Groesbeck finishes District first round unbeaten By Byron "Putt" Riddle - The Groesbeck Lady Goats strengthened their hold on first place with a hard-fought win at Marlin Tuesday over the Lady Bulldogs. They became the only undefeated team left in District 18-3A with the 60-47 win over a scrappy Marlin squad that wouldn't go away. Then on Friday at home, they knocked off the Mexia Ladycats 59-37 to finish the first round of district unbeaten with a 4-0 mark and a 14-9 season record. They played Fairfield at home Tuesday to start the second round of district action. They are at Madisonville Friday night. Against Marlin, the Lady Goats started their scoring with three point shots made by Tanzsy Jackson and Camille Perkins. Then Lauren Keeton got into the act as she was fed pass after pass while going to the basket. The first time it happened was with 5:22 to play in the first quarter. She was fouled by Daveisha Riley and made it a three point play. That was the only free throw she was awarded in the game. But she was fed the ball seven more times in that way by the passes from Tanzsy Jackson, Perkins, and Edwina Wiley and ended the night with 17 points. In that first period, she scored nine points. Wiley added two baskets in the final 2:12 of the quarter. Kayla Brown made one free throw with 26 seconds left. That 20 points of offense offset a 14 point run by Marlin that featured a trey by Tamariah Manigo and three baskets by Riley. Groesbeck entered the second quarter with that 20-14 lead and stretched it to 33-22 at the half. Tonockia Schultz got the first score in the second quarter, a three which moved Marlin within three 20-17. Esra Jackson answered shortly thereafter at 6:34 with her first basket. Kayla Brown scored the next five points for the Lady Goats in a 31 second span of time. She was fouled by Vanetta Washington as she scored at 6:05 and sunk the free throw. Then she drove for another lay up at 5:34. Perkins got the rest of the points-six-of that period in the final 4:23. There were two free throws made after Ebony Evans fouled her. It was the start of a string of 10 free throws not missed by Perkins. The final eight in that string came in the final 1:20 of the game as she tried bringing the ball upcourt and drew four fouls from the Lady Bulldogs trying to get the ball. After Perkins scored at the charity line, Manigo canned a three for Marlin and Riley followed Perkins' last basket of the half with a two pointer with three seconds left in the half. In the third quarter Charminique Stance scored with 7:45 left. Esra Jackson got her second basket with 6:47 to go to make the score Groesbeck 35-24. Manigo and Perkins then exchanged baskets, but Perkins' was a trey which moved the Lady Goat lead to 12 points 38-26. Fouls by Esra Jackson and Kayla Brown sent Stance and Washington to the free throw line where they combined to put in three of four shots to cut the lead back to nine, 38-29. Wiley and Esra Jackson each scored a single bucket for Groesbeck the rest of the quarter while Stance added one more free throw to make the period end 42-30. Keeton and Perkins were the story of Lady Goat scoring in the final frame. Keeton hit for eight points including a put back of a rebound which was uncontested by Marlin. Perkins scored a lay up to go with her eight points at the charity stripe to wind up the Lady Goat scoring. Manigo, Schultz, and Evans kept firing for the Lady Bulldogs. Manigo and Schultz had three's in the fourth quarter, but the closest they could ever help Marlin get back in the game was 46-38 with 4:57 left to play. Perkins was high scorer in the game with 22 points. She made two of four treys, three of nine two's and her 10 free throws. She dealt out five assists mainly feeding Keeton for her easy short jump shots or lay ups. Keeton made 17 as she made eight of her 10 attempts near the basket. Three Lady Goats scored six points each, Wiley, Kayla Brown, and Esra Jackson. Tanzsy Jackson's first quarter three was her contribution to Groesbeck's 60-47 victory. Kim Brown and Esra Jackson were the top rebounders with five apiece. Getting four each were Wiley, Tanzsy Jackson and Perkins. Kayla Brown took down three off the defensive boards. Keeton and Ashley Carver made two and one respectively. The Lady Goats totaled 28 in all with 75% of them coming off the defensive boards which meant that marlin didn't get very many second chance shots. Wiley had three assists while Tanzsy Jackson, Keeton and Esra Jackson made one each. Perkins swiped the ball twice from the Lady Bulldogs. Keeton, Kim Brown, Wiley and Tanzsy Jackson made one steal apiece. Team shooting statistics went as follows: 19 of 42 two's for 45.23%; three of seven three's for 42.865 and 13 of 17 free throws for 76.47%. A much improved Mexia Ladycat basketball team came to Groesbeck Friday with the hope that they could throw District 18-3A into either a two-way or a three-way tie for first place by beating the Lady Goats. But new Mexia coach Cheneka Ward still couldn't teach her troops enough to get past veteran Groesbeck coach Bill Bond and his troops. Though Mexia played better in the second half, the