Sandies Fall from Unbeaten Ranks
LaPoynor 61 Grapeland 56
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandies were fresh off a win against the #8 Class 2A Tenaha Tigers on Friday night when they welcomed the #9 ranked LaPoynor Flyers to town for a Saturday afternoon matinee.
Riley Murchison
The #2 ranked Sandies were unbeaten on the season with an 8-0 mark while LaPoynor had lost once. It was a trap game for Grapeland and unfortunately, the Sandies fell into it and sustained their first loss of the year by a score of 61-56.
Grapeland started out flat as the game got underway. Whether it was they were tired from the night before or whether they took the Flyers too lightly, the Sandies found themselves fighting to stay in the game during the first quarter.
Cadarian Wiley dropped in six for the Sandies while Michael Dancer canned a three as Grapeland found itself staring up at a 20-9 deficit after the first eight minutes of play.
Omarian Wiley
LaPoynor was paced by Garrett Nuckolls with eight points in the first period while Cooper Gracey and DeJuan Whitehead both netted four. Matt Driskell and Kase Johnston both had a bucket to close out the first quarter scoring for the Flyers.
The second quarter saw a little more life out of the Sandies as they whittled off two points from the Flyers’ lead before halftime. Keizion Ashford got going in the period with eight points. C. Wiley worked his way inside for another four, while Omarian Wiley made one of two from the line to cut the LaPoyner lead to 31-22 at the break.
The Flyers second quarter points came from Whitehead with six while Gracey added three and Jeff Young made a pair from the charity stripe.
Coming out of the locker room after halftime, the Sandies ramped up the defensive and offensive pressure. Ashford led the Grapeland squad with seven while BJ Lamb and Riley Murchison both found the scoring column with five apiece. Dancer hit his second three of the game and Wiley dropped in another two from inside the paint to cut the Flyers’ lead to four with eight minutes left to play.
Keizion Ashford
Gracey kept LaPoynor in the lead with nine third quarter points. Evan Almedia and Kamron Eldridge delivered from three-point land while Driskell added two as the Flyers clung to a 48-44 lead to start the fourth quarter.
Just when it seemed the Sandies were about to tie the game up, take the lead and then go on to win, it appeared as if a lid was dropped over the hoop. Grapeland simply couldn’t get on track in the fourth quarter and missed six of seven free throws to seal their fate.
Ashford dropped in five, Lamb had four and O. Wiley knocked down a three in the fourth as the Sandies fell by a final score of 61-56.
Michael Dancer
Eldridge, Gracey and Whitehead paced the Flyers in the final period of play with four apiece while Driskell was one of two from the line to close out the LaPoynor scoring.
On the game, the Flyers were led by Cooper Gracey with 20 points and DeJuan Whitehead with 14. Garrett Nuckolls netted eight, Kamron Eldridge had seven, Matt Driskell had five and Evan Almedia had three. Kase Johnston and Jeff Young both had two apiece to account for the LaPoynor point production.
The Sandies were paced by Keizion Ashford with a game-high 20 points. He also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Cadarian Wiley was also in double figures as he dropped in 12 and pulled down nine boards. BJ Lamb had nine points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals. Michael Dancer added six points, Riley Murchison had five and Omarian Wiley netted four.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
