San Jacinto County Sports

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Trey Siddall posts a shot from just inside the 3-point line against Hardin. Tristen Cullum takes the ball to the hoop over Hull-Daisetta to secure the win and advance to the second round. Photos by Charles Ballard

By Charles Ballard
SJNT correspondent

GOODRICH — The Shepherd Pirates beat all comers to end up champions of the Goodrich Christmas Classic on Saturday.

The final win was a 68-43 drubbing of the Founders Christian Falcons.

Top scorers were Tristen Cullum with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jesse Valerie with 18 points and 2 rebounds, and Payton Burton with 10 points and four rebounds.

Braydon Mettlen contributed 10 rebounds along with his 8 points.

To reach the finals, the Pirates downed the Hardin Hornets and the Hull-Daisetta Bobcats.

Shepherd won the tilt against Hardin 76-45, returning strong after a slow start.

Head Coach Jeremy Bennett said he told the players to “keep plugging away and play hard. We started out slow just like yesterday but just keep working your position.”

Shepherd stayed close during the first quarter trailing by three but opened up in the second quarter went in at the half with a 33-26 lead.

The Pirates held the Hornets to only 7 points during the third quarter while they posted 21; the Hornets lost focus, being called for two technical fouls that shifted momentum to the Pirates.

Top scorers were Valerie with 31 points, including three 3-pointers; Mattlen had 15 points and 12 rebounds; and Burton had 14 points. Cullum pulled in 13 rebounds in the win.

In the opening round, Shepherd beat Hull-Daisetta 65-62

Valerie had 12 points, Mettlen had 8 points, Burton had 9 points, and Cullum had the hot hand, tossing in 24 points.

Bennet said Shepherd had a very slow start, as with all games during the tournament.

“I did not say anything special to the boys at the half but ‘play your game’, and that is what they did,” he said. “They came back with a much better focus and a desire to win.”

Coldspring

During the Goodrich holiday tournament, the Coldspring Trojans lost its opener to Anahuac 49-39. That was followed by a 61-34 win over Broaddus and a 48-46 win over Brookeland.

On Nov. 29, the Trojans lost to Buna 77-36.

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Coach Kedrick Harrison of the Shepherd Pirates said, “We have learned a lot this year and plan on using it today against the Orangefield Bobcats and in future years to come. Photo by Charles Ballard

By Charles Ballard
SJNT correspondent

HOUSTON — Shepherd’s postseason ended with a 55-12 drubbing from top-ranked Orangefield in the bi-district level of 3A playoffs on Thursday.

Orangefield was undefeated in district, and it was apparent as they scored on their first drive of the game.

Less than 3 minutes later, the Bobcats scored again, and racked up a third TD four minutes after that.

Early in the second quarter Pirate Preston Stephens posted the first TD for Shepherd, sending the game into halftime with the Bobcats in control 21-6.

The second half was more of the same, as Orangefield scored 34 more points to Shepherd’s 6, sending the Orangefield Bobcats to the next round of the UIL Playoff.

The Pirates showed H.D. Green with 120 yards and 1 TD in 19 carries. Stephens had 18 carries with 86 yards and a TD. Green also went 5-for-12 for 85 yards in the air.

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Malachi Piles (No. 78) blocks out the Jacks during the Diboll-Coldspring district game. Kelvin Harden Jr. grabs the first toss of the night and sets up the first TD for Coldspring. Photos by Larry Lamb

From SJNT Staff

COLDSPRING — The Trojans improved their district record with a 20-19 win over Diboll on Friday.

Coldspring drew first blood by scoring first against the Diboll Lumberjacks; it did not take long, however, for the Jacks to find the end zone.

The score remained knotted at 6 until late in the second quarter, and with 27 seconds left on the clock that the Jacks posted another score.

The Trojans did not show aggression until their quarterback received a late hit out of bounds on the home side of the field, sending him out of the game. Hunter Mullins took over at quarterback, and the game momentum changed drastically.

The Trojans managed to post a quick TD during the last part of the fourth quarter, and the Lumberjacks were held scoreless to keep the squeaker win at home.

The Trojans had 246 offensive yards on 60 plays.

On the ground, Tyga Parker had 34 yards on 16 carries; K.J. Harden had 22 yards on 3 carries; and Luke Monroe had 71 yards on 13 carries.

Monroe went 4-for-8 in the air for 58 yards, including a 30-yard reception by Harden.

The Trojans will board the busses and head up 150 to the Shepherd Pirate Stadium for the “Battle of San Jacinto” this week for the last of the district games.

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Kelvin Harden Jr. (No. 1) was just too fast for the Crocket Bulldogs and managed to post multiple TDs during the district game on Friday night. Angel Castillo (No. 21) attempts to bring down Kelvin Harden Jr. (No. 1) of the Coldspring Trojans as Harden scores for the Trojans. Photos by Charles Ballard

By Charles Ballard
SJNT correspondent

CROCKETT — The Coldspring Trojans are now 2-0 in district after the win over the Crockett Bulldogs with a score of 42-30.

The Dogs managed to take the opening kickoff and score with-in the first few seconds of the game, but the Trojans regrouped and managed to shore up the defensive line.

As the first quarter wound down and the second quarter started, the Trojans posted their first score and was able to get a two-point conversion and took the lead in the game with a score of 8-7. The lead never was relinquished throughout the night.

The score got close several times, but the Trojans managed to keep their focus on their game plan, which was working well. Coldspring received the half time kickoff and posted very good yardage during the second half of the game.

Overall there were 350 offensive yards on 52 plays — 339 yards on the ground. Tyga Parker had 185 yards on 22 carries, while K.J. Harden had 114 yards on 17 carries. Jamarion “Cookie” McGowen had 31 yards on 5 carries.

There were 11 passing yards from Luke Monroe with a 100 percent catch rate.

This week the Trojans will be facing a very good team the Woodville Eagles. The Eagles only district loss was to the Lumberjacks of Diboll with a score of 14-21. Woodville has an overall record of 4-2 with losses to Franklin and Diboll and wins over Newton, Liberty, Orangefield and Shepherd.

Shepherd

The Pirates lost to Woodville 42-14.

Head Coach Miles Robison said it was a close game in the first half — 22-14 — but turnovers began to plague the team.

“Woodville was a very good football team and we made too many mistakes to beat a team as talented as them,” Robison said. “Defensively we made some big stops but couldn’t capitalize on a good field position on several possessions.”

In the 4th quarter Woodville pulled away with some big plays to cement the win, while the Pirates went scoreless.

H.D. Green had 87 yards rushing and 2 TDs, and Preston Stephens had 75 yards rushing. Defensively Gage Murphy, Roman Gonzales, and Alberto Tovar had good nights.

The Pirates face Palestine Westwood at home Friday.

“Their record doesn’t reflect how talented they are,” Robison said. “We need to execute and play a good game Friday in order to beat them.”