Sandies Survive Bi-District Scare
Grapeland 63 Cayuga 58
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
RUSK – Very seldom does it happen when a number four seed takes down a number one seed in the Bi-District round of the playoffs. That very nearly happened, however, on Tuesday night when the Grapeland Sandies took on the Cayuga Wildcats.
Grapeland came into the contest as the number one seed out of District 20-2A with a record of 26-10 and the Sandies were ranked #21 in Class 2A. Cayuga, on the other hand, entered Rusk Coliseum as the number four seed out of District 19-2A with a 12-14 mark on the season.
The Wildcats, however, were not your average run-of-the-mill fourth seed. The top three teams in District 19-2A were LaPoynor (ranked #10), Martin’s Mill (ranked #12) and Frankston (ranked #17).
Despite losing all six games to the top three teams in their district, the Wildcats had several quality wins and were much better than their record indicated.
The Sandies, who finished as the Class 2A State Runners-up in the 2020-2021 season, have a ton of playoff experience on their team. They would need all of it on Tuesday as they held off a determined Cayuga squad by a final score of 63-58 to win the Bi-District Championship and advance to the Area Round.
Johnny Lamb opened the scoring for the Sandies in the first quarter with a mid-range jumper. Riley Murchison followed with back-to-back buckets while Lamb knocked down a three-pointer at the 5:25 mark to put the Sandies up by a score of 9-5.
After a Cayuga timeout, the Wildcats began to battle back. Things began to get a little chippy with 2:35 left in the opening period and shortly afterwards, Cayuga seized the lead and took a 17-14 edge into the second quarter.
Lamb and Murchison paced Grapeland with five apiece in the opening eight minutes while LeLe Smith, along with Omarian Wiley, added two each to close out the scoring in the first period of play.
All five starters found the scoring column for the Wildcats in the first, led by Greg Barrett with six. Marcus Thompson dropped in four while JaCorie Bradley drained a shot from behind the arc. Spencer Calcote and Chase Hearrell closed out the quarter with two apiece.
As the second quarter got underway, the Wildcats pushed their lead out to 24-16 by the 5:21 mark of the period. A timeout by the Sandies seemed to get them back on track, however, as they went on 13-2 run capped off by a Wiley put back with 48.7 seconds remaining in the half. A late basket by Cayuga’s Thompson stalled the Grapeland momentum and sent the two teams into their respective locker rooms with Grapeland up by a score of 29-28.
Wiley led the way in the second quarter for the Sandies with 10 points. Lamb hit his second three of the game while Murchison chipped in a basket to round out Grapeland’s first half scoring.
Graham Story came off the bench to hit a three for Cayuga in the second period while Barrett, Bradley, Calcote and Thompson all had two apiece.
Murchison opened up the second half with a three-pointer. Wiley made a short jumper while Murchison made a steal and drove the length of the court for anuncontested layup to put Grapeland up by eight.
A pair of blocks by Murchison and Cadarian Wiley put the momentum on the Sandies’ sideline. A reverse lay-in by Murchison gave Grapeland a 10-point lead at the one-minute mark but a pair of back-to back baskets from the Wildcats ended the third and sent the game into the fourth quarter with the Sandies only up by six.
Grapeland was led in the third by Murchison who came alive with eight points. Cole Goolsby hit a shot from downtown while Smith also had three. O. Wiley chipped in two points to close out the third quarter.
Bradley hit a three-pointer for Cayuga in the third while Barrett, Calcote, Story and Thompson all had two apiece.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair. The Sandies pushed the lead to 48-39 at the 6:49 mark only to see the Wildcats rattle off four straight points and whittle the Grapeland lead down to five. A three-point play from Murchison pushed the lead back to eight and when Smith powered his way inside for two, the Sandies led by 10 with 3:42 remaining in the game.
The Wildcats, however, wouldn’t go away. Cayuga cut the lead to six with 2:26 left to play and when Story hit a three-pointer, the Wildcats had sliced the Grapeland margin to three, 56-53.
Fortunately for the Sandies, that was as close as the Wildcats would get as C. Wiley and Smith scored on consecutive possessions to put the game out-of-reach and help Grapeland hang on for the 63-58 win.
On the game, the Wildcats were led in scoring by Graham Story with 16 points. JaCorie Bradley was also in double-figures with 11. Spencer Calcote netted nine, while Greg Barrett and Marcus Thompson had eight apiece. Chase Hearrell closed out the Cayuga point production with six.
Grapeland was led by Omarian Wiley who had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Riley Murchison poured in 18 points, grabbed three rebounds, had three assists and three steals. LeLe Smith dropped in 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Johnny Lamb went for nine points, Cole Goolsby added three and Cadarian Wiley had a double-double with two points, 16 boards and 10 assists.
The win moved the Sandies into the Area Championship against the Crawford Pirates on Friday. As of press time, however, the final score of that game was unavailable.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
