Weekly Update:
Varsity:
The Whitewright Tigers traveled to Princeton this weekend to participate in the Princeton Varsity boy’s tournament. The Tiger’s started off playing against Lubbock Christian to start the tournament. The Tigers struggled to get defensive stops early allowing for multiple possessions on multiple trips. Going into the half the Tigers trailed by 6 even though they were out rebounded by the Eagles 17 to 8. The second half saw the Eagles expand their lead to 10 before the Tigers were able to make a run. Able to get consecutive stops the Tigers finally took their first lead of the game when Desmond McNiel hit a tip in basket with 30 seconds to go. After an Eagle timeout the Tigers looked to get one last stop but with 5 seconds left they were called for a hand checking foul that sent the Eagles to the line down 1. After both free throws were made, the Tigers pushed the ball to half court before calling a time out for one last play. The ball was inbounded to Hunter Sadler who passed it back to Desmond McNiel who threw up a three point desperation shot that fell short. As the buzzer sounded the Tigers were on the losing end 52-53.
The Tigers didn’t have much rest time as they took the floor again an hour after their first game but looked to bounce back against the Melissa Cardinals. The Tigers came out and looked comfortable early. Scoring 11 in the opening quarter with Dylan Pitt hitting consecutive three’s to give the Tiger’s a 2 point lead. The second quarter saw the Tigers continue to open it up and stretch the lead to 7 as they were able to put together a 6-0 run to end the quarter. The second half however wasn’t near as favorable to the Tigers as the Cardinals came out shooting lights out. Three consecutive three point baskets to start the half caused a Tiger time out. The Tiger’s responded however by hitting consecutive three point baskets of their own behind Dylan Pitt and Avery Dodson. Going into the fourth the Tigers were on top by a score of 41-36. The fourth quarter saw the game slip away as the Cardinals hit big shots down the stretch and the Tigers couldn’t hold the lead. As the buzzer sounded the final was Whitewright 54 and Melissa 55.
On Friday afternoon the Tigers took on the Argyle Eagles. The Eagles came in as the #4 ranked 4A team in the state and left no reason to doubt that. The game started with the Eagles hitting consecutive three point baskets to take a 6-0 lead. The Tigers responded however as Drew Miller had back to back baskets and Desmond McNiel had chipped in with six of his own in the opening quarter to make the score 10-14 in favor of the Eagles. The second quarter was all Argyle as they outscored the Tigers by a score of 20-6. Going into the half the Eagles led by a score of 34 to 16. The second half saw the Tigers continue to battle and make runs at the Eagles but in the end Argyle proved to be too much and came out on top by a score of 60-40.
On Saturday the Tigers looked to put an end to their losing streak and came out of the gates hot against a good HSAA team. The Tigers scored 13 points in the opening quarter and had four different people contribute to the scoring. After one quarter of play the score was Whitewright 13 and HSAA 11. The second quarter saw the Tigers post a season high 23 points as Desmond McNiel had 12 points and Avery Dodson had 9. Going into the half the Tigers had a 36-25 lead. The second half was a lot of the same as Desmond McNiel continued to score posting 19 of his game high 36 in the second half. As the buzzer sounded the Tigers were on top by a score of 66-56. The win moves the Tigers to 6-6 on the season and they will play again next Tuesday as they travel to Bonham to take on the Warriors.
The Tigers didn’t have much rest time as they took the floor again an hour after their first game but looked to bounce back against the Melissa Cardinals. The Tigers came out and looked comfortable early. Scoring 11 in the opening quarter with Dylan Pitt hitting consecutive three’s to give the Tiger’s a 2 point lead. The second quarter saw the Tigers continue to open it up and stretch the lead to 7 as they were able to put together a 6-0 run to end the quarter. The second half however wasn’t near as favorable to the Tigers as the Cardinals came out shooting lights out. Three consecutive three point baskets to start the half caused a Tiger time out. The Tiger’s responded however by hitting consecutive three point baskets of their own behind Dylan Pitt and Avery Dodson. Going into the fourth the Tigers were on top by a score of 41-36. The fourth quarter saw the game slip away as the Cardinals hit big shots down the stretch and the Tigers couldn’t hold the lead. As the buzzer sounded the final was Whitewright 54 and Melissa 55.
