Polk County Sports

1 Comment

Bryce Lawrence beats the defender to the rim.

By Brian Besch
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Corrigan-Camden basketball handed Woden its first district loss Tuesday on the north side of Polk County, taking a 77-57 match.

After the ‘Dogs gained a lead in the opening period, Woden closed the margin to one multiple times. However, Corrigan would stretch their lead back to double digits with a few minutes to play in the second quarter.

The press would be Woden’s undoing just after halftime. A 43-31 lead at the half turned into a 27-point advantage at 67-40 by the end of the third. Woden had problems with the inbounds pass and with any ball handler finding an open teammate. The Bulldogs gathered several steals and turned many into simple, uncontested layups.

“We noticed that they were dragging,” Corrigan-Camden coach Greg Devers said. “He didn’t use his bench much in the first half. I play seven players, but we played five games last week in the Houston County Tournament, so I called that conditioning week. He had one game, so I felt that our conditioning got them in the third quarter. We scored the most points – 24 – in that quarter, I believe.”

With the contest decided, everyone in blue got minutes on the floor in the fourth and most everyone found the scoring column.

Tony Cooper went over the 1,500-point mark for his career by leading the team with 30 Tuesday. Earlier in the season, Cooper passed 1,000 points. Brodgrick Price scored 14 and Michael Kenney had 13.

“In the Houston County tournament, we went 3-2,” Devers said of recent action. “We lost to Grapeland, and they are ranked 20 in the state in 2A. We had a 12-point lead going into the fourth quarter and we lost to them by six. Then, we beat a good 4A school in Longview Spring Hill, and then we beat Caldwell and Buffalo. My old school, Coldspring, got me again. Right now, we are 18-5, but the big thing tonight was both us and Woden were 1-0 in district. Now, we are 2-0 and we have now won 14 straight district games.”

The coach still wants to rebound better and rotate on defense quicker. He believes that many of the losses are due to teams getting second-chance points. He referenced the Grapeland game, where the Sandies got four offensive rebounds in one possession and the last shot taken was a successful 3-pointer. On the next trip down the court, Grapeland converted an offensive rebound into another bucket, making for five offensive rebounds in two possessions to go up by a point.

“Hopefully, we are going to improve in district. Woden may be one of the top three teams in district – them and Chireno can probably battle it out. When we go down there, they are tough to beat at their place, and I am sure we are going to see a different Woden team then.”

Devers also said his squad defeated Chireno by seven in a tournament earlier in the season. A trip to Broaddus is next on the schedule Friday. The Bulldogs then return home Tuesday for a date with San Augustine.

Write a comment

Syannia Roberts puts up a shot in the lane.

By Brian Besch

The Corrigan-Camden Lady Dogs could not match their first-period output over the final three quarters of the game, dropping a 63-9 contest to West Sabine Tuesday.

The Lady Dogs were able to score five in the first quarter, but failed to put together consistent offense from there. West Sabine held a 10-point margin after one, and led 29-6 at the half.

“I think we are hustling a lot harder and we still need to work on turning the ball over too much,” Corrigan coach Jack Arneson said. “There are too many turnovers; we just need to be more patient on offense. It is tough in the first year and I got here kind of late in the summer. The real growth is going to be made in the offseason. Usually by year two or three, things start rolling and the girls get a little more comfortable with me, and I learn how things go around here scheduling-wise. We’ve got to get them in the gym more, because that is really what they need.”

Anyea Wyatt, Faith Menifee, Noretta Sweats and Ava Burks all contributed in the scoring column for the Lady Dogs.

Arneson, in his first year at Corrigan, said he wants to build an offseason program for the girls, where they can work through the late spring and summer to be better prepared for the future. However, he has also not given up on making improvements now with the season in progress.

“The athleticism is there, we just need to work on basketball IQ,” the coach said. “The more they can watch and get excited about it like they do volleyball – because they play volleyball more and they are around it more. We just have to build that up.”

The girls host Grapeland Friday night, then travel to Colmesneil Tuesday. 

Write a comment

 

Tony Cooper drives for the layup.By Brian Besch

Corrigan-Camden is rolling again in 2023, picking up wins versus quality opponents and facing some of the best in larger classifications. Tuesday, they were winners over Hemphill 82-49 in northern Polk County.

In just the second year under Coach Greg Devers, Corrigan looks to be tough to stop once more. Winners of District 24-2A last season, they are strong favorites to repeat.

