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State-ranked ‘Cats impressive again

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012223 big sandy bbElias Bullock lifts a shot over six Bobcat arms for two points. Jorden Martinez gets two of his eight points. Tavian Battise floats through the lane. He had six points in Friday’s win. Photos by Brian Besch

By Brian Besch
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Wildcat basketball jumped out to a big lead early for homecoming and cruised to a 70-26 win over the Hull-Daisetta Bobcats Friday.

After one half, Big Sandy was sitting on top of a 40-10 lead and the game had been decided. The Wildcat defense did not allow more than eight points in a quarter, even after emptying the bench.

“For the most part, our defense this year has been good,” head coach Kevin Foster said. “Sometimes, we struggle to finish the possessions with a rebound and that is frustrating at times. I think where we have to get better is just finishing possessions. I thought our intensity was really good tonight and we really got after it defensively.”

The offense wasn’t bad either. It averaged 20 points per quarter until the fourth, when inexperience on the court slowed the pace. In total, the Wildcats were 18-for-25 from the free-throw line and hit six 3-pointers.

“As far as offense goes, we turned it over a little bit too much early, but we were able to clean that up,” Foster said. “Moving forward for us, one of the things that we chart on the bench is turnovers and offensive rebounds for the other team. When our turnovers are down and we’re not giving up a lot of offensive rebounds, we’ve got a shot to win a lot of games. That is really our focus.”

Elias Bullock had 16 points to lead the game, while teammates Kaden Foster and Jason Valderez had 13 each, Javen Criswell had 12, and Jorden Martinez eight. No Bobcat scored more than six points.

The entire Wildcat roster was able to participate in Friday’s game, with most breaking into the score column. Big Sandy now holds a record of 20-6. They are 3-0 in district and have a state ranking of No. 10 in Class 2A, according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll. 

“We have to make sure our execution is good, especially this time of year. I was proud of the way the kids played tonight. We got after it pretty good.”

A home game with Sabine Pass Tuesday was next on the schedule, while the toughest challenge offered in District 25-2A awaited last Friday on a road trip to Evadale.

Area scoreboard

BOYS
Hardin-Jefferson 72 Livingston 53
Timpson 77 Corrigan-Camden 59
Leggett 98 Chester 35
Onalaska 66 Coldspring 62
Brookeland 71 Goodrich 20
Hemphill 57 Woodville 54
West Sabine 73 Colmesneil 31
Hamshire-Fannett 82 Liberty 35
Diboll 80 Pineywoods 33
Huffman Hargrave 51 Splendora 37

GIRLS
Chester 73 Leggett 37
Anderson-Shiro 58 Tarkington 55
Huntington 78 Newton 25
Groveton 46 Latexo 30
San Augustine 59 Broaddus 56

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Starting over again

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011923 lady cc bbNorett Sweats led the team with seven points. Norett Sweats led the team with seven points. Photos by Brian Besch

By Brian Besch
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The Corrigan-Camden girls lost a 52-15 district contest to West Sabine Tuesday, but showed plenty of effort after the first quarter.

It took two minutes for West Sabine to go up 11-0, and the Lady Dogs would not score until down 18 points. Corrigan-Camden trailed 18-2 at the end of the opening period.

They were held to single digits in every period, and new head coach Khadijah Carter wants her team taking more shots to improve there.

“We came out in the second half a little bit better. The first quarter was horrible,” Carter said, shaking her head. “In the second quarter, we actually started moving, but I had to bring in my second string to start getting shots, and they were actually moving the ball. We’ve just got to shoot it more and communicate more.”

The Lady Dogs showed better on defense in the second and fourth quarters, holding the Lady Tigers to just nine and eight points, respectively.

Noretta Sweats led the team with seven points, while Kalyn Smith, Kashe Mack and Jania Mack also broke into the points column.

Since arriving in Corrigan from Coldspring, Carter has tried to develop skills with her young group.

“It is just the basics and fundamentals,” she said. “We are building from the ground up and we only have one senior. We have two juniors, a sophomore, and the rest are freshmen. It is basically starting all over again.”

Starting over again isn’t new for the coach. She took a team in need of help that had seldom seen the win column at Goodrich and improved on past performance. However, Carter knows the process will not occur overnight.

“I just want them to give it all they’ve got. There are a couple of games that we can win if they give the same energy that they gave last week. If they can give that kind of energy, it should be way better. I just need effort.”

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Corrigan-Camden with plenty of bite

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011923 corrigan bbAyden Sowders floats to the bucket. Tony Cooper led all scores with 32 points. Photos by Brian Besch

By Brian Besch
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They are fast to the bucket on offense and like the ocean on defense with wave after wave. Corrigan-Camden basketball is not just good, they are undefeated and in first place through one round of district play. They are setting scoring records at the school this year and dominating many by putting up 100 points, or winning by margins like 95-9.

