Sandies Open Season with Tournament Championship
Grapeland Defeats Crockett in Tourney Finale, 50-42
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – Well, that was quick. Any doubts about the Grapeland basketball program were laid to rest over the weekend as the Sandies made their 2019-2020 season debut in the Franklin Tournament and brought home the championship trophy.
The Sandies lost several key players to graduation after the 2018-2019 season and also said goodbye to Coach Cannon Earp when he took his talents to Fairfield.
Coach Blake Doughty took over the program and so far, the transition has been seamless. Doughty and his staff were a little late (for a good reason) in getting the season started because the Sandies – once again – went three rounds deep in the football playoffs.
Following the loss to the Mart Panthers on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the Sandies switched from the gridiron to the gym on Monday. With only three days of practice, Grapeland loaded up the bus and traveled to Franklin for the Franklin Tournament.
When they arrived, the Sandies tipped off their season against the normally tough Class 4A Madisonville Mustangs. With less than a week of practice, the Sandies defeated the Mustangs by a final score of 73-55.
Grapeland was led by Keizion Ashford, who poured in 27 points, while Cadarian Wiley dropped in 19 and pulled down seven boards.
On day two of pool play, the Sandies took down the Class 3A Orangefield Bobcats by a final of 55-43.
In that game, the Sandies were led in points by Deco Bryant with 15 while BJ Lamb had 13 points, six boards and six assists.
Grapeland’s second game on Friday was scheduled against the Class 3A Central Heights Blue Devils. Once again, Coach Doughty’s squad handled their business as they defeated the Blue Devils by a final score of 66-59.
Deco Bryant paced the Sandies with 17 points in the game and was joined in double figures by Cadarian Wiley with 16, as well as BJ Lamb with 13.
The victory over Central Heights meant the Sandies won Pool D and as a result would play the host Franklin Lions in the tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
Franklin came into the contest with a #22 ranking in Class 3A and had a record of 5-0 after pool play. The Sandies, ranked #7 in Class 2A, were unfazed by the home court advantage the Lions had and slapped a 22-point beat down on their hosts, 75-53.
The win moved Grapeland into the tournament finals where an old familiar rival awaited – the Crockett Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs made it to the Regional Finals in the 2018-2019 season where they fell to the East Chambers Buccaneers by eight. With only one player lost to graduation from last year’s team, the Bulldogs – ranked #6 as of Dec. 2 – started off the year 6-0 and have high expectations this year.
The last time these two teams met was in the 2018 Houston County Tournament and things very nearly got out of hand as Crockett won the championship.
This time around, everyone kept their cool on both sides of the court as the Sandies pulled out the 50-42 win to capture the title at the Franklin Tournament.
The win moved the needle for the Sandies (5-0) in the polls as well. Grapeland was sitting at #7 in the Dec. 2 TABC poll but jumped to #2 when the Dec. 9 poll came out on Monday.
The Bulldogs also moved up a notch as they went from #6 to #5 in the Dec. 9 poll.
Grapeland was scheduled to play their first home game of the season against the Elkhart Elks on Tuesday, Dec. 10, but as of press time, the final score was unavailable.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
