State Ranked Teams Play the Finals in Fairfield’s Annual Basketball Tournament

FAIRFIELD INVITATIONAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

State Ranked Teams Play the Finals

The Fairfield Invitational Basketball Tournament tipped off last Thursday and housed 12 boys teams and 14 girls teams. The finals in the girls and boys division featured all four in the top 20 in the state of Texas.

GIRLS TOURNAMENT

POOL PLAY

POOL A

The Fairfield Lady Eagles opened the tournament facing the Normangee Lady Panthers. Braden Bossier scored nine of her game high 14 points and the Lady Eagles won 51-38. Concordia Lutheran of Tomball defeated Normangee easily in pool play. They led 26-9 at the half and coasted to a 52-20 win.

Fairfield took on Concordia Lutheran (pictured at left) for the chance to play in the gold bracket on Saturday. Emily Knight scored 11 points in the first quarter and Bossier added five more in the second and the Lady Eagles trailed 29-27 at the half and 41-40 heading into the fourth.

Sanderson hit eight of nine free throws in the fourth and scored a game high 21 points and Concordia won the pool with Fairfield in second and Normangee third.

Pool B

The Lufkin Lady Panthers opened pool B with a close game win over the Madisonville Lady Mustangs. McDonald scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half and Lufkin outscored Madisonville 9-1 in the final quarter on their way to a 43-40 win.

Marlin had the highlight individual player of the tournament in Womack. The oral commitment to Alabama scored 39 points in a dominating 71-47 win over Corsicana.

Madisonville cruised to a 67-25 win over Corsicana. Womack added a 41-point game in a 72-62 loss to Lufkin.

Lufkin topped the Corsicana Lady Tigers 55-22 to win the pool and advance to the gold bracket. Womack added a 39-point night to her pool play total in 59-37 win over Madisonville and took second place in the pool play round. Madisonville finished third.

Pool C

The Martins Mill Lady Mustangs came in as the highest rated team in the tournament. They are in one of the state’s smallest classification, but they arrived as one of the most talented teams ever in the tournament. They opened the tournament with a demolishing victory over the Groesbeck Lady Goats 71-9. They led the game 30-2 after the first quarter and 41-6 at the half on their way to a dominating win.

Their second game was as equally impressive in dominating the Diboll Lady Jacks 73-33.

The Lady Mustangs built a 46-12 halftime lead on their way to winning the pool. Mexia was getting ready to take on the Lady Mustangs later and they took care of their pool play nicely with a 67-28 win over Groesbeck.

Balanced scoring was the rule for Mexia with five players scoring at least eight points. Groesbeck would finish pool play winless with a 61-20 loss to Diboll. Mexia won their second game in pool play to set up a final game with the Lady Mustangs. The hung on to win 57-52.

Kiana Keith scored eight points in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Orrick scored nine points in the second half and the Martins Mill Lady Mustangs defeated Mexia 58-41 to win the pool.

Pool D

China Spring opened the tournament with a close loss to the Bryan Rudder Lady Rangers 45-41. Grapeland proved to be the class of this pool with an easy win over China Spring 60-42. Chipman scored 16 points to lead three double digit scorers and they advanced to the gold bracket with 46-36 win over Bryan Rudder.

BRONZE BRACKET

The final games of the bracket were set by the pool play and Normangee opened the bronze bracket against Diboll. Jones scored 16 for Normangee but it was not enough to erase a 12-point deficit heading into the final quarter. China Spring got 15 points from Emblem and defeated Madisonville 52-28.

An issue in scheduling sent the Lady Cougars to play Fairfield on Saturday afternoon in the silver bracket consolation game. Jones returned to score 14 points, all in the second half and the Lady Panthers defeated Corsicana 54-43. Diboll faced off against Madisonville in the Bronze final. Mitchell scored 18 points and the Lady Jacks topped the Lady Mustangs 55-35.

SILVER BRACKET

Fairfield took on the Bryan Rudder Lady Rangers in the first game of the Silver Bracket. The game was tied 32-32 at the half, led by Josey Richardson with ten points of her game high 15. Young hit six of eight free throws in the second half and the Lady Rangers hung onto a 56-55 win.

Marlin and Mexia set to battle in the second game of the silver bracket and Womack took to the high scoring again. She scored 22 points in the first half and became ill and did not play in the third quarter. Marlin led 31-17 at the half and Keith scored 11 in the third quarter and the Ladycats took a 43-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Mexia overcame a comeback and advanced to the silver tournament final with a 64-51 win. Fairfield played China Spring to round out the tournament. Fairfield fell behind 27-17 at the half and could not overcome and lost the consolation game 45-31.

Mexia and Bryan Rudder faced off in the tournament final. Young scored 16 of her game high 26 in the first half and the Lady Rangers took the tournament trophy with a 59-49 win.