On Friday afternoon the Tigers took on the Argyle Eagles. The Eagles came in as the #4 ranked 4A team in the state and left no reason to doubt that. The game started with the Eagles hitting consecutive three point baskets to take a 6-0 lead. The Tigers responded however as Drew Miller had back to back baskets and Desmond McNiel had chipped in with six of his own in the opening quarter to make the score 10-14 in favor of the Eagles. The second quarter was all Argyle as they outscored the Tigers by a score of 20-6. Going into the half the Eagles led by a score of 34 to 16. The second half saw the Tigers continue to battle and make runs at the Eagles but in the end Argyle proved to be too much and came out on top by a score of 60-40.
On Saturday the Tigers looked to put an end to their losing streak and came out of the gates hot against a good HSAA team. The Tigers scored 13 points in the opening quarter and had four different people contribute to the scoring. After one quarter of play the score was Whitewright 13 and HSAA 11. The second quarter saw the Tigers post a season high 23 points as Desmond McNiel had 12 points and Avery Dodson had 9. Going into the half the Tigers had a 36-25 lead. The second half was a lot of the same as Desmond McNiel continued to score posting 19 of his game high 36 in the second half. As the buzzer sounded the Tigers were on top by a score of 66-56. The win moves the Tigers to 6-6 on the season and they will play again next Tuesday as they travel to Bonham to take on the Warriors.
Junior Varsity:
This weekend the JV Boys Basketball Team played in the Princeton Tournament. Their first game was with a dog fight with a tough Sherman team as multiple Tigers chipped in big minutes. The Tigers shared the ball well on offense and were able to get out in transition for quite a few of their points. Isaac Reddic and Malique Jones were able to step up on the defensive end and hold Sherman’s big men to a limited amount of touches. Austin Jones and Xavier Adan were able to lead the Tigers offensively and the Tigers were able to end it with a 2 point win.
With their second game the Tigers faced the Paris Wildcats. The Wildcats packed the lane throughout the game and forced the Tigers to put up some tough shots. However, to end the first half the Tigers were able to go on a run and take a 5 point lead. The second half wasn’t as good for the Tigers defensively as they started to get into foul trouble and the Wildcats were able to stretch the lead.
With their third game the Tigers would battle Denison for third place. It was a hard fought game between the two teams although the Tigers started off slow to end the first half down 9.Coming out for the second half Coach Blain wanted to see the Tigers pick up the intensity. The Tigers did just that and were able to put up 27 points in the third quarter, getting all but two Tigers on the board, to tie the game up at 49. As the fourth quarter rolled around there were quite a few Tigers in foul trouble. The Tigers weren’t able to maintain the lead on Denison as they had four players foul out in the crucial last few minutes. To end the game Xavier Adan had a season high of 28 points, as Malique Jones added 11. As the weekend wrapped up for the Tigers they would be going home in fourth place out of eight teams. The Tigers will head to Bonham High School to face the Warriors on Tuesday, 12/15/15, with the games starting at 4:30 PM.
With their second game the Tigers faced the Paris Wildcats. The Wildcats packed the lane throughout the game and forced the Tigers to put up some tough shots. However, to end the first half the Tigers were able to go on a run and take a 5 point lead. The second half wasn’t as good for the Tigers defensively as they started to get into foul trouble and the Wildcats were able to stretch the lead.
