Houston County Classic Tournament Recap

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY – The 2019 Houston County Christmas Classic Basketball Tournament is in the books and area basketball fans were treated to some fantastic hoops action between Dec. 26 and Dec. 28, culminating with a thrilling finals matchup between the Crockett Bulldogs and the Grapeland Sandies.

The Bulldogs had previously lost to the Sandies in the finals of the Franklin Tournament, 50-42, but the home-court advantage of the Andrew J Hopkins Activity Center gave Crockett the edge they need as they claimed their second consecutive Houston County Christmas Classic Basketball Tournament title   by a score of 52-49.    

This year’s tournament field featured 16 teams and of those 16 teams, seven of them were ranked in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Dec. 23 poll. Those seven teams were: the #2 ranked Class 2A Grapeland Sandies; the #5 ranked Class 3A Crockett Bulldogs; the #7 ranked Class 3A Coldspring-Oakhurst Trojans; the #10 ranked Class 4A La Marque Cougars; the #16 ranked Class 4A Palestine Wildcats; the #22 ranked Class 3A Franklin Lions; and the #25 ranked Class 3A Diboll Lumberjacks.

The remaining nine teams were: the Class 4A Navasota Rattlers; the Class 4A Rusk Eagles; the Class 4A Krum Bobcats; the Class 4A Center Roughriders; the Class 4A Cumberland Knights; the Class 3A Central Heights Blue Devils; the Class 3A Elkhart Elks; the Class 3A Jefferson Bulldogs; and the Class 3A Trinity Tigers.

The teams were broken up in Pools A, B, C and D. Pool A consisted of Grapeland, Navasota, Central Heights and Rusk. Pool B was comprised of Coldspring, Palestine, Elkhart and Diboll. Pool C featured La Marque, Franklin, Krum and Trinity while Pool D saw Crockett, Center, Jefferson and Cumberland grouped together.

The pool play action saw Pools A and B playing in Grapeland while Pools C and D played in Crockett.

The results from the Dec. 26 games held in Grapeland were: Palestine 69, Diboll 55; Coldspring 86, Elkhart 52; Navasota 60, Rusk 31; and Grapeland 65, Central Heights 54.  

The results from the Dec. 26 games held in Crockett showed: La Marque 91, Trinity 68; Krum 56, Franklin 50; Jefferson 44, Center 34; and Crockett 73, Cumberland 45.

Day two of the tournament pool play began bright and early with 8 am tip-offs. All the teams played two games to see who would be playing where on Saturday.

The results from the Friday, Dec. 27 games held in Grapeland showed: Palestine 64, Elkhart 41; Coldspring 78, Diboll 71; Grapeland 52, Navasota 50; Central Heights 63, Rusk 42; Diboll 66, Elkhart 53; Palestine 56, Coldspring 50; Navasota 52, Central Heights 39; and Grapeland 90, Rusk 60.

The results from the Friday, Dec. 27 games held in Crockett showed: La Marque 61, Franklin 35; Krum 67, Trinity 52; Crockett 53, Center 47; Jefferson 62, Cumberland 52; Franklin 53, Trinity 52; Krum 51 La Marque 42; Center 61 Cumberland 56; and Crockett 61, Jefferson 36.

Following the Thursday and Friday games, the teams were realigned based on the number of wins they had. Those teams who were 0-3 – Elkhart, Trinity, Rusk and Cumberland – played in the Consolation Bracket, held in Grapeland. This bracket was won by the Trinity Tigers who defeated the Elkhart Elks, 76-67.

Those teams who finished pool play with a record of 1-2 – Center, Franklin, Central Heights and Diboll – played in the bronze bracket, held in Grapeland. Diboll and Center were supposed to play in the bronze championship game but did not play.

Those teams who finished pool play with a record of 2-1 – La Marque, Jefferson, Coldspring and Navasota – played in the silver bracket, held in Crockett. La Marque defeated Jefferson in one semifinal while Coldspring defeated Navasota in the other. In the finals of the silver bracket, La Marque defeated Coldspring, 60-56.

Those teams who finished pool play 3-0 – Grapeland, Crockett, Krum and Palestine – played in the gold bracket held in Crockett. In the first semifinal game Crockett defeated Krum, 63-49. In the second semifinal game, Grapeland defeated Palestine, 60-55.

In the consolation game, Palestine defeated Krum 54-48 while in the tournament championship, Crockett nipped Grapeland, 52-49.

All-tournament selections were:

  • Crockett – Teddy Jones; Jordan Bedford; and Ty White.
  • Grapeland – BJ Lamb and Keizion Ashford
  • Palestine – Enoch Futade and Dreyon Barrett
  • Krum – Abe Dillon and Brent Boone
  • Coldspring – Jacoby Bishop and Kudaveon Thergood
  • La Marque – Jordan Ivy and Edward Robinson       
  • Navasota – Tavarus Baker
  • Jefferson – Chrishon Hicks

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

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