Sandiettes Fall in State Semis, 59-49

Late Rally Comes Up Short

By Will Johnson              

Messenger Reporter

SAN ANTONIO – The Class 2A UIL Girls’ State Tournament kicked off on Friday and the days’ first game featured the Grapeland Sandiettes taking on the Lady Hounds from Gruver.

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The Sandiettes came into the game ranked #4 in the final regular season TABC poll and had an overall record of 34-5. The Lady Hounds, meanwhile, were ranked #2 and sported a record of 36-2.

As expected, the contest was fairly close throughout. A cold-shooting second quarter, however, doomed Grapeland as they were never able to recover and fell by a score of 59-49.

After the opening tip, the Sandiettes started the game on a 7-2 run and seemed to have things going their way. Gruver looked somewhat rattled initially, but after a timeout, the Lady Hounds appeared to regain their poise as they came back to tie the game at 14 by the end of the first quarter.

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Kenya Woods paced Grapeland with six points in the quarter while both JaMiyah Bowie and Jessie Payne connected from behind the arc. Teira Jones also got in on the act as she chipped in a basket to close out the first period.

Maddie McCloy led the Lady Hounds first quarter scoring attack with six pointe while both Bailey Maupin and Andi Salgado had four apiece.

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The second quarter saw the teams play evenly through the first part of the period. At the 3:45 mark, however, Gruver pulled ahead and went on a 9-2 run to end the first half.

Woods led the Sandiettes with four points in the second while Payne hit her second three of the game. KeKe Harris also scored two points as Grapeland went into the locker room at halftime trailing, 31-24.

The Lady Hounds saw Salgado pour in eight points in the second quarter while Maupin had seven and McCloy chipped in a basket to close out the first half scoring for Gruver.

After the break, the Lady Hounds pushed their lead up to 11 before Harris knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to eight. Gruver got the lead back to 10 and pushed it to 13 during a 0-7 shooting streak by Grapeland.

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The Sandiettes managed to whittle the lead back to nine by the end of the quarter, but never really seemed to find their rhythm.

Harris kept Grapeland in the ballgame with five points in the third while Jones finally seemed to get going with four. Woods added two from inside as Grapeland trailed by nine heading into the final period of play.

Camryn Armes stepped up for Gruver in the third with six points, while Salgado netted four and Keerstin Babbs dropped in a three to help the Lady Hounds take a 44-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

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As the final eight minutes got underway, the Lady Hounds opened on a 15-2 run. After the two teams exchanged baskets in the first 30 seconds, the Gruver defense held the Grapeland offense scoreless for nearly four minutes while the Lady Hounds opened up a 22-point lead.

To their credit, the Sandiettes began to battle back, but the with time working against them, the deficit was too much to overcome as Grapeland fell by a final score of 59-49.

On the game, Gruver was led in scoring by Andi Salgado with 19 points and Bailey Maupin with 15. Maddie McCloy dropped in 14 while Camryn Armes had eight and Keerstin Babbs connected for three to account for the Lady Hounds’ point production.

The Sandiettes were led in scoring by Kenya Woods with 15 points and Jessie Payne with 12. KeKe Harris had 10 and Teira Jones added nine while JaMiyah Bowie netted three. 

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During the post-game press conference, Grapeland Head Coach Robert Payne said, “We had a great season. You play hard, you battle hard, but sometimes you don’t get the outcome you want. It’s always a teaching moment. Whether you win or lose, it’s how you deal with it. You have to deal with disappointment all your life. This is – this is obviously what we wanted it to be, but it is what it is and we’re just going to have to deal with it.”    

As to the Sandiettes slow start in the fourth quarter, the coach said it was a confluence of factors that came together at the exact wrong time.

“I think it was a combination of nerves and we were tired. It’s what we do. We press a lot and we run a lot. Plus, we were playing a pretty good team,” he said.

While it was certainly not the way the Sandiettes wanted their season to end, the girls from Grapeland have had a tremendous year and should be congratulated on their success.

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