MBB: Dragons jump back into 22-1A hoop race
Loredo during first half action Tuesday night in Bearcat Gymnasium.
The Dragons picked up their first District 22-1A game of the year.
(Photo by John Krueger)
BECKVILLE, Tx -- In the evenly-matched District 22-1A boys basketball race, each game is magnified as teams scratch and claw their way toward a possible playoff spot. Shelbyville and Beckville didn't want to drop back in the league standings Tuesday night after they both fell in their opening games last week.
The Dragons were able to even their league mark at 1-1 here at Bearcat Gymnasium by forcing 20 Bearcat turnovers in the second and fourth quarters combined, while outscoring Beckville by a combined 42-18 in a 62-42 victory.
The win kept Shelbyville (4-11) just one game off the pace in the District 22-1A standings, tied with Timpson (5-14) at 1-1 and just one game back of league front-runners, No.4-ranked Tenaha (9-3) and Gary (12-9), which are both 2-0. Beckville (1-13) and Garrison (1-5) are both winless in district at 0-2.
In other league results from Tuesday, Tenaha rolled past Timpson, 82-49, and Gary popped Garrison, 54-46.
Tonight's (Friday) games include Tenaha traveling to Shelbyville, Timpson hosting Gary and Beckville visiting Garrison.
C.J. Watson led the balanced Shelbyville scoring attack, dropping in 12 of his team-high 15 points in the second half. Ja'Michael Jenkins added 13 points, scoring 10 points in the first two periods.
James Bradford contributed seven points, Travis Henkel added six, Trevor Henkel chipped in five points, Caleb Stracener added three, Symyron Robertson scored two and Dee Osby had one point.
Rain Rieke had the hot hand for Beckville, scoring nine points in the second quarter and finishing the game with 18. Jesse Sipes was also in double figures throwing in 11 points. Will Watson scored five, Cesar Loredo added four and Tyler Moon and Joey Wharmby contributed two points apiece.
The Dragons won the game on the defensive end, forcing 35 Beckville turnovers. The Dragons survived even though they had 21.
Neither team could get on a roll in the first quarter, with Jenkins scoring the first five points of the game to give the Dragons the early lead. But Beckville went on a 10-1 run over the final 3:48 of the quarter to grab a 10-6 lead after the opening quarter.
The Bearcats soon opened up a 17-9 lead with 5:54 left in the half when Sipes hit a put-back and Rieke added a pair of layups.
But the Dragons began inching their way back into the game at that point. Trevor Henkel scored a pair of layups and later added a free throw and Jenkins dropped in a pair of short-range jumpers and then dished off to Bradford on another fastbreak opportunity as Shelbyville outscored Beckville 19-6 over the final 5:32 of the second quarter to grab a 28-23 lead at intermission.
Shelbyville slowly widened the scoring gab in the third quarter, scoring seven of the first eight points of the period to take a 35-24 lead with 6:34 on the clock. But despite hitting just 2-of-6 free throws in the quarter, the Bearcats inched back to within 42-37 heading into the fourth.
The Dragons quickly put the game away in the final period, scoring 11 of the first 15 points to open up a 53-41 lead with 5:20 remaining. Watson scored a layup, nailed a trey and banged home a pair of free throws during the run.
Shelbyville finished the quarter by scoring 14 of the final 15 points, allowing just one field goal by Beckville in the final eight minutes of action.