Dawgs fall to Lufkin Central 61-54
By GEORGIA PURDY

RADARWIN ADAMS lays in two of his 10 points against Lufkin Central last Tuesday. Jasper dropped the non-district affair 61-54.

The Jasper Bulldogs lost 61-54 to Lufkin Central last Tuesday, but showed much improvement against a strong team that had walloped them just a few weeks ago. Point guard Dominique Bailey led both teams in scoring and then went on to turn in an impressive set of numbers in the YMBL tournament over the weekend.

“We didn’t expect them to be so good,” the Central coach said. “They weren’t this good when we played them earlier. They have really improved.”

Jasper led 15-12 in the first quarter before Central’s three-point shooters had a chance to warm up.

“We went to a zone defense early because of their capability to shoot from the outside,” coach Terry Young said. “Then, they warmed up as we knew they would. Central is a good solid team with great height. I expect them to go far in their region. We plan to play them again next year.”

In the second quarter, the teams played close until Central pulled ahead 29-19. Roderick Kyles hit for two, making it a 29-21 game; but a Jasper turnover gave the opponents another goal. As the buzzer sounded, Christian Goff fired a three-pointer to bring the score to 33-24 at the half.

JASPER CHRISTIAN GOFF is a recent call-up from the junior varsity and has given the Bulldogs an outside threepoint threat.

The ‘Dogs pulled to within six points in the third period but were plagued by turnovers and the quarter ended 45-36.

Jasper dropped behind 10 points in the fourth before staging a rally that brought them to the final 61-54 loss.

Bailey led with 23 points: three treys, four field goals and six free throws. RaDarwin Adams had 10 and Roderick Kyles, eight.

Roman Land and William Ellis had five defensive rebounds each.

Central’s high point shooter was Kyle Cook with 21 points, followed by Jacoby Bass, 14 and Chris Hicks, 10.

Junior varsity won their game 56-49. Jaren Bronson scored 15 points; DJ Jackson, 12; and Ryan Gaston, 10.

The freshman team also won, 35-26. Pete Fuentes had eight points; Daniel Thomas, six; and Josh Sells, seven.

Varsity also competed in the YMBL tournament over the weekend in what Young said was “no physical match-up for us.”

JASPER SOPHOMORE WILLIAM ELLIS finds his path to the bucket blocked by a pair of Lufkin Central defenders last Tuesday.

“They were all too big for us,” he said. Every team we played had kids 6’8 and 6’9. We don’t have that kind of height and we played some good teams.”

Jasper lost to Beaumont Central 101-55. Again, Bailey was high point with 17.

Desmond Smith had 10, Roderick Kyles and William Ellis, six each.

“Dominique impressed everyone at the tournament with his physical skills,” Young said.

Bailey then scored 23 points in the 79-51 loss to Kashmere and 16 in the contest with Westberry Christian.

“We play with a lot of energy at home, but not on the road,” Young said. “We are also inconsistent. We play well and then the next time there is no carry-over. Of course, that is typical of a young team and that’s what we have right now— a team led by a freshman point guard.”

Bailey has taken over the point guard duties for Jasper and Young praised the freshman’s play.

“With Dominique’s penetration ability, he opens up a lot of stuff offensively,” Young said.

“We’re getting better at the free throw line, shooting 70 percent or better and our field goal percentage is coming up.”

The ‘Dogs played Newton last night and will open District 21-3A play against the Bridge City Cardinals at home, Dec. 18.

They play at the H a m s h i r e - F a n n e t t Longhorns Dec. 21