result for them was a 59-37 drubbing at the hands of the Lady Goats. Groesbeck played near flawless ball in the first quarter forcing seven Ladycat turnovers to help itself to a 24-4 lead. The second quarter wasn't quite as strong a showing by the Lady Goats, but still they outscored Mexia 10-6 for a 34-10 halftime lead. The third quarter started off badly for Groesbeck as the Ladycats scored the first four points while the home team started turning the ball over at a rapid rate. Groesbeck had made only four turnovers in the first half while forcing Mexia into 13 of them. But they made five in the third quarter and seven more in the fourth. Mexia won the battle of the third period by outlasting Groesbeck 16-13. The Lady Goats came back with a bare margin of one in the final quarter just outscoring the visitors 12-11. The Ladycats scored the final seven points of the game. But Groesbeck notched the win 59-37. Mexia had one player in double figures, Elisa Rhodes with 10. Krystal Beachum got nine for Mexia. Cambry Bates made seven. Sharmaine Carter scored five. Taniqua Busby put in four points. Kim Wiley added two for Mexia. Two Lady Goats tied for game high point honors. They were Perkins and Keeton with 11 apiece. Two more, Wiley and Esra Jackson put in eight points each. Tanzsy Jackson was good for seven points. Kayla Brown finished with five points. The other two team members Carver and Kim Brown also added to the Lady Goat totals with three and six points respectively. Groesbeck's shooting was a little under par for what it had been doing during the season. They made 20 of 51 two point shots for a 39.22% night. Shooting above that level for Groesbeck was Wiley at 42.85%, Kim Brown at 40%, Tanzsy Jackson at 66.67%, Kayla Brown at 40% and Esra Jackson at 42.85%. Trey shots fell at even less of a percentage as they connected only twice on 10 shots for 20%. Though free throws went in 13 of the 20 times the Lady Goats shot them, that 65% rate was below the season average which had been 67.74%. Perkins hit one of her three treys while Tanzsy Jackson went one for five from beyond the arc. Kim Brown and Esra Jackson each missed their only attempt at that distance. Free throws were 100% made by Wiley, Kim Brown and Perkins who each made two of them. Keeton went three for four. Kayla Brown canned one of two and Carver one of three shots. Esra Jackson hoisted five shots and saw two of them fall through the hoop. Rebounding picked up at the expense of Mexia. Perkins had her best game of the season in that department as she picked off 11 caroms. Kim Brown and Keeton got six and five. Esra Jackson pulled down four rebounds. Wiley got three, Tanzsy Jackson and Kayla Brown, two each, and Carver one for a team total of 34. Perkins led in assists with five and steals with four. Esra Jackson had three assists, one steal and one block. The block leader however was Keeton with four of them. Tanzsy Jackson also made four steals while Carver got the ball away from Mexia players twice in the game. Even though the second half was not the Lady Goats at their best in the turnover department, they did manage to have only 16 for the game, two below their average for the year. They forced Mexia into 19 of them for the game. Marlin and Mexia Stop Groesbeck Goats By BYRON "Putt" RIDDLE The first District 18-3A game of 2006 was a runaway hit for the host Marlin Bulldogs. After letting the Groesbeck Goats keep it close for a half, the Bulldogs showed off their athleticism and won 76-57. Then the Goats hosted Mexia Friday and their poor shooting allowed Mexia to go home with a 43-33 win. It was the Blackcats first district win after starting off 0-2. Groesbeck is 0-2 in district and 12-11 for the year. They hosted fifth-ranked Fairfield Tuesday and go to Madisonville Friday night. Those two games will be in next week's Journal. While the Bulldogs did show off their athletic skills moving their season record to 11-10 and their district mark to 1-1, they weren't hurt by the referees calling the game. The Goats couldn't say the same. The officials had whistled the Goats 14 times to seven for Marlin in the first half. Tony Taveras was sitting out with four fouls with 2:11 still to go in the half. Though their whistles were quieter in the second half, the referees had done their damage. Despite that, the Goats came out on fire and dominated the first quarter. Matt Cox led off with a short basket at 7:32. Travoy Ray pitched in a three with 6:03 to go. Leighton Rush scored with 5:14 left. Cody Wilson scored with 4:17 left. At 2:37, Ray made two free throws with 1:29 on the clock. Marlin meanwhile was matching the Goats point for point. Ryan Fewell broke a 12-12 tie with treys sunk at 1:04 and again at :03 to end the quarter with Groesbeck up 18-12. The Bulldogs answered with a 20-8 scoring run in the second quarter. Groesbeck finally lost the lead at the 5:29 mark when Phillip Gibson fouled Darrell Manigo as he scored. A protest of the call by Gibson got him a technical. After Manigo made his free throw, Kenny Evans made the first of two free throws awarded on the technical. That put Marlin ahead 20-19, a