiece. Yasmen Maxwell added four to close out the Marlin scoring.

The Sandiettes were led in scoring by Teira Jones with 21 points and Hannah Chipman with 14. KeKe Harris dropped in 13, Kenya Woods had eight, Tatiyana Bowie put in four and Ragan Bowie chipped in three to round out the Grapeland point production.

Hannah Chipman was named Tournament MVP while KeKe Harris and Teira Jones were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The win moves the Sandiettes into the State Semifinals where they will face the Mason Cowgirls at 10 am on Friday March 1 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

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

Similar Posts

One Comment

Comments are closed.