The ‘Dogs handled the ball better, outran the Hornets, and were able to apply enough pressure on the press to convert easy buckets. The lead was double digits after a quarter, and 18 at the half. Finishing strong, they scored 25 points in the fourth.

“I didn’t know how this game was going to be. We had a weekend where we played a bunch of games and our legs are kind of tired,” Devers said. “We had an easy workout yesterday. Hemphill decided to get into a running game with us, too. We scored 82 points, but I think we should have put more on the board. We missed a lot of layups and a lot of open threes. I think five of our last six games, we hit double digits in threes, and I don’t even think we got close tonight. But, we got after it.”

The team was a little closer than the coach thought, with nine shots made from behind the arc. Five of those came in the fourth quarter. Talan Gulley led with 20 points, Tony Cooper had 19, and Brodgrick Price 18. By comparison, Hemphill’s high scorer had a dozen.

“I am down to about eight players after I moved one down,” the coach said. “I think we can go with an eight-man rotation. I think our main thing is we’ve got to get our legs under us and we’ve also got to get in shape to play 32 minutes, because we can’t sit down and play a half-court defense.”

Last weekend in bracket play, Corrigan-Camden defeated Claiborne Academy (from Louisiana), as well as tournament host Gary. They were then defeated by Martin’s Mill, the No. 1 team in Class 2A. They came back in the final game with a come-from-behind victory over Chireno.

“We still have a big one Friday against the No. 9-ranked team in 3A Kountze over in the Lion’s Den,” Devers said. “If we thought this was running up and down the court, it is really going to be running on Friday.”

The Bulldogs are not shying away from competition, as next week they host Class 2A No. 8 Evadale, play a ranked 3A in Orangefield, and a ranked 4A team in Tyler Chapel Hill in the Houston County tournament.

Write a comment

By Brian Besch
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Polk County hosted two basketball tournaments over the weekend, with champions still to be decided after press time. The Big Sandy and Goodrich tournaments are fixtures for the first weekend in December and packed with plenty of hoop action.

ONALASKA BOYS

Onalaska got off to an 11-0 start versus Splendora in the morning game of the Big Sandy tournament. That was extended to a 30-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. Johnny Byrd had 16 points in the opening period and the Wildcats by the lake would cruise to an 89-70 win. Johnny Byrd finished with 18, Bryan Wyatt led with 20, Ryder Humbird-Smith had 17 and Patrick Roth had 11.

“We’ve always had good first quarters – not quite that good – but whenever you are putting up 30 in a quarter, that is good pacing,” Onalaska coach Nick Tyerman said. “We just have to do a better job on defense. For some reason, the second quarter keeps being our Achilles heel. We let other teams get hot and we’re not scoring as much. We’ve got to fix that. Sometimes, I think that maybe I’m getting myself into a bind of leaving the first group of five in a little too long and maybe they are a little too tired in the second quarter. I’ve got to do a little better substituting so we can keep our tempo and pace up.”

Friday began with Orangefield, and the Wildcats were down after the first quarter 27-17. The Bobcats’ were able to hang on after the quick start for a 74-61 win over Onalaska. However, the Wildcats did close the margin to a single possession in the second half. Wyatt scored 15 and Byrd had 14.

“A lot of that stuff is on me,” Tyerman said. “We have to prepare better. I was extremely proud of the boys because we got back, and at one point, we were within three. The kids that normally knock down free throws missed some free throws that would have made it a tie game or even a lead. A lot of teams with high school kids, it is tough if you come out and struggle early to rebound after that. They showed real resiliency and I am proud of that.” 

BIG SANDY GIRLS

It took until the final minute of the first quarter to break a scoreless tie, but once they did, Big Sandy was able to secure a Thursday morning win. After a 2-2 opening period, Big Sandy trailed West Orange-Stark at the half by one. However, a 30-point second half, while holding the Lady Mustangs to six points would be more than enough for the 41-18 victory. Savanna Poncho led with 15 points, Briana Miles had seven and Faith Geller six.

“Both teams struggled to score in the first half really,” Lady Cat coach Ryan Alec said. “We really haven’t been in that situation all year long, so it was good for us to kind of experience that. In the second half, we made some adjustments. I thought we were pretty stagnant as far as driving the ball and we were standing around too much on the outside. We did shoot the three quite a bit, but for us to get open against an athletic team like that, we talked about driving more to the basket and attacking gaps more, spreading the floor out a little more. We use a lot of base line stuff and we’re trying to work on base line attacking. That freed up some shooters. Luckily, we knocked down some shots. Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job. They were big and we were overmatched defensively, as far as athleticism and size. We emphasize a lot on blocking out and rebounding.”

