Around the Rim in Houston County – Dec. 22

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

EAST TEXAS – As the month of December slowly moves towards Christmas, many of the area teams are taking a break from playing basketball and gearing up for the district part of the schedule.

The Crockett Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs are in District 21-3A along with Anderson-Shiro, Coldspring-Oakhurst, Hempstead, New Waverly, Onalaska and Trinity.

The Lady Bulldogs returned from a successful trip to the Centerville Tournament over the weekend of Dec. 8, 9, and 10 to open district play on the road with a 65-23 over the Hempstead Lady Bobcats and followed that up with a home win over the Onalaska Lady Wildcats by a final score of 68-31.

The girls traveled to New Waverly on Tuesday, Dec. 20 for a game against the Lady Bulldogs of New Waverly but as of press time the score was unavailable.

That will be it for a while as the Crockett Lady Bulldogs will be off until Dec. 29 when they host the Brookhill Lady Guard during the Houston County Holiday Tournament.

The Bulldogs followed up a successful trip to the Brownsboro Tournament with a loss to Class 4A Madisonville Mustangs on Tues. Dec. 13 by a score of 68-63. On Thursday, Crockett fell to the Class 5A Nacogdoches Dragons by a score of 67-57. The Bulldogs joined the Lady Bulldogs on the road Tuesday, Dec. 20 for a game against the Bulldogs of New Waverly, but as of press time the score was unavailable.

The Grapeland Sandies are 14-1 on the season after their win against the Chireno Owls by a score of 81-66 on Friday afternoon, Dec. 16. The Sandies also defeated the Elkhart Elks earlier in the week by a final score of 91-49.

Grapeland is ranked #10 in the state in the Dec. 19 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’ (TABC) poll and their next action will be in the Houston County Holiday Tournament on Dec. 28.

The Sandiettes are 17-3 on the season following their win over Normangee on Tuesday, Dec. 13 and are also ranked in the latest TABC poll, coming in at #17.

Grapeland is in the middle of Christmas break and the girls are not scheduled to play again until the Woodville Tournament, beginning Dec. 27.

Following the tournament, the Sandiettes open district play against the Dallardsville Big Sandy Lady Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 6 at home. The Sandies open district play the following week on Friday, Jan. 13 at home against the Lovelady Lions.

Both the Sandies and Sandiettes are in District 20-2A along with Centerville, Dallardsville Big Sandy, Groveton, Latexo and Lovelady.

The Kennard Tigers and Lady Tigers are in District 28-1A along with Apple Springs, Burkeville, Chester, Groveton – Centerville, Martinsville and Wells.

The Lady Tigers are 10-3 on the season and ranked #21 by the TABC. They opened district play with a win over the Wells Lady Pirates and will play again on Dec. 29 against the Trinity Tigers in Trinity.

The Tigers defeated Groveton – Centerville on Fri. Dec. 6 and are off for a Christmas break until Dec. 30 when they are scheduled to play the Latexo Tigers in Kennard.

Speaking of Latexo, the Tigers opened the week with a 47-34 win over the Apple Springs Eagles but fell to the Troup Tigers on Friday, Dec. 16 by a score of 38-24. The Tigers were back in action against the Colmesneil Bulldogs on Friday, Dec. 19. The Tigers are next scheduled to see action on Dec. 30 when they take on the Kennard Tigers in Kennard.

The Lovelady Lady Lions took on the Douglass Lady Indians on Tuesday, Dec. 13 in a home game and walked away with a 50-40 victory. The Lady Lions were off on Friday, Dec. 16 and were back in action on Dec. 20 against the Iola Lady Bulldogs but as of press time, the score was unavailable.

The Lovelady Lions fell to the Neches Tigers on Friday Dec. 16 by a score of 91-64. The Lions were back on the court Tuesday, Dec. 20 against the Iola Bulldogs but as of press time, the score was unavailable.

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