With their third game the Tigers would battle Denison for third place. It was a hard fought game between the two teams although the Tigers started off slow to end the first half down 9.Coming out for the second half Coach Blain wanted to see the Tigers pick up the intensity. The Tigers did just that and were able to put up 27 points in the third quarter, getting all but two Tigers on the board, to tie the game up at 49. As the fourth quarter rolled around there were quite a few Tigers in foul trouble. The Tigers weren’t able to maintain the lead on Denison as they had four players foul out in the crucial last few minutes. To end the game Xavier Adan had a season high of 28 points, as Malique Jones added 11. As the weekend wrapped up for the Tigers they would be going home in fourth place out of eight teams. The Tigers will head to Bonham High School to face the Warriors on Tuesday, 12/15/15, with the games starting at 4:30 PM.
Junior High:
8th Grade:
8th Grade Tigers Sweep Leonard Middle School
The 8th grade Black Team had a huge day from Julius Carraway as he scored 20 points Monday night against the Leonard Tigers. Larry Donaldson continued his scoring ways with 11 points, as they were the only players to score. This was definitely a team effort as the Tigers were relentless on defensive even though the blue and gold Tigers continued to surge at them. In the first quarter, Carraway scored 8 points while the defense held Leonard to just 2 points. On the defensive glass, Whitewright saw its players Lawson Moore, Jaron Gage, and Radley Hamm be very aggressive in getting rebounds. Then in the second quarter, WMS allowed six points as they could not figure out Leonard’s screen game on defense. Your Tigers still found a way to score eight points, four from Donaldson and Carraway. Most of their points came from fast breaks as Seth Samples and Jack Hill played very good man to man defense and creating steals. A.J. Edwards contributed quality minutes on the court with great defense and moving the ball up the court. After having a rough third quarter of allowing six points and only scoring two, the Tigers erupting with thirteen points in the fourth blowing the game wide open. Larry led the team with seven points and Julius had six contributed by assists from Moore and Donaldson. The Tigers ended up winning the game thirty-one to fifteen only allowing one point in the fourth quarter.
The 8th grade Gold team had a variety of players contribute on offense Monday night, as only one player did not score. In the first quarter, your Tigers started off sluggish offensively by only scoring seven points. Dylan Cordell had four points and Kylan Watson added a bucket and a free throw for three points. Then came the barrage, the Gold team erupted with seventeen points that were created by their full court press that stifled LMS’ 8th grade “A” team. The crowd saw the hustle and effort by Mason Clark and Ja’Shaun Johnson defending Leonard’s guards. By doing their part it created scoring opportunities for Cordell (2), Watson (2), Marshall Mangrum (4), Ryne Godbey (6), Allec Bautista (2), and Johnson (1). After one half, it was safe to say that your Tigers came to play. The score at the midpoint of the game was Whitewright Tigers twenty-four and the Leonard Tigers seven. The Gold team did not let up as they held LMS to single digit scoring in the next two quarters only giving up nine more points in all. They mixed up their press look multiple times and even when Leonard broke
it they found a way to hustle back and deny scoring with aggressive man to man defense. The Tigers scored nine points in the third led by Jace Andrew’s four points. Then in the fourth scored eight points led by Watson’s four points. The Tigers closed out Leonard with a huge win of forty-one to sixteen. The WMS Tigers host the Van Alstyne Middle School Panthers next week as they have the only blemish on the Tigers record for both teams. Hopefully you can come out and support these hard working athletes as they try to avenge their only loss.
7th Grade:
The 7th Grade Whitewright Tigers took on the Leonard Tigers on Monday night. The WMS Tigers surged back from a 6 point deficit in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 33 at the end of regulation. The game was sent into overtime. There was some quality defensive play from Logan Hammond and Kaleb Montgomery, with 3 and 5 steals respectively. Trevor McCartney and Xavier Cox-Dunlap led all WMS Tigers in rebounds; McCartney with 6 and Cox-Dunlap with 13. Cox-Dunlap also contributed greatly to the point total, scoring 16 points to end the night thus giving him another double-double. Aaron Pitt had a nice game as well, contributing 13 points and 3 steals. Pacen Harris, Eduardo Guerra, and Aiden Farrington played well defensively throughout the night. At the final buzzer, the WMS Tigers came out on top of the Leonard Tigers 38-37 moving their record to 2-2 on the year. The Tigers will host the Van Alstyne Panthers next Monday, December 14th at Whitewright Middle School. The first game tips of at 4:30 as the Tigers look to increase their winning streak to 3 games. Go Tigers!
