Sandies Return to Regional Tourney

Grapeland defeats Rosebud-Lott, 75-62

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

CENTERVILLE – The Grapeland Sandies traveled to Centerville on Tuesday to take on the Rosebud-Lott Cougars in a contest to see who would advance to the Regional Tournament in Bryan.

The Sandies, ranked #2 in the final regular season TABC poll, came into the game with a 34-1 record after defeating Kerens in Bi-District and then Chilton in the area round.

The Cougars, meanwhile, were 23-12 on the season. They had defeated Italy in the first round and followed up with a 17-point win over Groveton at Area.

Grapeland took an early only to see Rosebud-Lott come roaring back in the third quarter to cut the lead to three. The Sandies, however, buoyed by the return of Deco Bryant, found that extra gear they seem to have and pulled away in the final period of play to win by a score of 75-62.

As the game got underway, a battle between the Sandies’ BJ Lamb and the Cougars’ Steven Buhl began to take shape. The only difference was Grapeland had more support behind Lamb than Buhl did with his team.

Lamb was nearly unstoppable as he poured in 11 first quarter points. Keizion Ashford and Cadarian Wiley both had four while Austin Driskell and Riley Murchison chipped in two apiece as the Sandies took a 23-14 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

S. Buhl paced the Cougars with eight first period points while both Zack Buhl and Jordan Landrum had three to round out the Rosebud-Lott scoring in the quarter.

Grapeland got a huge boost of confidence at the six-minute mark of the second when Bryant hit a three to put the Sandies ahead by double-digits. Bryant had been sidelined for the last several weeks with an injury and this marked was his first return to action.

Lamb continued to bedevil the Cougars as he scored another eight points in the second, while Wiley also worked inside for eight to help the Sandies take a 42-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Cougars were paced in the period by S. Buhl, but this time he had a little more help. S. Buhl netted 10, while John Reyna added four. Z. Buhl and Jose Perez chipped in two apiece to close out the Rosebud-Lott first half point production.

As the second half got underway, the Cougars began to whittle away at the Sandies’ lead. They managed to cut the deficit to down to five and then to only two midway through the third.

Rosebud-Lott saw Landrum knock down a pair of threes as part of his eight third quarter points. Jonathan Adamez broke into the scoring column with six while S. Buhl had four but was also tagged with his third and fourth fouls. In addition, Z. Buhl chipped in a pair of free throws to trim the Grapeland lead to 55-52.

Ashford led the Sandies in the third quarter with five points. Wiley worked inside for a pair of baskets while Bryant and Lamb both had two points to help the Sandies take a three-point lead into the final period of play.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Sandies went to the three-ball to try and put the game away. Unfortunately, the threes wouldn’t drop and the Cougars cut the lead to one with 6:46 remaining in the game.

With momentum on their side and just when it seemed the Cougars were poised for the upset, Buhl fouled out for Rosebud-Lott.  

That was when the Sandies shifted into that extra gear. Grapeland went up by six and when Lamb was fouled on a three-pointer, the junior guard drained the free throw to push the Sandies lead out to 10, 66-56, with 4:02 left.

From there, Grapeland pushed the margin out to 15 with 2:50 remaining in the game and then held on for the 75-62 win, along with the Regional Quarterfinals Championship

The Sandies were paced in the fourth quarter by Lamb with nine and Ashford with five. Wiley added four while Driskell chipped in two to close out the Grapeland scoring.

The Cougars’ fourth quarter points came from Reyna and Nathan Truesdale with four apiece while Adamez added two.

On the game, the Cougars were led in scoring by Steven Buhl with 22. Jordan Landrum dropped in 11 while both. Jonathan Adamez and John Reyna both had eight. Zack Buhl had seven, Nathan Truesdale added four and Jose Perez chipped in a basket to close out the Rosebud-Lott point production.

The Sandies were led by BJ Lamb who just missed a triple-double. Lamb scorched the Cougars for 30 points, 10 rebounds and nine steals. Lamb also had four assists. Cadarian Wiley powered his way to 20 points, seven boards and five steals while Keizion Ashford had 14 points, seven dimes and four steals.

In his first game back from injury, Deco Bryant netted five while Austin Driskell had four and Riley Murchison chipped in two. 

The win moves the Sandies into the Regional Semifinals on Friday night, March 6 where they will face the Tenaha Tigers. The game will be held at Bryan High School with tip-off scheduled for 6 pm.

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

Similar Posts