Goats go 1-3 in week after Thanksgiving By Byron "Putt" Riddle - The Groesbeck Goats finally began to get their shooting eye adjusted in again after the 17% debacle against China Spring and as a result won their first game of the season. Coach Alex Ihler had his squad begin to improve bit by bit on their shooting percentage as they lost to Whitney before going to the Gregory Portland Tournament where they lost to Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, beat Robstown and then lost to Calhoun for fifth place in the tournament. On Tuesday, they traveled to Kaufman for a game. They are in the West Tournament today through Saturday. They are 1-5 before playing Kaufman. At Whitney, the Goats launched the ball 66 times at the basket connecting 18 times for a 27% average, some 60% higher than they did against China Spring. After starting slow trailing 14-5 at the end of the first quarter, the Goats outscored the Wildcats 16-10 in the second period to trail at the half 24-21. The third quarter ended with the Goats behind 36-29. Both teams put in 21 points in the fourth quarter to end the game 57-50. Phillip Gibson continued to lead the Goats as he hit on five two point shots and five of six free throws for a 15 point night. Chris Favors was also in double figures with two treys and two other baskets for 10 points. He made two of his five attempts beyond the arc. Two other Goats made eight points each. Cody Wilson had two baskets, a three and one of four free throws. He was one for six from behind the three point line before fouling out of the game. Roy Burrell’s eight came from three baskets and two of four free threes. Ryan Fewell scored a basket and three of six free throws for five points He missed on four three point shots. Lance Garrett concluded the Goat scoring with four points, one basket and two of four free throws. Burrell led in rebounds with 11. Fewell had six while Wilson had five for the night. Favors led with five steals. Gibson and Favors had four apiece. Harris and Barr were in double figures for Whitney with 17 and 10 points. After arriving in Port Aransas for the GP Tournament, they opened with a 44-33 loss to Flour Bluff, a 4A school. Through the first quarter Groesbeck had the lead 10-6. Then the Hornets took over the game leading 21-17 at the half, 31-23 after three and 44-33 at the buzzer. Five Goats did the scoring. Fewell had 11 and Gibson nine to lead the Goats. Burrell put in three baskets for six. Favors made five points. Wilson scored two for the Goats. Both Fewell and Favors made threes. Fewell went zero for two shooting free throws. Favors was one for two Washington led Flour Bluff with 16 points. Mahaffey went five for five on free throws and finished with 14 for the Hornets. Groesbeck finally put it all together and blew away Coach Alex Ihler’s prior team the Robstown Cottonpickers 66-40. Every player scored for the Goats. Fewell had 23 points and 18 rebounds to lead the way. He was five of nine on free throws and threw down two three pointers. Wilson had a 15 point night. He had five baskets, one trey and two of five free throws. Favors was perfect at the charity line with four points on four attempts. He had two threes and a two point basket in the second quarter to finish with 12 points. Gibson just missed being in double figures. His nine points came off four baskets and one for one free throws. Joaquin Anders added four points on two baskets. Earl Graves made two of two free throws Garrett was one of two at the free throw line. Sanchez had 15 to lead the Cottonpickers. In the finale, Calhoun did want the ball and put it in the basket enough to win 54-40. The Goats started out strong building a first quarter lead of 14-7 and a halftime lead of 27-23. Then their shooting went awry as they put in only eight points in the third and five in the fourth while Calhoun picked up its pace with 17 and 14 points in the final two periods. Favors made three two’s and a three for nine points. Fewell added four points with two baskets. Wilson topped the Goats with 12 points. He had a trey and three of four free throws. Gibson contributed two treys. Burrell had nine as he made three of four free throws and three other baskets. Anders fouled out without scoring in the game. C. Cortez made 17 to lead Calhoun. M. Blevins canned 14 points for them. A. Daniels added eight points for them. Lady Goats Begin Climb In Season Record by Byron “Putt” Riddle Under the guidance of Coach Shaun Miller , the Groesbeck Lady Goats won three games last week to pull their season record to 5-8. They played host to Robinson Tuesday. Tomorrow night they are at Martin’s Mill for a 6:30 meeting. Martin’s Mill is the defending 1A state girls’ basketball champion. The Lady Mustangs are 9-1 so far this season, having built their record on the backs of 3A through 5A schools. They take on the higher classification schools to get ready for their 1A district races and advancement into the state playoffs. Their one loss was to 5A West Mesquite by one point in the second round of the Wills Point Tournament. Four of their starters from last year’s state title team are back as well as their