Houston County Holiday Classic Recap

Crockett Finishes Second in Silver Bracket, Grapeland Takes Third in Bronze

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY – With 18 teams competing for the championship and nearly 50 games over a three-day span, the Cutshaw Chevrolet Houston County Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament wrapped up on Thursday, Dec. 30 with the Hudson Hornets crowned as the 2021 Champions.

The title game featured a matchup of two former head basketball coaches for the Grapeland Sandies as Cannon Earp led his Hudson squad against the Palestine Wildcats, coached by JJ Johnson.

After a court malfunction in the Silver Bracket Championship, the game between the Coldspring- Oakhurst Trojans and Crockett Bulldogs was shifted from the Andrew J. Hopkins Activity Center to Crockett’s old gymnasium. The third place Gold Bracket game between the LaPoynor Flyers and China Spring Cougars was also relocated as was the Gold Bracket Championship.

For Earp, it was a homecoming of sorts as he had played his high school ball on the floor at the old gym and the familiarity may have paid off. Hudson jumped out to an early lead only to see Palestine battle back. In the end, however, the Hornets managed to sting the Wildcats in the fourth quarter as they pulled away to win the tournament by a final score of 56-46.

The tournament got started in Grapeland bright and early on Tuesday morning, Dec. 28 as Coldspring and LaPoynor tipped off at 8 am. The Flyers showed their #6 Class 2A ranking was no joke as they took down the Trojans 81-54.

Once first game concluded, the action on the court heated up as the Ferris Yellowjackets defeated the Westwood Panthers 48-36. China Spring followed with a close 47-43 win the Groesbeck Goats.

After China Spring’s win, the Grapeland Sandies took the floor for a game against the Rusk Eagles. Grapeland played well and led by one after one, seven after two and nine after three. Unfortunately for the Sandies, Rusk’s Aiden and Owen McCown caught fire in the final frame and poured in 10 and 11 points, respectively to nip the Grapeland squad by three, 77-74.

Following the Grapeland game, Westwood was back in action as they fell to the Mexia Black Cats by a score of 63-42. LaPoynor also returned to the court to take on Ferris and the Flyers pulled out a close 58-55 win. The Goats from Groesbeck were up next as they defeated the Ovilla Christian Academy Eagles, 62-49.

In other Tuesday action from Grapeland, Coldspring took down Mexia, 57-38; China Spring defeated Rusk, 64-40; and the Sandies evened their Day One record at 1-1 as they out paced Ovilla Christian 81-64.

The Day One games in Crockett got underway at 9 am as the Maypearl Panthers beat the Trinity Tigers 52-35 in the first action of the day from the Andrew J. Hopkins Activity Center. The Palestine Wildcats followed with a 95-38 beatdown of the Crockett JV Bulldogs while the Lovelady Lions fell to Hudson, 58-30.

A dog fight followed as the Crockett Bulldogs won a hard-fought battle with the Flatonia Bulldogs 70-65. The final two games in Crockett saw the Bulldogs JV fall to Maypearl 84-34 while Hudson defeated Flatonia, 73-51.

The tourney started back up on Wednesday as Pool Play continued. In Grapeland, Rusk opened Day Two with a 67-49 win over Ovilla. LaPoynor eased by Mexia 80-72 while Coldspring slipped by Ferris, 65-62.

The Sandies squared off against China Spring and simply didn’t have it as they fell by a score of 59-44. Rusk won its second game of the day with 59-42 victory over Groesbeck. LaPoynor also picked up their second win of the day as they knocked off Westwood 70-45.

In other Wednesday action, Mexia dropped Ferris 60-51; China Spring thumped Ovilla, 72-31; Coldspring took care of business against Westwood, 82-44; and Grapeland defeated Groesbeck 64-56.

Day Two of Pool Play in Crockett began with Huddson knocking off Crockett, 52-40 while Palestine handled Maypearl 70-51. Trinity barely clipped the Crockett JV, 50-44 while Flatonia ran past Lovelady, 81-50. Palestine shellacked Trinity, 58-25 and Crockett defeated Lovelady 68-46.

After two days of Pool Play, the standings showed Chins Spring winning Pool A with a record of 4-0. Rusk was in second with a 3-1 mark, Grapeland was in third with a 2-2 record Groesbeck was in fourth with a 1-3 mark while Ovilla was winless.

Pool B saw LaPoynor post a 4-0 mark, Coldspring was 3-1, Mexia was 2-2, Ferris was 1-3 and Westwood finished at 0-4.

In Pool C, Palestine finished with a 3-0 mark, Maypearl was 2-1 Trinity was 1-2 and the Crockett JV was 0-3.

Hudson was the class of Pool D as they went 3-0. Crockett had a mark of 2-1, Flatonia was 1-2 and Lovelady finished 0-3.

Once Pool Play concluded, the teams were placed in four different brackets. The Gold Bracket consisted of the first-place teams from each pool and was comprised of Palestine, LaPoynor, China Spring and Hudson.

The Silver Bracket consisted of the second-place teams from each pool. It was comprised of Rusk, Coldspring, Maypearl, and Crockett.

The Bronze Bracket consisted of the third-place teams from each pool and was comprised of Grapeland, Mexia, Trinity and Flatonia.

The Copper Bracket consisted of the fourth-place teams from each pool and was comprised of Groesbeck, Ferris, Westwood and Lovelady.

Bracket play began at 9 am on Thursday in both Crockett and Grapeland with the Gold and Silver Brackets being played in Crockett while the Bronze and Copper Brackets were held in Grapeland.

Starting in the Bronze Bracket, Ferris defeated Groesbeck 62-59 in the first semifinal while Lovelady hammered Westwood 55-38. Somehow, things got a little screwy with travel schedules so in the Copper Championship Lovelady faced off against Groesbeck and fell, 62-45.

In the third-place game, Ferris took down Ovilla Christian, 63-48. In the consolation game, Ovilla defeated Westwood 65-56.

In the Bronze Bracket, Flatonia defeated Trinity in the first semifinal, 61-55, while Grapeland fell to Mexia 60-51. In the Bronze Championship, Mexia nipped Flatonia 49-45, while Grapeland defeated Trinity in the third-place game, 70-49.

In the Silver Bracket, Coldspring defeated Rusk 71-53 in the first semifinal while Crockett took down Maypearl, 58-42. In the Silver Championship, Coldspring slipped by Crockett 64-61 while Rusk forfeited the third-place game to Maypearl.

The first semifinal in the Gold Bracket saw Hudson defeat China Spring, 41-36, while Palestine beat up LaPoynor 77-50. As previously mentioned, Hudson won by 10 over Palestine in the tourney championship while LaPoynor rebounded from its earlier loss to take down China Spring, 66-62, in the third-place game.