GOLD BRACKET

Martins Mill opened the gold bracket version of the tournament with a convincing win over Concordia Lutheran. The Lady Mustangs outscored Concordia 16-3 to break open a close game and won 55-31 to advance to the tournament final. McDonald scored 20 points and Lufkin defeated Grapeland 44-42. The Lady Panthers could not return on Saturday, so Grapeland was entered into the tournament final to face Martins Mill.

Concordia played Marlin to close out the tournament day. Womack did suit up with the intention of not playing since she was still feeling ill. Concordia built up a 13-point halftime lead and Womack did return to the lineup. Her efforts were not enough in the 71-54 loss. She did score 29 points and averaged nearly 40 points per game in the tournament.

Martins Mill hit ten three pointers and led 32-13 at the half and cruised through the Fairfield Invitational Basketball tournament undefeated in the 74-32 win.

BOYS TOURNAMENT

POOL PLAY

POOL ONE

The Azle Hornets opened the tournament with a close win 53-47 win over Crossroads. Two late three pointers by Hooten was not enough in the loss. Fairfield took on the Crossroads Bobcats in their first game. Kolby Adams scored 15 points and Kadarius Walker added 13 more in the 58-38 win.

The Eagles took on the Azle Hornets (pictured at left) for the berth in the gold tournament. Jaise Oliver scored ten points in the first half and the Eagles built a 38-29 lead after three quarters.

Vaughn hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 22 in the game and won 53-45 to advance to the gold bracket.

POOL TWO

Waco Conally built a 40-11 first half lead and made it hold up in a 76-33 win over New Waverly.

The Cadets repeated the feat with a dominating win over Aggieland Homeschool in College Station. The Cadets led 41-25 at the half and won 78-47.

Aggieland got 30 points in the final pool game and secured their spot in the silver bracket with the 63-42 win. Conally won the pool and New Waverly finished third.

POOL THREE

Palestine took care of the Corsicana Tigers in the first game of Pool three. Wages hit all four of his free throw attempts in the final moments and the Wildcats topped the Tigers 43-38.

Scott Thomas led three players with double figures in a Brock 66-51 win over Corsicana. Thomas returned to score 19 to secure a place as the pool leader with 67-40 over Palestine.

The Wildcats finished second and the New Waverly Bulldogs took third in the pool.

POOL FOUR

The Argyle Eagles showed their talent and won the final pool, first with a 54-52 win over Neches.

Bryson Barrett scored 11 points in the final period of a torrid comeback by the Tigers, only to fall short by a bucket.

The Eagles took one from the Mexia Blackcats 42-41 with a long pass and shot at the buzzer. The Blackcats had a 41-37 lead with 20 seconds remaining only to lose it at the buzzer.

Matthews scored 19 for the Blackcats and clinched second in the pool with a 60-43 win over the Neches Tigers. Argyle won the pool and Neches finished third.

BRONZE BRACKET

The Bronze Bracket semifinal was a tremendous performance for the Palestine Wildcats. The Wildcats were sent to the Bronze Bracket when it was agreed that Palestine, Mexia and Fairfield would not play each other in the tournament, since they were in the same district.

Wages scored 33 points in the 76-41 win. Carlos Quistian scored 29 points and the Tiger battle went to Neches over Corsicana 58-46.

Corsicana built a 14-point halftime lead and won the consolation prize in the bronze bracket 60-41. Barrett returned with a 19-point performance in the tournament final and the Tigers defeated Palestine 59-44.

SILVER BRACKET

The Fairfield Eagles opened the silver bracket facing the Aggieland Panthers in the tournament semifinal. Kadarius Walker hit five three pointers in the second half and six for the game. His 26 points took game high honors and the Eagles broke open a close game and won 57-45.

Mexia played New Waverly in the tournament semifinal and dominated the Bulldogs 63-28. Mexia and Fairfield would not meet in the tournament final, so it was pre-determined that Mexia would face Aggieland and Fairfield would take on New Waverly.

Campbell scored 22 points for the Blackcats and Travion Carter hit three three pointers in the second half and Mexia defeated Aggieland 63-47. Walker added 22 points for the Fairfield Eagles and Oliver scored eight more and they downed the New Waverly Bulldogs 51-41.

GOLD BRACKET

The teams with the fewest losses entered the gold bracket and one of the best games featured regulars in state playoff games. Brock had a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and held on for a 56-51 win. Hughes scored 17 and led three players in double digits for the win and berth in the tournament final. Black scored 16 of his game high 18 points in the second half and the Conally Cadets joined Brock in the tournament final with a 59-36 win over the Azle Hornets.

Argyle kept the game low scoring and escaped a late comeback to defeat Azle 41-38. Valentino scored 18 points to lead the way for the Eagles. In the best game of the tournament, Brock held on to win the tournament and remain unbeaten for the weekend with a 64-63 win. Brock hit nine of eleven free throws and hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter in the win. Snell scored 14 in the final quarter and worked through foul trouble, but it fell one point short.

Free Throw Competition

Named Champion of the Free Throw Finals at the recent Fairfield Invitationals is Calli Camacho (left) of Martin Mills. winner of the 3-point shots is Briley Moon (right), also of Martins Mill.