sixth man who has moved into a starting role. Their leading player is 6-2 junior Jordan Barncastle, daughter of Coach Doug Barncastle. She has made a verbal commitment to Texas Tech already. To top it off, since they don’t play football there, this game is selected to be their Homecoming game. Groesbeck began the week with a game at University High Tuesday and fell to the Lady Trojans 59-43. The 4A squad is not playing at the same levels that have been so typical of this series of games between the two schools during the first week of December. Having lost three of its players to Division I signings after graduation, University moved to a 3-7 record with this win. Leading the way for them was D-I prospect Martene Castereada who scored 28 points. That offset a great performance by Camille Perkins who had 25 points for the Lady Goats. Perkins had 10 baskets and went five of seven on free throw shots. Taylin Eckols scored eight for Groesbeck. She was followed by Kayla Brown with six points and Jane Key who added four points. Key went two of five from the free throw line. Tiera McNale was also in double figures for University with 14 points. The Lady Trojans led by quarters 12-11, 27-22, 42-30 and 53-49. The Grandview Tournament got off to a rough start thanks to the icing conditions that prevailed throughout north and central Texas last Thursday. On the first day, only Groesbeck and host Grandview showed up for the tournament. The Lady Goats were supposed to have played Hillsboro first, but as they drove through Hillsboro to Grandview some 25 miles further north, the Hillsboro team made a determination that they couldn’t get through the ice to Grandview. So they didn’t show. Groesbeck played Grandview and won 49-39. The game was close through the first half with the visitors ahead 12-11 after one period. It was tied 19-19 at the half. The Lady Goats did their damage in the third quarter building to a 38-29 lead. They increased the margin by one point in the fourth for the final score of 49-39. Six of the Lady Goats scored in the game. Key had two points on a single basket. Danielle Graves was one of two shooting free throws. Perkins led with 27 points. She made five of six free throws and 11 baskets. Brown finished with 18 points. She was six of eight at the free throw line and made six baskets. Eckols put in one of her two free throws. Emmons led Grandview with 16 points including a trey and one of three free throws. The Hillsboro game was played on Friday. Just like the Lady Goats opened the season with an easy win over the Lady Eagles, they did so again winning out 49-33. The quarterly scoreboard readings were 19-8, 29-16, 38-24 and 49-33 in favor of Groesbeck. Key scored six on three baskets for the Lady Goats. Kim Nicks made three as she hit one of her two chances at the free throw line. Perkins led with 21 making three of four free throws and nine baskets. Brown also was in double figures at 14 points, seven two pointers. Eckols made five with two baskets and one of four free throws. Gonzalez topped the Hillsboro scoring with 16 points. With the wins over Grandview on Thursday and Hillsoboro on Friday, the Lady Goats moved into the championship bracket for Saturday. Their first game was supposed to have been played at 10:00, but was changed so that Key could take an SAT test that morning. So on Saturday afternoon, they met Union Grove in the next round and took a 44-35 win. It was a senior scoring affair for the Lady Goats as Perkins and Brown accounted for all the points. Perkins got 27. Her totals came from making four two point shots, a three pointer and 16 of 18 free throws. Brown made 17 off five field goals and hitting seven of 12 free throws. That gave Groesbeck a 76.67% average at the charity stripe for the game. Scoring by the quarters went 10-7, 27-14, 31-21 and 44-35 with the Lady Goats leading all the way. The win elevated them into the championship game which took place an hour and a half later. They faced a rested Peaster team which is traditionally among the elite teams in Texas 2A circles. The Lady Goats ran out of gas and dropped this game 71-38. After one quarter, they trailed 17-6. At the half, it was Peaster on top 32-15. At the end of the third quarter, the lead had doubled to 53-26. Brown was the leading scorer this time around as she chipped in 19 points. Her totals came from eight two point shots and one three point shot. Perkins was right behind her with 17 points. She had six baskets and made five of eight free throws. Eckols scored two points as she made a basket, but missed on two free throws. Hayney from Peaster was chosed MVP of the tournament although Perkins outscored her with her performances of 28-27-27 and 17 points in Groesbeck’s four games in the tournament. She was chosen All-Tournament for her play however. This is an on-line publication of Groesbeck Journal P.O. Box 440 Groesbeck, TX 76642-0440 254-729-5103 For comments or questions, email Publisher: Thomas Hawkins thawkins@groesbeckjournal.com The Web Site contains material which is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. 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