Grapeland Wallops Warren, 73-40
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandiettes were fresh off a weekend basketball tournament where they finished up 6-0. There was no rest for the weary, however, as they welcomed the Class 3A Warren Lady Warriors to Grapeland for a Monday afternoon contest and while they may have been tired from the weekend, the Sandiettes certainly didn’t show any fatigue as they blistered the Lady Warriors by a final score of 73-40.
Grapeland’s newly installed, up tempo style of play rocked Warren in the opening quarter as the Sandiettes raced to a 27-10 lead after the first eight minutes of play. Led by Hannah Chipman’s 18 points, the Lady Warriors had no answer for the Sandiettes’ press. Chipman was joined in the scoring column by KeKe Harris with five and Tatiyanna Bowie with four points.
Warren was led by Brennah Buckner with four points while Bailey Bell, Erin Foster and Lex Kerr all had two apiece.
In the second quarter, the Sandiettes kept up the onslaught and increased their lead to 29 points at the break. Bowie knocked down six for Grapeland and Chipman added five more to her total. Harris netted four, Reagan Bishop drained a three pointer and DeAnna McKnight closed out the first half scoring for Grapeland with two.
While the Sandiettes’ offense continued to roll, the defense kept the Lady Warriors in check and limited them to only eight points in the second quarter. Elizabeth Clymer scored three, Bell and Buckner each had two while Hallie Nevins made one of three free throws to bring the score at halftime to 47-18, in favor of Grapeland.
After the break, the Sandiettes slowed down the pace somewhat and only scored 11 points in the third quarter. McKnight began to heat up in the second half and scored six, Chipman added three and Harris scored two.
Even with the Sandiettes showing less intensity on the defensive end, the Lady Warriors only managed to tally nine in the third period. Bell dropped in four, Buckner and Nevins added two each while Foster chipped in a free throw to end the period with Grapeland ahead by a score of 58 – 27.
The fourth quarter saw several Sandiettes coming off of the bench for extended playing time. McKnight, however, stayed on the court and led the way for Grapeland with nine points while Kenya Woods dropped in four and Jenna Lawrence scored two to make the final score 73-40.
The Lady Warriors saw Bell go for seven in the final period of play while Grace Clinard, Foster and Kerr all added two points.
For the Sandiettes, Hannah Chipman led all scorers with 26 points. DeAnna McKnight poured in 17, KeKe Harris had 11 and Tatiyanna Bowie netted 10. Kenya Woods added four, Reagan Bishop had three and Jenna Lawrence rounded out the Grapeland scoring with two.
The Lady Warriors were led in scoring by Bailey Bell with 15 points. Brennah Buckner dropped in eight, Erin Foster added five and Lex Kerr had four. Both Elizabeth Clymer and Hallie Nevins went for three, while Grace Clinard scored two.
Following the game, Grapeland Head Coach Anthony DeCello commented on his team’s performance. “We’re getting faster in each game. We’re pushing the tempo. I think our pressing is getting a lot better. We are better organized on both ends of the floor and I think the kids are starting to figure out when they stay within the system, it allows them to play a lot more freely.”
Changing gears somewhat, the coach said, “We had a good weekend. We went 6-0 in the tournament. Being 10-1 – it feels good to be 10-1 – but I think it’s the improvements I’ve seen in each game that feels even better.”
As far as the extended minutes played by several of the Sandiettes’ bench players, DeCello said he felt it would certainly help the team. “Like I told them a t the start of the year, whenever you get the opportunity to play, we need the minutes. We play aggressive and we will need to be able to substitute. It is very beneficial to us as a team,” he said.
One area he said the team needs improvement on is their defensive rebounding. “Sometimes, it’s just that we scramble so much and trap, we wind up with smaller kids under the basket because our post players are out there in our traps and steals. There are some mismatches, but it’s a give and take. You’re going to give up some rebounds, but in return, we feel we’ll get a lot more baskets off of steals and transition and spot up threes. If it works for us, we’re going to keep on doing it. If it hurts us, we will just have to re-adjust and not be so aggressive at the full court level.”
Will Johnson may be reached via e-mail at [email protected]
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