Sandies Start Slow, Finish Fast in 76-35 Win
Grapeland Stays Hot; Now 7-0
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – After picking up a pair of road wins on Friday and Saturday, the Grapeland Sandies returned home to catch their breath before travelling north up US HWY 287 to take on the Elkhart Elks in a Tuesday night match-up.
The Sandies brought an unblemished 6-0 record and the #2 Class 2A ranking into the Elks’ gym and while it took ‘em a little bit, the Grapeland squad found its shooting touch in the second quarter and used it as a springboard to pull away from their cross-county rivals for a 76-35 win.
As the game got underway, the Sandies seemed a little tired and the Elks took advantage of Grapeland’s play early on in the contest. Elkhart led through most of the quarter, until the final seconds, when Riley Murchison connected from long-range and Keizion Ashford dropped in a lay-up to give Grapeland a 13-12 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Ashford’s last-second basket accounted for two of his eight points in the quarter. Murchison had the aforementioned three and BJ Lamb found the scoring column with two.
The Elks’ RJ Moore made life difficult in the first quarter for Grapeland as he put in seven points, while Josh Davis had three and Cale Starr chipped in two as Elkhart only trailed by one after the horn sounded to end the period.
Grapeland came out in the second with a whole new energy level as they opened up the quarter on a 15-2 run. Ashford continued to pace the Sandies as he dropped another eight on the Elks’ defense. Lamb found his range and added five while Lekerian Smith worked his way inside for a pair of buckets.
Murchison added a pair of free throws, Johnny Lamb netted two and Cadarian Wiley made one-of-two from the line as Grapeland seized a 35-20 lead by the end of the first half.
For the Sandies, it often seems like when the defense tightens up, the offense feeds off it and in the second quarter the Grapeland D held the Elks in check with just three apiece from Moore and Starr while Davis added the only other two in the period.
When the two teams came out of their locker rooms to start the second half, it was the Elks who looked tired as the Grapeland defense seemed to have taken its toll. Starr had six for the Elks and Moore added two but that was it for the Elkhart third quarter scoring.
Meanwhile, the Sandies managed to extend their lead to 21 after three periods of play. Ashford added six to his total, BJ Lamb netted five and J Lamb hit from behind the three-point line to help give Grapeland a 49-28 lead as the teams moved into the final eight minutes of play.
The fourth quarter began with a BJ Lamb block which led directly to a C. Wiley slam. After that sequence of action, Coach Blake Doughty began to work in some of the reserves and they all responded. BJ Lamb and J. Lamb both netted six in the fourth while Omarian Wiley dropped in four. Murchison, Michael Dancer and Cole Goolsby all drained shots from three-point land as Grapeland picked up the 76-35 win.
On the game, the Elks were led by RJ Moore with 12 points and Cale Starr with 11. Josh Davis had eight (three in the fourth) while both Brayden Chambless and Chase Walker added two, fourth quarter points apiece to round out the Elkhart scoring.
The entire Grapeland lineup scored at least three points apiece in the game, led by Keizion Ashford with a game-high 22 points. Ashford also had three rebounds, seven assists and five steals in the game. BJ Lamb had 18 points to go along with six rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Johnny Lamb stepped up with three, three-pointers to go along with a two for 11 total points as well as two boards, one assist and one steal.
Riley Murchison singed the twine for eight points, Lekerian Smith and Omarian Wiley both had four while Michael Dancer and Cadarian Wiley both had three to close out the Grapeland point production.
In an early-season showdown, the Sandies welcomed the #8 ranked Tenaha Tigers to town on Friday evening for a re-match of last year’s Regional Semifinal contest won by Grapeland, 83-67. As of press time, however, the final score was unavailable.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
