Sandiettes Defeat Lady Tigers, 75-46 

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

 LATEXO – It was senior night in Latexo as the Lady Tigers welcomed the Grapeland Sandiettes to the Tiger Cage for a District 20-2A contest.

Before the game tipped-off, five Lady Tiger seniors were recognized for their contributions to the Latexo girls’ basketball program. They were: Kursten Catoe; Gracie Gibbins; Randee Granberry; Cinderella Huff; and Alexa Knight.

Following the pre-game ceremonies, the girls got down to business. The Lady Tigers opened the game and looked strong against the district leading Sandiettes and took an early 7-4 lead before Grapeland managed to crank up its high powered offensive and high intensity defense.

Bailee Granberry led the way for the Lady Tigers in the first eight minutes of play with four points while Kursten Catoe dropped in a 3-pointer and Cinderella Huff chipped in a basket.

After being down early, the Sandiettes came roaring back to take a 20-9 lead into the second quarter. Hannah Chipman paced Grapeland with 11 points in the first period as both KeKe Harris and DeDe McKnight both netted four and Kenya Woods added a free throw.

Grapeland turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter and limited Latexo to seven points on Catoe’s second 3-pointer of the game and a pair of baskets from sisters Bailee and Randee Granberry.

The Sandiettes continued to show off their offensive prowess and added another 20 points to their total to make the score 40- 16 at the break. Grapeland was led by Chipman and Ragan Bowie with five points apiece, while Harris and Woods both had four. McKnight netted a two-pointer to close out the Sandiettes’ first half scoring.

The Lady Tigers showed some offensive pop of their own after halftime as they nearly matched their first half total with 14 third quarter points. R. Granberry and Kelsey Patterson both scored three while a foursome of Lady Tigers – Catoe, Gracie Gibbins, B. Granberry and Huff – all scored two.

The Sandiettes continued to put up good numbers after the break as they added another 18 to their total to make the score 58-30 after three periods of play. McKnight led Grapeland with six third quarter points while Bowie added five. Chipman dropped in four and Janassiah Creag added a free throw.

Try as they might, the Lady Tigers could not dig themselves out from underneath the point differential despite scoring 16 points in the third. B. Granberry dropped in four for Latexo while Gibbins, Huff and Jordan Davenport all connected on 3-pointers. R. Granberry added a free throw for the Lady Tigers to help account for the Lady Tigers’ fourth quarter point production.

Grapeland added 17 to close out the fourth quarter and take home a 75-46 win. Chipman scored eight, Aerianna Granderson knocked down five while both Creag and McKnight netted two.

For the game, Latexo was led by Bailee Granberry with 12 points and Kursten Catoe with 11. Randee Granberry went for six, Gracie Gibbins had five, Cinderella Huff netted four, Jordan Davenport and Kelsey Patterson both dropped in three-pointers and Gracie Zalesky chipped in two.

The Sandiettes were led by Hannah Chipman with a game high 28 points. DeDe McKnight poured in 14 while Ragan Bowie and KeKe Harris both went for 10.  Aerianna Granderson and Kenya Woods added five apiece while Janassiah Creag chipped in three to round out the Grapeland scoring.

The victory set up a showdown for the district title with the Centerville Lady Tigers on Tuesday, Jan. 7 but as of press time, the score was unavailable.

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