Grapeland Takes Down Trinity in Ho. Co. Tournament
Sandies Take Third in Bronze Bracket
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandies hosted the Trinity Tigers in the third-place game of the Houston County Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament Bronze Bracket last Thursday and came away with a hard-fought 70-49 win.
The Sandies came into the game having gone 2-2 in Pool Play and had lost their first game in bracket play to a tough Mexia Black Cats team by a final score of 60-51.
The Tigers had gone 1-2 in Pool Play and had lost to Flatonia Bulldogs in the bracket portion of the tournament by a 61-55 margin.
The three-day tournament had taken its toll on both teams as the two squads seemed somewhat sluggish at the beginning of the contest. Trinity took a one-point lead after the first eight minutes of play thanks to eight points from Terius Maxie. Kaden Barnes and Tristian Martinez both had three while Cameron Anderson added a bucket to help the Tigers take a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Omarian Wiley
Grapeland was paced by Omarian Wiley with five while Zan Anderson made the twine sing with a three. Cole Goolsby, Johnny Lamb and Riley Murchison all had two apiece to round out the Sandies’ scoring in the period.
As the second quarter began, it looked like the Grapeland squad had a little more energy than Trinity. Wiley continued to pester the Tigers’ D with another six points while Lamb also netted a half-dozen in the quarter. Anderson hit his second three of the game while Murchison, Landon Jackson and Lakerina Smith chipped in two apiece to help the Sandies take a 35-28 lead into the locker room at the half.
Cole Hortman led Trinity in the second quarter with four points while Trent Goodall knocked down a shot from behind the arc. Martinez added three more to his total while Bryan Crabtree had two and Maxie converted one of two from the line.
After the break, Lamb and Wiley continued to torment the Trinity squad with six apiece. Goolsby put in four while Anderson and Smith both had two as the Sandies began to pull away and led by a score of 55-39 after three periods of play were in the books.
Martinez netted five, third quarter points for the Tigers while Hortman, Maxie and Zylan Woods split the other six points equally.
The fourth quarter saw Murchison come alive as Grapeland continued to pull away. Murchison knocked down a pair of threes as a part of his 10 points in the final frame. Lamb drained a three-pointer of his own and Wiley added two more to his total as the Sandies stretched their lead to 70-49 by the time the final horn sounded.
Riley Murchison
The Tigers got four from Martinez while Anderson, Crabtree and Maxie closed out the Trinity fourth quarter scoring with two each.
On the game, Trinity was paced by Tristian Martinez with 15 points. He was joined in double figures by Terius Maxie with 12. Cole Hortman dropped in six while Cameron Anderson and Bryan Crabtree had four apiece. Kaden Barnes and Trent Goodall netted three apiece while Zylan Woods chipped in a basket to account for the Tigers’ point production.
The Sandies were led by Omarian Wiley with a game-high 19 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds, dished out six assists and had four steals. Johnny Lamb was also in double-figures with 17 points and six assists. Riley Murchison had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. He also had three assists and three steals.
Zan Anderson added eight, Cole Goolsby dropped in six, Lakerina Smith went for four and Landon Jackson closed out the Grapeland scoring with two.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
