Sandiettes Tripped Up by Lady Tigers
Tenaha 58 Grapeland 39
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandiettes are still trying to get their basketball legs under them after dealing with a COVID-19 quarantine earlier this season. Still, the Sandiettes looked like they have the makings of a strong team as they welcomed the Tenaha Lady Tigers to town last Friday night in one of their last games before the start of District 20-2A competition.
The Sandiettes played well in the first half but could not keep up with the Lady Tigers in the second as Tenaha pulled away to win the contest by a final score of 58-39.
As the game got underway, Grapeland jumped out to an early 9-7 lead after the first eight minutes of play. Teira Jones put in four points for the Sandiettes while Christi Shepherd added three and Mary Jane Watson had two.
Tenaha’s first quarter points came from Itiyanna Dagley, jasmine Dodd and Lataejah Steadman – all with two apiece. Kamari Gray made one of two from the line to account for the remaining point.
The second quarter saw both teams hustling up-and-down the court but unable to generate any offense. The Sandiettes held off the Lady Tigers until 4:31 in the second when Tenaha took a 15-13 lead and then held on to take a 22-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Jones added four more to her total for Grapeland in the second while Shepherd, Watson and Cheney Boyd all dropped in two apiece to close out the first half scoring.
Teira Jones
The Lady Tigers second quarter points came from Steadman with five, J. Dodd with four, and Alisa Dodd with three. Dagley added two and Gray had one to help Tenaha take a three-point lead after the first half of action.
Tenaha came out of the locker room on fire as they opened on a 12-0 run in the first two minutes of the third quarter. The Lady Tigers pushed their lead out to 15 before the Sandiettes managed to cut the margin back to 10 by the end of the period.
Watson paced Grapeland after the break with seven points in the third. Jones had two and Shepherd had one as the Sandiettes found themselves looking up at a 39-29 deficit with eight minutes left in the game.
Steadman and A. Dodd knocked down six apiece for Tenaha while Gray drained a three and J. Dodd added two to close out the third quarter for the Lady Tigers.
The fourth quarter saw the Lady Tigers begin to pull away from the Sandiettes as they opened up a 45-29 lead with 6:27 left to play. Try as they might, the Sandiettes could not seem to make a run to cut into the Tenaha lead and fell by a final score of 58-39.
On the game, the Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Alisa Dodd with 17 points and Lataejah Steadman with 15. Jasmine Dodd went for 12, Kamari Gray had eight, Itiyanna Dagley had four and Addy Duncan closed out the Tenaha scoring with two.
The Sandiettes were led by Mary Jane Watson with 16 points and Teira Jones with 12. Christi Shepherd netted nine and Cheney Boyd chipped in two to round out the Grapeland point production.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
