Grapeland Rides Fourth Quarter Surge to 83-67 Win
Sandies Advance to Regional Finals
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
BRYAN – The Grapeland Sandies were in Bryan over the weekend for the Class 2A Region III Basketball Tournament where they were joined by some familiar faces.
For the last four years, the Sandies have been joined at the Regional Tournament by the Tenaha Tigers, the Shelbyville Dragons and a random fourth team. This year it was Crawford. Last year it was Lovelady, in 2018 it was La Poynor and in 2017 it was Italy.
During the first three years of the four-year span, the Sandies and Tigers have faced each other twice in the Regional Semifinals and once in the Regional Finals. All three times, Grapeland has walked off the court victorious.
Friday night, the two teams faced off once again in the Regional Semifinals and while the game was close throughout most of the contest, the Sandies pulled away late in the fourth quarter to defeat the Tigers, 83-67 – once again.
Tenaha opened the game with a 9-0 run before Grapeland battled back to tie the game and then take the lead at 12-11 with three minutes left in the first quarter. BJ Lamb hit a three with 1:30 left in the period to give the Sandies a 17-14 lead but a three-pointer from Tenaha’s Michael Hogg knotted the game at 19 as the buzzer sounded to end the first eight minutes of play.
The Sandies were paced in the first quarter by Keizion Ashford with nine points, while Lamb and Deco Bryant both connected from behind the arc. Cadarian Wiley drained a pair from the charity stripe and Austin Driskell chipped in a basket.
The Tigers saw Hogg drop in eight to lead the team in first quarter scoring. CJ Mays added four while Hayden Jenkins hit a three. Both JJ Patton and Tray Tutt had two apiece to close out the Tigers early period scoring.
Lamb got hot as the second quarter began. He hit a three to open the period and then assisted on a Austin Driskell basket to put the Sandies up by five. Lamb wasn’t finished, however, as he connected on his second three at the five minute mark to give Grapeland a 27-19 lead.
Hogg kept the Tigers close with nine points in the second. Trindon Claiborne found his range from behind the arc for three while both Mays and Erik Smith threw in two apiece to make the score 38-35 – in favor of Grapeland – at the half.
Lamb finished the quarter with 11 while Bryant netted four. In addition, Ashford and Driskell both had two apiece to help the Sandies to their three-point halftime lead.
As the second half began, there were some very questionable calls which allowed Tenaha to take the lead at 41-40 with 5:20 left in the third. The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout the quarter until Wiley converted a three-point play with 39 seconds remaining in the period to help give the Sandies a 54-51 lead, with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Grapeland was paced by Lamb with five points in the quarter while a trio of Sandies – Bryant, Wiley and Riley Murchison – all had three. Driskell also had two in the third to round out the Grapeland scoring.
The Tigers kept up with the Sandies as they matched their 16 points in the quarter. Patton led the way with five while both Hogg and Mays had four apiece. Claiborne also hit his second three of the game to help keep Tenaha within striking distance as the final period of play began.
In his second game back from injury, Bryant reminded fans why he has been such a key piece for the Sandies. The senior guard appeared to shake off any rust from his long layoff to torch the Tigers for nine points in the fourth quarter.
Ashford converted a three-point play with 5:36 remaining to put the Sandies up by eight. When Driskell knocked down a three and then put back in a two Grapeland had pushed its lead to 10.
Minutes later, Lamb made one of two from the line but on the miss, Bryant slipped inside of the Tiger defenders to snag the rebound and score the put back to push the lead out to 12 on the way to the Sandies’ 83-67 win in the Regional Semifinals.
On the game, Tenaha was led in scoring by Michael Hogg with 25 points and JJ Patton with 10. CJ Mays and Erik Smith had eight apiece while Trindon Claiborne netted six Hayden Jenkins went for five, Alex Tyner hit a three and Tray Tutt added a basket to close out the Tenaha scoring.
The Sandies were paced BJ Lamb with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Deco Bryant finished with 19 points, six boards and four dimes. Keizion Ashford poured in 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and five steals.
Austin Driskell was also in double figures with 11 points, Riley Murchison netted eight and Cadarian Wiley put in seven and pulled down 11 rebounds. Michael Dancer closed out the Grapeland point production with two.
The win moved the Sandies into the Regional Finals against the Shelbyville Dragons.
Will Johnson may be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
