Sandies Blast Cougars, 70-28
Win Moves Grapeland Closer to District Title
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
JEWETT – The Grapeland Sandies hit the road on Tuesday evening as they traveled to Jewett for a District 20-2A matchup against the Leon Cougars.
The Sandies came into the game with a record of 22-9 and a #17 ranking in the latest TABC Class 2A poll. The Cougars, on the other hand, have struggled this season and have a 0-20 mark.
Given that backdrop, the game went about as one might expect. Grapeland opened up a 21-point lead by the end of the first quarter and rolled to a 70-28 win.
Once the game got underway, it was all Sandies. Johnny Lamb paced the Grapeland squad with 10 points in the opening eight minutes which included a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first quarter. Omarian Wiley added five while three other Sandies – Cole Goolsby, LeLe Smith and Kionte Willis – all had four apiece to help give Grapeland a 27-6 lead after one.
The Cougars’ points came from Aaron Graham, Landon Martin and Gannen Wise who all scored two apiece.
Grapeland slowed the pace of play down tremendously in the second quarter as Coach Blake Doughty gave his reserve players some quality minutes. Smith and Lamb stayed hot as Smith went for six in the quarter while Lamb added five to his total. Willis had four and Jax Vickers added a basket as the Sandies took a 44-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Leon’s second quarter points came from Brock Bumpurs with five, while Martin had five and Gannen chipped in two.
After the break, Grapeland continued to work its bench players. Lamb dropped in another four while Nate Ivey nailed a three-pointer. Smith and Wiley rounded out the third quarter scoring with two apiece as the Sandies led 55-25 with three periods in the books.
Jose Carrizales and Cody DeBoard found the scoring column for Leon in the third as both hit from behind the arc while Graham chipped in two.
The fourth quarter was a mere formality for Grapeland as they pushed their lead out to 42 by the end of the period. Wiley led the way with four while Ivey hit his second three of the half. Goolsby, Lamb, Jason DeCluette and Landon Jackson split the other eight points equally as the Sandies pulled away to win by a final score of 70-28.
DeBoard scored the only fourth quarter points for the Cougars with a three-ball.
On the game, Leon was led in scoring by Cody DeBoard and Landon Martin with six apiece. Brock Bumpurs had five while Aaron Graham and Gannen Wise had four apiece. Jose Carrizales closed out the Cougars’ point production with a three-pointer.
The Sandies were led by Johnny Lamb with a game-high 21 points. Lamb also had five rebounds and four assists. LeLe Smith was also in double-figures with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Omarian Wiley poured in 11 points to go along with four boards and three assists.
Kionte Willis netted eight points, Nate Ivey hit a pair of three-pointers and Cole Goolsby also added six. Jason DeCluette, Landon Jackson and Jax Vickers all had two apiece to account for the Grapeland scoring.
Cadarian Wiley didn’t score but did pull down 10 rebounds to go along with two assists and two steals.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