Woden proved to be a bigger challenge on Friday, as the Lady Eagles took a 36-32 win. The margin was just two near the end, but the Lady Cats could not get attempts to fall. Poncho again was the leading scorer with 15 points.

“I thought we played a great defensive game and their defense was pretty good,” Alec said. “They are not overly athletic like some of the teams that we have played in the past two days, but they are very well coached and they get out and play hard and get after you defensively. We missed some opportunities and throughout the course of the game we made some mistakes. We had our chances, but came up short against a good team.”

BIG SANDY BOYS

By the time Warren put points on the board Thursday, there was 5:14 remaining in the second quarter and Big Sandy held a 25-point advantage. The Warriors were also shut out in the fourth period. Big Sandy would go on to claim a 67-11 victory. Tavian Battise had 17 points, Zane Alec had 15 and Jamesley Flowers 11.

“I thought our defense was really good,” Big Sandy coach Kevin Foster said. “We made everything very difficult for them when they tried to get a shot off. Not only that, but we finished our possession with good rebounds. Offensively, I would like for us to be a little more crisp with the ball and the movement of the ball. I thought we were a little stagnant at times, but overall, it is a good win and they will all get tougher from here on out. It is a good way to start the tournament.”

A Friday win was taken over Woden 53-29, led by the Wildcat defense. The Eagles’ 15-9 first-quarter advantage was short lived. Woden had trouble finding the bucket, as Big Sandy clamped down to allow seven in the second quarter, then seven through the second half. Javen Criswell hit six three-pointers and had 21 points, while Nick Ortiz had five from long range and 17.

“We start off slow, and early on, I thought our defense wasn’t good,” Foster said. “They were knocking down shots and scored 15 in the first quarter. Our defense really tightened up after that. I thought their defensive intensity was good and we weren’t crisp with our execution. I think once we settled in we were OK. It was one of those games where it takes you awhile to get going. Javen is really good and he can play different positions, so it is hard to prepare for him.”

GOODRICH GIRLS

The Lady Hornets won their Thursday game to enter the winner’s bracket, a 38-33 triumph over Colmesneil. Down five at the half, Goodrich utilized a strong third-quarter performance of 16 points to take the lead for good. Latrina Morgan had 15 and Tanyreauna Criswell had nine.

“There was no defense and we were always in a rush to shoot the ball,” Lady Hornet coach Pinellafie Johnson said. “We dribble too much with our head down. As soon as we catch the ball, we have to look and we are having a poor time taking care of that. If we don’t play some defense, we let one girl just drive around us. That’s not defense. I tell them all the time that this game is played with their feet and we really have to work on that. We got the job done and it was nice to get the win, but still, going into district, that is not going to cut it for us.”

On Friday, opportunities were there at the end of the game, but Richards escaped with a 44-41 win. A poor first half had the Lady Hornets playing catch up the rest of the way. Down nine points at the half, they closed the gap to two by the end of the third. Morgan led all scores with 24 points.

“It was so simple – defense – just guard a girl. We turn our back and just leave someone open. I don’t know who we think we are guarding with someone behind us,” Johnson said shaking her head. “Offensively, we are still rushing everything. Until they learn to move their feet and play defense, it’s just not going to work. We missed enough free throws to win the game. We have to learn to connect when we get that opportunity.”

GOODRICH BOYS

Goodrich claimed their first win of the season in four tries versus Shepherd JV 60-41 Thursday. Outsized, the Hornets were still able to rebound with the larger Pirates for a three-point lead at the end of the third period. An 18-2 fourth quarter with a full-court press decided it. A’Mareion Bookman had 22 points and freshman Marquis Robinson had 10.

“That is our first win and we decided to play a little defense,” Goodrich coach Lester King said. “We got a little lead and then we thought it was time to just score and stop playing defense. When we started playing defense, we got ourselves back in the ball game. If we would have kept playing defense, we would have pulled away. We aren’t perfect, but we got better.”

The Hornets again turned it on late Friday versus Richards, but fell a bit short at 40-38. Down double digits in the third, Goodrich made a furious comeback that fell just short in the final minute. Bookman again led the team in points.

“We were just dumb on defense and acted like we didn’t know who to guard, when to guard, or where to guard,” King said. “The pressure got to us and we came back really good, but we let it get too far behind. When we threw the ball away, they went and scored. We look better and we are going to keep getting better, because next week we have three good days of practice and go to a tournament. It was a good game.”