Sandies Open District Play with Road Win

Grapeland Picks Up 78-57 Victory over Lovelady

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

LOVELADY – The Grapeland Sandies have several goals this year. Among these is to extend their string of district championships in basketball. The Sandies are seeking their ninth consecutive league title and opened up their District 20-AA campaign on Friday night against the Lovelady Lions.

The Lions played hard throughout the contest but the Sandies were simply too much as Grapeland pulled away in the second half and coasted to a 78-57 win.

The game opened with the Sandies seizing an early lead thanks to the hot hand of Javion Joseph who scored nine points in the first quarter. Keizion Ashford chipped in four in the opening eight minutes, Rick Frauenberger had three and BJ Howard added two as Grapeland opened up an 18-11 lead at the end of one.

Lovelady’s points came on a pair of threes from Seth Murray, a three-ball from Jay Thomas Robinson as well as twos from both Colt Robinson and Taylor Womack.

The second quarter was more of the same for Grapeland as Joseph continued his hot start. He paced the Sandies with six in the quarter while Howard and Deco Bryant connected from behind the arc for three apiece. Frauenberger powered inside for two and Tyrin Wiley got in the books with a free throw.

The Lions second quarter points came from Murray and Michael Price with three apiece. J. Robinson dropped in two and Hunter Patton converted one of two from the line to make the halftime score, 33-22.

After the break, the Sandies put the game away as they opened up a 58-37 by the end of the third quarter. Wiley led the Grapeland charge in the period with seven points. Bryant dropped in five while a trio of Sandies – Ashford, Frauenberger and Howard – all had four. Keriaun Davis closed out the third quarter scoring for Grapeland with a free throw.

Lovelady was paced by Price with six and Trevon Hawkins with four in the third. J. Robinson had three while Deontrae Hawkins added two.

The final period of play saw the Sandies go to the line 17 times and convert on 12 for a .705 FT percentage. For the game, Grapeland shot 21 of 33 for a .636 FT percentage.

Howard was the Sandies’ busiest player at the charity stripe as he knocked down seven of nine in the fourth to go along with a two from the field. Frauenberger had five, Wiley dropped in four and Ashford chipped in two.

Lovelady was led by Murray with five and TreVon Hawkins with four. Price and J. Robinson both had three while Patton and C. Robinson had two apiece to make the final score Grapeland 78 and Lovelady 56.

For the game, the Sandies were led by five players in double figures. BJ Howard led all scorers with 18 points in the game. Javion Joseph had 15, Rick Frauenberger netted 14, Tyrin Wiley had 12 and Keizion Ashford notched 10. Other Sandies to score included Deco Bryant with eight and Keriaun Davis with one.

The Lions were led by Seth Murray with 14 and Michael Price with 12 points. Jay Thomas Robinson dropped in 11, TreVon Hawkins had eight, Colt Robinson had four, Hunter Patton had three and both Deontrae Hawkins as well as Taylor Womack scored two.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].