Lions Outrun Tigers in Houston County Holiday Tournament

Lovelady 98 Trinity 79

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – Following the Elkhart – Baytown Lee game, won by the Ganders 85-41, the Lovelady Lions took the court for a matchup against the Trinity Tigers. It wasn’t the first time this season the two teams had met as the Lions had won the previous two and while Trinity was hoping for a different outcome – the whole third time’s a charm thing – it wasn’t meant to be as the Lions defeated the Tigers by a final score of 98-79.

As the game got underway, the two teams played evenly throughout most of the first quarter before the Lions made a late surge to take a 20-15 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

The Lions’ first period points came from Jay Thomas Robinson with nine while Michael Price and Tre’Von Hawkins both hit from behind the arc. Deontrae Hawkins and Tre Hawkins both had two while Seth Murray chipped in one.

Justin Standley scored six first quarter points for Trinity. He was joined in the scoring column by Jamarian Hall with four, JaKai Miller-Gates with a three and Treylin Wilson with two.

Lovelady turned it up a notch in the second as Robinson caught fire with 11 points. Chris McKnight dropped in four while both Timothy Johnson and Seth Murray both drained threes. In addition, Price had two and D. Hawkins made one of two from the charity stripe to send the Lions into the locker room with a 44-28 lead.

Trinity’s points came from Hall with seven while Standley, Fermin Aleman and Xavian Simmons all had two points.

Following the break, the Lions’ offense exploded for 34 third quarter points to take a commanding 78-46 lead. Murray led the way with 10 points while D. Hawkins had seven. Tre Hawkins had five and Tre’Von Hawkins, McKnight and Robinson all had four.

The Tigers were simply unable to keep up with the Lions after halftime and while they scored 18 points, they were still outscored by 16. Hall paced Trinity with 10 while Joshua Simmons hit a three. Both Standley along with Dylan May added two apiece while Wilson converted one of two from the line.

As the fourth quarter began, the Tigers attempted to make a furious comeback but the Lovelady lead was simply too much to overcome. Miller-Gates led the way with 16 points while Simmons had eight and Hall dropped in seven. Standley added a basket to close out the Trinity point production.

The Lions were led by Tre’Von Hawkins with seven and Robinson with six. Johnson nailed his second three of the game while McKnight and Price both had two to help give Lovelady a 98-79 win.

On the game, Trinity was led in scoring by Jamerian Hall with 28 and JaKai Miller-Gates with 19. Justin Standley had 12, Joshua Simmons netted 11, Treylin Wilson had five and both Fermin Aleman along with Xavian Simmons had two.

The Lions were led by Jay Thomas Robinson with a game-high 30 points. Tre’Von Hawkins and Seth Murray had 14 points apiece, while both Deontrae Hawkins and Chris McKnight dropped in 10. Tre Hawkins along with Michael Price knocked down seven each and Timothy Johnson had six to close out the Lovelady scoring.

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