Sandiettes Tame Lady Tigers, 56-37
Grapeland Takes Control of District 20-2A
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandiettes welcomed the Centerville Lady Tigers to town on Tuesday, Jan. 14 for a showdown in District 20-2A. Because both teams came into the game with 4-0 district records, the winner would take over sole possession of first place.
Grapeland was ranked #7 in the latest TABC poll, with a season record of 21-5 while Centerville, 19-6 on the season, was ranked #16 in the Jan. 13 poll.
Given the records and rankings, it was expected to be a close game. The Sandiettes, however, were having none of the pregame chatter as they rolled to a 56-37 win.
As the game got underway, the Lady Tigers had trouble with the Grapeland defense. The full-court pressure frustrated Centerville to the point the Lady Tigers had issues trying to get the ball over the half-court stripe.
Because of the suffocating defense of Grapeland, the only points Centerville scored in the first eight minutes of play came on a three-ball from Keyonna Holly.
Meanwhile, the Sandiettes opened up a double-digit lead by the end of the quarter and led by a score of 15-3. KeKe Harris got the Grapeland offense going with five points, while five other Sandiettes – JaMiyah Bowie, Tatiyana Bowie, Teira Jones, Jessie Payne and Kenya Woods – all had two apiece.
The iron was a little more kind to the Lady Tigers in the second quarter as they nearly tripled their first quarter offensive output. Holly knocked down her second three-pointer of the half, while Hannah Matthews and KK Stevens both scored two. Nya West converted one of two from the line to close out the Centerville first half scoring.
Harris continued to pace the Grapeland offense as she hit two more three-pointers as part of her eight, second quarter points. Woods added two and Jones chipped in a basket to help Grapeland take a 29-11 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Centerville’s offense finally began to show some signs of life in the third quarter as they netted 12 points in the third quarter. Matthews and Averi Hancock both had four while West, as well as Trista Brown, had two apiece.
Even though the Lady Tigers made a valiant effort at a comeback, it was all for naught as the Sandiettes pushed their lead to 21 by the end of the period.
Jones began to dominate inside as she poured in seven points. Harris dropped in four as both Woods and Tori Woodford had two.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers whittled the Grapeland lead down to 13 before the Sandiettes turned up the heat on defense, once again. Grapeland pushed its lead to nearly 30 before coming back to earth and coasting to the 56-37 win.
On the game, Centerville was led in scoring by Keyonna Holly with 10 points and Nya West with nine. Hannah Matthews put in eight while Averi Hancock had four. Also for the Lady Tigers – Trista Brown, KK Stevens and Kaede Thomas all had two apiece to close out the point production for Centerville.
The Sandiettes were led by KeKe Harris who had a game-high 18 points. Teira Jones poured in 17 and Kenya Woods added 11. JaMiyah Bowie dropped in four while three other Sandiettes – Tatiyana Bowie, Jessie Payne and Tori Woodford – all had two.
The first-place Sandiettes were back in action on Friday as they traveled to Lovelady to take on the Lady Lions. As of press time, however, the final score was unavailable.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
