Sandiettes Season Comes to a Close
Grapeland Falls to LaPoynor, 57-54
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
RUSK – A season of great promise came to a heartbreaking end for the Grapeland Sandiettes on Tuesday, Feb. 20 as they fell to the LaPoynor Lady Flyers in the Regional Quarterfinals by a final score of 57-54.
While the Sandiettes played their hearts out, it was not meant to be as the #2 ranked Lady Flyers overcame a nine point deficit in the final period to advance to the Regional Tournament at Leon High School in Jewett.
The Sandiettes opened the game on fire from both the offensive and defensive e
nds of the court. Ragan Bowie led the Grapeland charge as she drained a trio of three-pointers for nine points in the first quarter. Five other Sandiettes – Tatiyana Bowie, Hannah Chipman, KeKe Harris, Teira Jones and Kenya Woods – all had two apiece as Grapeland jumped out to a 19-16 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
LaPoynor’s scoring attack was led by Te’Aire Hambrick – the Lady Flyers’ All-State, do-everything point guard – with 10 points. Hambrick was joined in the scoring column by Hailey Massey and Jas Mitchell who both hit three-point bombs.
As the second quarter got underway, the frenetic pace of the first period slowed down somewhat as the two teams settled into more of a half-court style of play. Grapeland’s points came from Harris with six, Chipman with three and T. Bowie with two.
Hambrick continued to pace LaPoynor as she knocked down a pair of threes, while Mitchell added a bucket to make the halftime score 30-24, in favor of Grapeland.
Following the break, the two teams played to a stalemate, more or less, in the third quarter as Grapeland scored 14 while LaPoynor netted 15 in the third quarter. T. Bowie came alive for the Sandiettes as she dropped in nine points. She was joined by Chipman with four as Woods converted one of two from the line to make the score 44-39 with eight minutes remaining in the game.
While Hambrick had run the show for the Lady Flyers in the first half, Mitchell took control in the second half as she poured in nine points in the third. Hambrick had four while Jayla Hawkins had a basket to close out the quarter with LaPoynor trailing by five.
Once the final period of play began, the Sandiettes opened up a nine point lead early in the quarter and led by seven with 5:28 left to play. A three-pointer from Hambrick cut the lead to four but a two from T. Bowie pushed the lead back to six with just under four minutes left in the contest.
As the clock crept under three minutes, the Lady Flyers had cut the lead to three at 52-49. Jones answered back for the Sandiettes with a two to make the score 54-49 with 2:26 remaining.
The Sandiettes continued to lead at the two minute mark by a score of 54-51 but several questionable calls – including one obvious backcourt violation by Hambrick – went against Grapeland after that.
LaPoynor took advantage of their opportunities, seized their first lead of the contest since early in the first quarter Flyers and held on to win by a final score of 57-54.
For the game, the Lady Flyers were led by Te’Aire Hambrick with a game-high 29 points. Jas Mitchell dropped in 19 for LaPoynor while Jayla Hawkins had four, Hailey Massey had three and Stacey Whitehead converted two of two from the line.
The Sandiettes were led in scoring by Tatiyana Bowie with 17 points. Ragan Bowie and Hannah Chipman both had nine while KeKe Harris and Teira Jones both had eight. Kenya Woods rounded out the Grapeland point production with three.
Even though Grapeland lost the game, the future is bright for the Sandiettes. For such a young team, they showed remarkable class and poise throughout the season due in part to the girls’ character and the guidance of Head Coach Anthony DeCello.
When the pre-season rankings for the 2018-2019 season come out, expect the Sandiettes to be ranked fairly high in the polls as they only lose one senior this year and return all five starters.
From all of us at The Messenger, congratulations to the Sandiettes on a great season!
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
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