Sandies Win Home Opener by 30
Grapeland 77 Elkhart 47
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – A good-sized crowd was on-hand as the Grapeland Sandies made their home debut of the 2019-2020 basketball season on Tuesday night, Dec. 10. The Sandies (5-0) were coming off a weekend where they won the Franklin Tournament by defeating the Crockett Bulldogs, 50-42.
Grapeland’s opponent for the night was a longtime rival, the Elkhart Elks. The Elks (7-2) had won their own tournament over the weekend as they defeated the Normangee Panthers, 61-48.
As the game got underway, the two teams seemed to be trying to gauge one another. By the four minute mark of the quarter, however, it appeared as if Grapeland had gotten a feel for the game and began to race up-and-down the court.
Austin Driskell and BJ Lamb found their range from behind the arc, and when Deco Bryant dropped in a four-point play, the Sandies led 27-14.
Lamb paced the Sandies with nine points in the quarter while Bryant had six. Both Driskell and Keizion Ashford dropped in five. Cadarian Wiley also chipped in two.
The Elks were led by their big man – Ky Thomas – with seven first quarter points. Messiah Birdow and Cale Starr both hit from three-point land while Cade Starr made one of two from the charity stripe.
The second quarter saw the Sandies continue to rain down threes on the Elks. Lamb threw in two more while Bryant and Lekerian Smith also hit from downtown. Ashford, Wiley and Dameion Smith all dropped in two as Grapeland opened up a 45-20 lead at the break.
The Sandies defense was relentless in the second as they held the Elks to six points on twos from Birdow, Cade Starr and Thomas.
When the third quarter began, Ashford took over as he poured in eight points. Bryant knocked in five and Lamb added four to push the Grapeland lead out to 62-37 after three periods of play.
Cade Starr had the hot hand for the Elks in the third as he put in seven points while Birdow and Thomas both had four.
With a 27-point lead, Coach Blake Doughty went to his bench to give some game-time experience to several reserve players. Lamb added five to his total, while five other Sandies – Driskell, Smith, Michael Dancer, TJ Snell and Cooper Ward – all had two as the Sandies picked up a 77-47 win.
For the Elks, Thomas poured in seven and Cade Starr had five in the fourth quarter.
On the game, the Elks were led by Ky Thomas with 20. Cade Starr had 15 points on the night, Messiah Birdow added nine and Cale Starr had three.
The Sandies were led by BJ Lamb with a game-high 24 points and five assists. Keizion Ashford poured in 15 and Deco Bryant added 14. Austin Driskell went for seven while both Dameion Smith and Cadarian Wiley had four. Lekerian Smith hit a three while Michael Dancer, TJ Snell and Cooper Ward all had two apiece to round out the Grapeland scoring.
Following the game, Coach Doughty spoke to The Messenger about his team’s performance against the Elks and on the season, so far.
“We’re 6-0 right now. Obviously, winning the Franklin Tournament was a big deal for us. We’re very happy with the way we started. It’ terrible to say but we have bigger things on our minds than the Franklin Tournament. We are building towards something and we want to make sure we keep our eyes on the prize,” Doughty said.
Asked about what he liked on the young season, the coach replied the team had great chemistry and guys who liked to work hard for each other.
“The thing I like most is that it’s kind of a ‘next-man-up’ type of thing,” Doughty said. “We have not had the same leading scorer in consecutive games this year. The guys have embraced that. If it’s their night, it’s their night and if it’s not, they have no problem being unselfish and passing it on to the next guy.”
Concerning the chemistry, the coach said there is a good mix of experience along with some new faces. Doughty also indicated the team is actually fairly young and only had one senior starter (Deco Bryant) against the Elks.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