lead they never relinquished the rest of the game. Groesbeck had scored on a free throw by Ray at 6:19. It would be over three minutes until they got any more points. Wilson scored on his three point shot with 3:07 to go in the half. Ray put in two at 2:22 to tie the score 24-24. Marlin scored the next eight points in the half to go up 32-24. Cox was fouled by Dominique Jones as he shot at the buzzer. He made both free throws to make the half a 32-26 Marlin lead. The Bulldogs picked up their momentum with another 20 point scoring outburst in the third quarter. The Goats had 16 as they fell behind 52-42. Marlin scored the first six points to go up 38-26. Ray scored two at 6:56. Wilson added two at the 5:43 mark. Jeremy Sanders fouled Cox as he scored at 5:01. He added the free throw for a three point play. Fewell got his third three pointer of the game at 2:56 left. Marlin built its lead to 50-36 before Ray put in two more, but missed his free throw awarded him on Damien Alexander's foul. Fewell and Ray both scored in the final minute of the third to cut the Bulldog lead at the quarter to 52-42. Marlin saved its biggest quarter until the fourth as the Bulldogs finally put on a show for the home crowd by scoring 24 points, some on slam dunks which in turn were set up by aggressive defense on the part of the Bulldogs. Groesbeck got 15 points as Ray kept fighting and put in 11 points on five baskets and a free throw. Gibson made two baskets in the period. After Ray's bucket with 2:40 left in the game, Groesbeck trailed 66-57. Then Marlin put in the final 10 points for the 76-57 win. Ray grabbed top scoring honors in the game with 26 points, the only Goat in double figures. Fewell scored nine with his three treys. Wilson and Cox tied with seven points each. Gibson ended with his four points in the final quarter. Taveras and Rush each scored two points. Marlin had four players in double figures and two others with nine points each. Sanders made 10 points. Dominique Jones scored 15 while Alexander was high for the Bulldogs with 22 points. Benny Jones threw in 10 points. Manigo and Evans hit for nine points each. Broderick Lowe was low scorer for Marlin with one point. At home against Mexia, it was as if the Goats took the burn ban of the Limestone County commissioners to heart and applied it on the court as much as it has been in effect outside. They certainly didn't set the nets on fire as they managed to make only 31% of all their shots-11 of 26 two's and two of 15 three's. And they had no answer for Josh Chambers, Mexia's junior 6-5 post who was virtually uncontested in going to the basket to drop in short two point shots on his way to a 17 point game-high night. When he did get fouled going to the basket, he took advantage of his chances at the free throw line canning five of eight shots. The game easily qualified as one of the lowest scoring affairs ever played on the Goat gym floor. Neither team scored until halfway through the first quarter. Then Travoy Ray was fouled driving for the basket by Brian High. He made the second of his two free throws for a 1-0 Goat lead at the 4:00 mark. A Ryan Fewell foul on Josh Chambers at 3:41 to go put him on the free throw line where he converted both his chances for 2-1 lead, Mexia. After that, the Blackcats were never caught by the Goats for the rest of the game. The first quarter ended 8-3 Mexia. Both teams scored 11 points apiece in the second period. Chambers' basket at 4:15 to go gave Mexia its biggest lead in the quarter at 15-7. Tony Taveras scored a bucket inside with 1:04 left in the half to get Groesbeck back to trailing by three, 17-14. Kelvin Beachum who finished second in Mexia scoring with eight points got one more basket to make the halftime score 19-14. In the third quarter, Josh Chambers put in the first two baskets to build Mexia's lead to 23-14. Then Ray who matched Chambers for game high honors with 17 points scored for the Goats with 6:17 to go to make the scoreboard read 23-16. Then Ed Adams, Josh Chambers and Beachum combined for six points to push Mexia ahead 29-16. Coach Alex Ihler called for a full Goat timeout and got his Goat squad settled down enough to get the next two baskets. Cox scored with 3:49 to go. Then Ray canned his third bucket with 1:44 left for a 29-20 Goat deficit. Justin Chambers then scored his only basket for the Blackcats to make it 31-20. With 18 seconds left, Rush buried a trey to cut the lead to 31-23 at the quarter. The fourth quarter played out about even with Mexia holding a 12-11 edge in scoring to end the game 43-33. Fewell followed Ray in putting in points for the Goats in the final frame. Ray had a basket at the 7:51 mark. Fewell got fouled by Josh Chambers at 6:10 to go while shooting and made both baskets for a 100% night at the line. Ray was the only other Goat to shoot free throws in the game scoring on three of seven chances. He went on to finish the quarter with three more baskets for the Goats including the last score of the game with seven seconds remaining on the clock. Only four Goats put up any points in the game. Besides Ray who was seven of 11 on two's and zero for