New head coach Greg Devers has poured gasoline on a program that began building a small fire over the past two years.

The Bulldogs did not seem to have it all together through one quarter Tuesday, but the final three were a showcase for the top team in 24-2A. They defeated West Sabine 95-44 to go 6-0 in district and 19-2 overall.

“The thing about it is, the last three or four games, we have been sluggish. We have actually either been tied or behind in the last four games (after the first quarter),” Devers said. “What our goal is, we are playing nine players every quarter and what we are trying to do is wear teams down. We start getting them in the second quarter like we did tonight where we went on a 31-point run. In the second half, we tend to blow them away, because most teams in our district don’t have the kind of depth that we do.”

West Sabine did not look like a team that had struggled to a 2-15 record early Tuesday. They contested shots, got to the rim, and kept up with the ‘Dogs for eight minutes, trailing by only one at 14-13.

A 31-12 second quarter extinguished any worries Bulldog fans had. Corrigan-Camden continued to score at a high rate, with 24 and 26 over the final two periods. Meanwhile, the Tigers were gassed. West Sabine was outscored by 50 points over the last three quarters.

Leading in the point column for the home team was Tony Cooper with 32, Tra Thomas with 25, Michael Kenney had 11 and Kam Wyatt added 10.

There are nine players on the team, and all nine get plenty of minutes for the Bulldogs.

“They are good,” Devers said of his bench. “That is going to pay off in the long run, because if we get into the playoffs and somebody gets in foul trouble, I have no problems putting somebody in that is on the bench.”

Corrigan-Camden has breezed through a round of district, but the coach that surpassed 400 wins in December has a plan to keep the team focused on its goals.

“One reason I have them focused is we have a big game this Friday against Timpson, the third-ranked team,” Devers said. “That has been our goal. After the Timpson game, we’ve got the second round, and then we are going to play a playoff preview. Hopefully, any problems that we have will show. Our half-court game needs to improve on defense. When we are not trapping, we need to play better defense in half-court man. It actually got a little bit better tonight.

“Other than the team I took to state at Coldspring, this team ranks up there with one of my fastest. I had some teams at Manvel that I can brag about, but this team gets after it. They all get along and that is the key. There is no selfish player on this team.”

After traveling to Timpson Friday, the Bulldogs are at Colmesneil for a Tuesday tip and return the following Friday to host Woden.

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Pirates in playoff hunt

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011223 leggett basketball

Leggett basketball was finally slowed in district play Friday night, dropping an 85-55 game to Brookeland in a contest for first place in District 28-1A.

The Pirates were 4-0 until that point in district and were coming off a win in which they controlled Zavalla 91-40.

In that game, four players registered double digit points. Joshua Perkins led with 30, while Jace Railey had 25, Gavin Nichols and Ty Lawless 14, and Joh’vonn Scott eight.

The loss drops Leggett to second in the district, a half-game over third-place Chester.

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Turnovers, turnovers

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011523 lion basketballJ.T. Randolph attempts to evade a defender on his way to the rim. Jayden Randolph lays in two of his 14 points.

By Brian Besch
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Livingston basketball lost its district opener Friday 86-51 to Hamshire-Fannett in a game that was closer than the score would indicate. 

Turnovers and fouls kept the Lions behind in the first quarter. Livingston had trouble maintaining possession and several errant passes went the other way, while a 10-2 difference in fouls would benefit the state-ranked Longhorns for a 20-8 lead.

Livingston pulled within five at one point in the second quarter when they took care of the basketball, but Hamshire-Fannett would stretch the margin to 33-24 at the half. 

The Lions remained competitive with the No. 16 team in Class 4A until the end of the third quarter. 

“Turnovers, turnovers,” Livingston coach Frederic Camp said. “It is like I said, I never can tell who is going to show up. When you don’t do what you were asked to do, that is what happens. You have to do what you’re asked, and if not, it is not going to happen.”

Scoring 27 and 24 in the third and fourth quarters, the ‘Horns did not meet much resistance from the Lion defense. 

For Livingston, Willie Dault had 15 points, Jayden Randolph had 14 and Tyrell Fagan added 12.

Camp believes Friday’s game was the most turnovers he has seen from one of his teams.

“Probably about 25 or 28,” the coach said trying to estimate. “We got beat by that much, so that’s probably how many there were.”

He then talked about his frustrations with the defense.

“Here comes a guy full speed and we sit there and look at him and don’t even step over there and let him run over us. We tell them to step over there and take the charge, because they are coming at the top of the key to the goal. He is going to run over you. If he passes the ball or if he shoots the ball, he is going to run over you. We will take one or two, but that is about it and we let the rest go. It’s just ugly.”

The Lions will take a road trip to Huffman and take on Hargrave Tuesday, then return home for a match versus Hardin-Jefferson Friday. 

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