Bulldogs go 3-2 in Tatum tourney

The Tatum tournament turned out to be a good workout for coach Jimmy Williams' Kilgore High School boys basketball team.

The tournament wrapped up for Kilgore on Friday, with the Bulldogs getting in five games in the event. They won three of them.

KHS lost its first Friday game by just one point, 53-52, to Diboll, then won two straight to close out the tournament, beating Garrison, 52-31, and beating San Augustine, 76-70.

The 'Dogs take the Christmas holiday off and won't be back in action until a road game at Marshall Saturday, Jan. 3. KHS is back home Monday, Jan. 5 against Spring Hill.

District 14-4A play doesn't start until Jan. 13, a home game against Lindale, and that will mean all the Kilgore High School basketball teams, girls and boys, will be at home that night.

Speaking of the Lady Bulldogs, they were to resume play Saturday in a tournament at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, but there was no word at press time on how they finished on Friday.

• Diboll 53, Kilgore 52: This one was as close as it sounds, with Kilgore getting a shot off at the end, but Diboll hanging on. It would turn out to be the Bulldogs' only loss of the day.

Senior Drake Bickham led all scorers with 16 points. Senior teammate Xavian Sanders had 10, and sophomore post player Patrick Colbert finished with eight, as did freshman Shawn Williams. Devaron Harvey, another of the Bulldogs' seniors, had five. Chris Ward finished with three, and Courtney Maddox, also a senior, dropped in two.

• Kilgore 52, Garrison 31: The Bulldogs had a big first half, outscoring Garrison 34- 18. Bickham led again, this time with 10 points. Another newcomer, freshman Matthew Dickey, had nine. Maddox had eight, Williams and Harvey six each, Sanders and Colbert four each, freshman Kaleb "K.B." Brisendine three, and Ward, two. Kilgore assistant coach Kerry Strong said that every Bulldog that took the floor scored in the game.

• Kilgore 76, Palestine 70, overtime: Kilgore took a big lead in this one, going up by 19, and then allowed San Augustine a bit of a comeback. The Bulldogs outscored Palestine 8-2 in the extra OT period for the win.

Sanders led this time with 15 points, and the real story was the play of freshmen Williams and Brisendine. Williams had 12 points for Kilgore, Brisendine nine. Ward had 11, and Bickham again hit doublefigures with 10 points.

Maddox had nine points, Harvey eight, and Colbert rounding out the scoring with two.