A bittersweet night at Gilmer for Sabine
Lady Cardinals beat Gilmer, go 6-0 in district; Buckeyes upset Cardinals
By JASON HEFFNER and MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

Photo by John Niesner LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS - Sabine boys coach Tim Davis (top left) addresses his team in the locker room during halftime of a recent game. The Cardinals, one of the area's best teams earlier this season, dropped a secondstraight game Tuesday, falling to Gilmer, 62-50. Sabine's girls won, though, beating Gilmer, 42-33, and are 6-0 in District 15-3A play. Both Sabine teams are home Friday, taking on Mineola.

GILMER - Gilmer's Zack Jones was red-hot from start to finish Tuesday night, hitting seven three-pointers and scoring 31 points, lifting the Buckeyes to their fourth straight district win, a 62-50 triumph over the suddenly-slumping Sabine Cardinals.

The good news for Sabine basketball fans: the Lady Cardinals are on a roll that no one in District 15-3A has been able to stop. And it continues, as they are now 6-0 in 15-3A with a 49-33 win last night over the Lady Buckeyes.

Both Sabine teams host Mineola on Friday.

• Gilmer 62, Sabine 50 (boys): Sabine (22-5 overall, 2-2 in 15-3A) had at one point won 11 straight games this season, but have lost the last two games (at home to White Oak and at Gilmer). The Cardinals were also plagued by turnovers throughout the game, thanks in large part to Gilmer's trapping defense. The Cardinals managed only 15 first-half points.

Sabine pulled to within six points with just over two minutes to play, but Jones would make two consecutive threepointers to seal the win late in the game.

As a result, the Buckeyes are now in sole possession of first place in the district with record of 4-0.

Jacob Dunaway led the Cards with 14 points. Lie'Quan Byrd also hit double figures (10 points).

Noah Jackson scored 9, Tyler Woodrell had six, Jacob Kenna four, Josh Herod three, and Glen Hutchison and Colton Kirk two each.

In addition to Jones' 31 points, Devane Clark had 15 and Chris Kern eight for the Buckeyes, who face White Oak Friday.

Sabine won Tuesday's junior varsity game at Gilmer, 33-31, with Zach Royce netting eight points and Chance Haskins seven for Sabine. The freshmen also topped Gilmer, 41-30, led by Richard Humphrey's 11 points.

• Sabine 49, Gilmer 33 (girls): Since district play started, no girls team in 15- 3A has played better basketball than Sabine (15-9 overall to go with that 6-0 district mark).

Coach Paul Bell's Sabine girls led 22- 15 at the half - Gilmer gave them a run in the third period, but Sabine sprinted away in the fourth, outscoring Gilmer 14-5 in the final quarter.

Samantha Jackson came up huge again for Sabine, netting 19 points, four assists, four steals and two rebounds. Cassie Headley scored 10 points (hitting two three-pointers) and had a steal and a rebound.

Also for Sabine, Alex Easley had eight points, eight rebounds, two steals and a big defensive charge. Cortnee Ryan scored six, had two rebounds, a steal and an assist. Katy Strange had four points, three steals, and came up very big on boards (11). Katie Walker had two points, an assist and four rebounds, and Shayla Gossett didn't score, but got two rebounds.