Grapeland Moves to 12-0
Sandies Blast Bears, 82-56
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – Following a successful weekend in Frankston where they won the Tatum Insurance Frankston Tournament Championship, the Grapeland Sandies returned home for a Monday night game against the Timpson Bears.
The Sandies came into the game with an unblemished record of 11-0, two tournament championships and a #2 ranking in the latest TABC Class 2A poll. The Bears, on the other hand, were struggling to get to .500 and had a record of 4-5.
Keizion Ashford
After a slow start, the Sandie offense and defense cranked it up on both ends of the court as Grapeland blitzed Timpson by a final score of 82-56.
As the game got underway, the Bears could not stop Keizion Ashford as he poured in seven first quarter points. Deco Bryant dropped in five while Cadarian Wiley had four and BJ Lamb hit a three to give the Sandies a 19-10 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Timpson’s first quarter points came from Braden Courtney with six while Garrett Askins and Nick Bennett had two apiece.
The second quarter saw Grapeland widen their lead behind six points from Austin Driskell and five from Riley Murchison. Wiley tossed in four while Ashford and Lamb both chipped in two as the Sandies opened up a 38-25 lead at halftime.
Brandt Behrens had four for Timpson in the second quarter while a trio of Bears – Courtney, Camden Foster and Shykeem Washington – all hit from downtown. Askins added a bucket to round out Timpson’s first half scoring.
Grapeland began to pull away after the break as Lamb knocked down eight and Ashford went for seven. Bryant and Driskell both had three while Wiley chipped in two as Grapeland opened up a 61-40 lead after three periods of play.
Courtney paced the Bears with five third quarter points. Foster and Jarrett Page had four apiece while Washington added a basket to account for the Timpson scoring.
Lekerian Smith
The fourth quarter saw more of the same for Grapeland as Lamb iced the game for the Sandies with 10 points. Ashford added five to his total while Driskell hit a three, Lekerian Smith dropped in two and Wiley converted one of two from the line to close out the 82-56 win.pb
On the game, Timpson was led in scoring by Braden Courtney with 19 points. Camden Foster went for 10, Jarret Page had eight and Brandt Behrens added seven. Other scorers for the Bears were Shykeem Washington with six, Garrett Askins with four and Nick Bennett with two.
The Sandies were led by BJ Lamb with 23 and Keizion Ashford with 21 points, to go along with seven assists. Austin Driskell dropped in 12 while Cadarian Wiley had 11 points and five boards. Deco Bryant hit a pair of threes as part of his eight points, Riley Murchison had five and Lekerian Smith chipped in a basket to round out the Grapeland point production.
Grapeland was back in action on Fri., Dec. 20 against the Westwood Panthers, but as of press time, the score was unavailable.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
