Sandiettes Breeze by Lady Lions, 65-25
Grapeland 6-0 at District Mid-Point
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandiettes passed a crucial test last week as they faced two ranked opponents in the Centerville Lady Tigers and the Lovelady Lady Lions. On Tuesday, Grapeland hammered Centerville by 20 as they waltzed to a 61-41 win.
On Friday, Jan. 11, the Lady Lions came to town and the Sandiettes obliterated them, winning by a final score of 65-25.
The Sandiettes opened the game on a 10-1 run and after the Lions scored six to pull within three, Grapeland knocked down the last five points to take a 15-7 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Skye Watts netted three for Lovelady as both Jala Rollo and Kaiden LeMaire dropped in two apiece.
The Sandiettes were paced by Hannah Chipman with eight first quarter points and Teira Jones with six. Kenya Woods made one of two from the free throw line to close out the Grapeland first period point production.
The Lady Lions offense couldn’t seem to get untracked as the Grapeland defensive pressure caused numerous turnovers in the second quarter. LeMaire dropped in six for the Lady Lions while Rollo added two, as Lovelady found itself staring up at a 12-point halftime deficit.
Jones took over in the second quarter for Grapeland as she dropped in eight points. Woods added two and KeKe Harris broke into the scoring column with a two of her own as the Sandiettes took a 27-15 lead into the locker room at the half.
When Lovelady took the floor to begin the second half, it seemed as if they left their scoring touch in the locker room. The Lady Lions only scored four points in the third quarter on baskets from Watts and Sarah Thompson.
Meanwhile, the Sandiettes blew the game wide open as they dropped 23 on Lovelady to take a commanding 50-19 lead into the fourth quarter. Jones led the way with seven while Chipman had five and Tatiyanna Bowie added four. Both Harris and Woods dropped in two.
The Lady Lions shooting woes continued in the fourth quarter as they only added six to their total on four from Rollo and a pair of free throws by Watts.
Grapeland salted the game away with 15 as they cruised to a 65-25 win. Harris, Jones and Woods all dropped in four while T. Bowie had three to round out the Sandiettes’ fourth quarter scoring.
On the game, Lovelady was led in scoring by Kaiden LeMaire and Jala Rollo with eight apiece. Skye Watts added seven and Sarah Thompson chipped in two.
The Sandiettes were led by Teira Jones with a game-high 25 points and Hannah Chipman with 13. Kenya Woods netted nine, KeKe Harris had eight, Tatiyanna Bowie went for seven and Ragan Bowie had three.
Following the game, Head Coach Anthony DeCello was asked about his team’s performance.
“During the Mansfield Tournament, we played four really big, good teams. Defense was our emphasis – playing against quality teams, getting together and playing as a unit. I thought they did that tonight,” he said.
“Offensively,” DeCello continued, “they’re an unselfish group. They always have been. The ability to move the ball gives them the opportunity to take advantage of certain situations. Defensively, we’ve really improved as the year has gone by.”
The coach said he was very pleased with the Sandiettes performance on the night, especially in the areas effort and execution.
Concerning the second half defensive surge, DeCello said that was the emphasis at halftime.
“I didn’t think we were keying on the right people the way we should have been. Our gap help wasn’t what it needed to be but I thought the third quarter was really good for us. You can’t always get turnovers for baskets, you also have to play well in a half-court game and rebound. We gave up 15 points in the first half and eight of those were because we couldn’t secure a rebound after a stop,” he said.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
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