8th Grade Tigers Sweep Leonard Middle School
The 8th grade Black Team had a huge day from Julius Carraway as he scored 20 points Monday night against the Leonard Tigers. Larry Donaldson continued his scoring ways with 11 points, as they were the only players to score. This was definitely a team effort as the Tigers were relentless on defensive even though the blue and gold Tigers continued to surge at them. In the first quarter, Carraway scored 8 points while the defense held Leonard to just 2 points. On the defensive glass, Whitewright saw its players Lawson Moore, Jaron Gage, and Radley Hamm be very aggressive in getting rebounds. Then in the second quarter, WMS allowed six points as they could not figure out Leonard’s screen game on defense. Your Tigers still found a way to score eight points, four from Donaldson and Carraway. Most of their points came from fast breaks as Seth Samples and Jack Hill played very good man to man defense and creating steals. A.J. Edwards contributed quality minutes on the court with great defense and moving the ball up the court. After having a rough third quarter of allowing six points and only scoring two, the Tigers erupting with thirteen points in the fourth blowing the game wide open. Larry led the team with seven points and Julius had six contributed by assists from Moore and Donaldson. The Tigers ended up winning the game thirty-one to fifteen only allowing one point in the fourth quarter.
The 8th grade Gold team had a variety of players contribute on offense Monday night, as only one player did not score. In the first quarter, your Tigers started off sluggish offensively by only scoring seven points. Dylan Cordell had four points and Kylan Watson added a bucket and a free throw for three points. Then came the barrage, the Gold team erupted with seventeen points that were created by their full court press that stifled LMS’ 8th grade “A” team. The crowd saw the hustle and effort by Mason Clark and Ja’Shaun Johnson defending Leonard’s guards. By doing their part it created scoring opportunities for Cordell (2), Watson (2), Marshall Mangrum (4), Ryne Godbey (6), Allec Bautista (2), and Johnson (1). After one half, it was safe to say that your Tigers came to play. The score at the midpoint of the game was Whitewright Tigers twenty-four and the Leonard Tigers seven. The Gold team did not let up as they held LMS to single digit scoring in the next two quarters only giving up nine more points in all. They mixed up their press look multiple times and even when Leonard broke
it they found a way to hustle back and deny scoring with aggressive man to man defense. The Tigers scored nine points in the third led by Jace Andrew’s four points. Then in the fourth scored eight points led by Watson’s four points. The Tigers closed out Leonard with a huge win of forty-one to sixteen. The WMS Tigers host the Van Alstyne Middle School Panthers next week as they have the only blemish on the Tigers record for both teams. Hopefully you can come out and support these hard working athletes as they try to avenge their only loss.
7th Grade:
The 7th Grade Whitewright Tigers took on the Leonard Tigers on Monday night. The WMS Tigers surged back from a 6 point deficit in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 33 at the end of regulation. The game was sent into overtime. There was some quality defensive play from Logan Hammond and Kaleb Montgomery, with 3 and 5 steals respectively. Trevor McCartney and Xavier Cox-Dunlap led all WMS Tigers in rebounds; McCartney with 6 and Cox-Dunlap with 13. Cox-Dunlap also contributed greatly to the point total, scoring 16 points to end the night thus giving him another double-double. Aaron Pitt had a nice game as well, contributing 13 points and 3 steals. Pacen Harris, Eduardo Guerra, and Aiden Farrington played well defensively throughout the night. At the final buzzer, the WMS Tigers came out on top of the Leonard Tigers 38-37 moving their record to 2-2 on the year. The Tigers will host the Van Alstyne Panthers next Monday, December 14th at Whitewright Middle School. The first game tips of at 4:30 as the Tigers look to increase their winning streak to 3 games. Go Tigers!