Grapeland Keeps on Rolling in District 20-2A
Sandies 74 Tigers 19
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandies kept on rolling Tuesday night as they hammered the Latexo Tigers by a final score of 74-19.
It was the Sandies’ 48th consecutive district win and the victory puts them one step closer to their 14th consecutive district title.
Grapeland opened the game on a 10-2 run fueled by the Wiley brothers. Younger brother Omarian dropped in eight of his 12 first quarter points in the early going while older Cadarian scored the other two and had four blocks on the defensive end.
Johnny Lamb put in four in the opening period while Nate Ivey knocked down a three-pointer. Landon Jackson added two while LeLe Smith and Jax Vickers both made one of two from the line as the Sandies raced out to a 25-6 lead at the end of one.
The Grapeland defense kept the Latexo offense at bay throughout the first quarter as the only points the Tigers could muster came on twos from Cam Baker, Ashton Hargrove and Dakota Sherley.
Coach Blake Doughty went to his bench in the second quarter and slowed the tempo down tremendously for Grapeland. Cole Goolsby drained a pair of shots from behind the arc while O. Wiley added four more to his total. Zan Anderson also found the scoring column as he dropped in a basket to help the Sandies take a 37-10 lead at the break.
The third quarter was nearly a repeat of the first as O. Wiley poured in another 12 points. Lamb hit a three while Anderson and Smith added two apiece to help push the Grapeland margin to 56-13.
Hargrove dropped in a bucket for Latexo while Baker added a free throw in the third period.
The fourth quarter was a mere formality. Grapeland’s reserves played the entire quarter as Ivey led the way with five points in the period. Anderson and Jackson both dropped in four while Kionte Willis connected from behind the three-point line. Vickers chipped in two as the Sandies coasted to an easy 74-19 win.
On the game, Latexo was led in scoring by Dakota Sherley with eight points. Ashton Hargrove had four and Cam Baker netted three. Aiden Axelson and Matt Gonzales split the other four Tiger points to round out the Latexo point production.
The Sandies were led by Omarian Wiley with a game-high 28 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals. Zan Anderson and Nate Ivey had eight points apiece while Johnny Lamb dropped in seven. Cole Goolsby and Landon Jackson netted six apiece while LeLe Smith, Jax Vickers and Kionte Willis all had three. Cadarian Wiley closed out the Grapeland scoring with two. He also had seven rebounds, seven assists and four blocked shots.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]
