Bulldogs, Sandies Fare Well in Madisonville Tournament
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
MADISONVILLE – The Madisonville Classic Invitational Basketball Tournament wrapped up this past weekend and two Houston County teams showed they are more than ready to start eyeing the postseason.
The Crockett Bulldogs finished as the tourney runners-up to the host Madisonville Mustangs while the Grapeland Sandies won the Silver Championship.
As luck would have it, the Bulldogs and Sandies opened the tournament in pool play. The game went down to the wire before the Bulldogs pulled out the 59-56 win.
Crockett was led in scoring by Delvin Walker with 16. He was joined in double figures by Jadyn Collins with 12 points and Keshun Easterling with 10. Both Courtney Byrd and Jaroderick Holmes had six apiece while Bre’dron Tucker added five. Other scorers for the Bulldogs included Tayshawn Simon with three and Iverson Rischer with one.
The Sandies were paced by Omarian Wiley with a game-high 18 points. Lakerina Smith poured in 12 and Cadarian Wiley dropped in nine. Riley Murchison went for eight, Zan Anderson had five and Cole Goolsby had three to close out the Grapeland point production.
The second game of the day saw the Sandies take on the Anderson-Shiro Owls. It was a hard-fought game Grapeland prevailed over the Class 3A Owls by a final score of 60-51. The Sandies were led by Cadarian Wiley with 17 points and Johnny Lamb with 14.
Crockett also played the Owls in their second game of the day. Once again, Anderson-Shiro played tough but they were no match for the Bulldogs as Crockett won the game by a score of 60-54.
With a record of 1-1 in pool play, the Sandies wound up in the Silver Bracket on Friday where they took on the Alpha Omega Academy Lions. The game was tight throughout but the Grapeland defense was too much for the Lions in the fourth quarter as eh Sandies pulled out the 58-49 win.
Cadarian Wiley and Omarian Wiley both had double-doubles as Cadarian had 18 points and 10 boards while Omarian had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Zandric Anderson netted 13 and Riley Murchison added 11.
The Bulldogs went 2-0 in pool play and found themselves in the Gold Bracket where they took on the #4 ranked New Waverly Bulldogs. While many felt the game would be a repeat of last year’s loss to New Waverly, Crockett came out and walloped them by a final score of 64-46.
Grapeland’s win over Alpha Omega moved them into the Silver Bracket Championship where the Class 3A Tarkington Longhorns were waiting. Again, the Sandies faced a tough opponent, but in the end, Grapeland prevailed by a final score of 84-75.
Omarian Wiley led the way with 32 points and was selected to the All-Tournament Team. Zandric Anderson poured in 16, while both Johnny Lamb and Riley Murchison had 14 apiece.
The Bulldogs win over New Waverly moved them to the Tourney Championship where they faced the Madisonville Mustangs. Crockett was without its top scorer in Delvin Walker but still hung tough with a very physical Madisonville team before falling 59-46. Delvin Walker and Jadyn Collins were voted to the All-Tournament team.
The Bulldogs were back in action on Tuesday when they returned to Madisonville for a rematch with the Mustangs. As of press time, however, a final score was not available.
The Sandies were back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 8 as they traveled to Athens to take on the Class 3A #3 ranked Brock Eagles. As of press time, however, a final score was not available.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
