Nine is Fine – Sandies Keep District Championship Streak Alive
Grapeland Destroys Groveton, 61-27
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GROVETON – Following their 61-27 win over the Groveton Indians, the Grapeland Sandies can now say they have won or shared the district championship every year this decade. It took a little work this year to continue their decade of dominance as they had to defeat the Big Sandy Wildcats on their home court in Dallardsville.
The Sandies, however, left no doubt as they defeated the Wildcats by 22 on Feb. 9 to move into a first place tie with Big Sandy. Three days later Grapeland travelled to Groveton for their final District 20-2A game and took care of business against the Indians.
Big Sandy also handled their business on Feb. 9 as they defeated Centerville to close out district play. That left the two teams tied atop the district standings with identical 9-1 records with their only losses coming against each other. As a result, a coin flip was held to see who would enter the postseason as the one/two seed out of District 20-2A. The Wildcats won the flip and will enter the playoffs as the one seed.
Before the coin flip, there was a little matter of the game against Groveton. Grapeland opened the game and jumped out to a 15-1 lead after the first eight minutes of play and never looked back. Keriaun Davis and Rick Frauenberger paced the Grapeland attack with four points apiece. Deco Bryant had three while both Josh “Bear” Ackley along with Javion Joseph had two apiece.
Groveton’s lone point came on a free throw from Zack Fisher.
The second quarter saw the Sandies expand their lead to 22 at the end of the first half. Frauenberger added another four to his total, Ackley and Bryant both drained three-balls and Tyrin Wiley chipped in two to make the halftime score 27-5.
Both Anthony Chavez and Elijah Stewart had two for the Indians to close out the meager first half scoring for the Indians.
After the break, the Sandies continued to pound the Indians on the score board. Joseph paced Grapeland with nine points. Frauenberger had another four and was joined Keizion Ashford with four as well. Bryant hit a three and Davis added two to make the score 49-17 after three.
Groveton’s points came from Fisher and Davuarrio Horace with four apiece while both A. Chavez and Saul Chavez had two.
With eight minutes left to play, Grapeland Head Coach Cannon Earp called off the dogs and began to milk the clock. Brayden Cheatham paced the Sandies with six in the final frame while Davis and Tavis Jackson both had three to help give Grapeland the 61-27 win.
For the game, the Indians were led in scoring Davuarrio Horace with eight points and Zack Fisher with seven. Anthony Chavez and Saul Chavez both had five while Elijah Stewart had two.
The Sandies were paced by Rick Frauenberger with 12 points and Javion Joseph with 11. Deco Bryant and Keriaun Davis both dropped in nine, Brayden Cheatham had six and Josh Ackley had five. Other Sandies in the scoring column included Keizion Ashford with four, Tavis Jackson with three and Tyrin Wiley with two.
The Sandies next opponent will be the Italy Gladiators in the opening round of the playoffs. The game will be played on Monday, Feb. 19 at Fairfield High School. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Will Johnson may be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
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