two on treys, Fewell came in with seven points. He made one of nine two point shots and one of six three point shots plus the two free throws. Rush scored five going one for three from both inside the arc and outside the arc. Cox was the lone 100% shooter for the Goats going two for two for four points. Ray got half the Goat rebounds with seven gathered up throughout the game. Fewell had three, Rush two and Taveras and Phillip Gibson one each for the rest of the Goat totals. There were three Goats making assists-Rush with four, Cody Wilson with three and Taveras with two. Rush as usual harassed the heck out of the ball handlers taking the ball six times from the Mexia guards with his thievery. Four other Goats joined taking the ball on steals. Ray and Wilson got three apiece. Taveras and Fewell pilfered the Blackcats twice each. Fewell also blocked two Mexia shots at the basket. As a team, the Goats suffered 13 turnovers with six of the team members getting at least one each. JV Goats Face Tough Competition Lately By DONTE ASBERRY Things only get harder for basketball teams during this part of the season and it's no exception for the junior varsity boys basketball team. In the Goats final tune up before district, Groesbeck stole one on the road at West winning 35 to 28 in a defensive bout. Groesbeck didn't have any players score in double figures but did have a balanced attack. Dallas Penny was high point man as he scored nine points followed by Lance Garrett, eight; Jordan Boecker, seven; T.J. Bozeman, four; Michael Gilliam, four and Canada, three. The Goats started district out with a 45 to 39 loss at marlin on Tuesday, January 17. Groesbeck led 11-8 after the first quarter, but Marlin rebounded to take a one point halftime lead 21-20. Chris Favors scored 12 points for Groesbeck. Boecker had eight points on the night while Garrett chipped in six points; Bozeman, four and Penny produced three points. In the third quarter, Marlin outscored Groesbeck by eight to go ahead 35-26. The Goats outscored Marlin by three in the final quarter but the dogs lead was too much to overcome. Groesbeck faced Mexia in the second district game last Friday night with the Blackcats taking a 59 to 50 decision. The game wasn't decided until the final quarter when Mexia outscored the Goats 16-7 after the score had been tied at 43. Groesbeck led after the first two quarters. Favors led the Goat attack with 17 big points followed by Gilliam, 14; Bozeman, five; Boecker, five; Garrett, three; Canada, three and Penny, three. Busby of Mexia paced all scorers with 21 points on the night. Freeman of Mexia had 11. The junior varsity Goats hosted Fairfield this past Tuesday and will travel to Madisonville this Friday, January 27. Junior Varsity Girls Are 12-7 Overall And 4-0 in District 18-3A By DONTE ASBERRY The junior varsity girls have been setting the stage, or shall I say the court on fire lately. That would be the basketball court. Coach Kirk Allen has his Lady Goats at 12-7 on the season and 4-0 in district action. Most recently Groesbeck junior varsity girls trounced Marlin 56 to 17. The outcome was never in doubt especially after Groesbeck had streamrolled through the first quarter of action with a 17-2 lead. Abriel Thomas nailed a three-pointer that got the ball rolling. She finished with 17 points. Halftime gave Groesbeck players a chance to rest after sprinting out to a 33-5 halftime lead. The Lady Goats did a good thing of spreading things around as nine players scored. Danielle Graves finished with 10 points; Taylin Eckols, eight; Kristie Washington, six; Kassie Bates, five; Jane Key, four; Lacey Longenbaugh, three and Courtney Rhodes, two. Sara Sloan and Kim Nicks also played. Groesbeck improved to 4-0 in district play last Friday night when Mexia crossed the Navasota River. Groesbeck pulled away late for a 38 to 19 win. "There was a big difference in how we played the first and second half," said Coach Allen. We pulled together and gave a good team effort." Washington's nine points paced Groesbeck followed by Thomas, eight; Rhodes, eight; Sloan, six; Nicks, four; Longenbaugh, two and Eckols, one. Thomas and Sloan played great defense. Both teams battled to an 8-8 tie at the end of the opening quarter. Groesbeck doubled Mexia's point total in the second quarter for a four point halftime lead but the second half proved to be a different story. "Our full court man to man defense was the difference in the second half," Allen said. "We won by forcing turnovers and hitting our freethrows." The Lady Goat defense jumped on Mexia and never let the Ladycats up building a 28-16 lead at the end of the third quarter and holding Mexia to only three points in the last quarter. Groesbeck hosted Fairfield earlier this week and will try to remain perfect in district this Friday in Madisonville. 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. No material may be copied, reproduced, republished, broadcast or distributed in any way or decompiled, except that you may download one copy of the Materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. 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