Mineola dominated Alba-Golden 60-39 in boys district action Friday at Mineola. The Yellowjackets created a ton of Panther turnovers and exercised a strong inside game in the win.

Yellowjacket Wing Kelby Bruner jumpstarted the Jackets’ offense with an early three-pointer and a beautiful two-point floater in the lane. Senior Shaw Franklin provided the solid court presence required on a night marred by sloppy basketball by both teams.

After a steal and breakaway lay-in by Mineola’s DeVante Stephens gave Mineola a 10-point advantage, Alba-Golden’s Jon-Michael Chadwick scored on a breakaway to make the score 15-7 at the end of one quarter.

A turnaround jumper by Panther sophomore Boedy Baker put Alba-Golden within six points early in the second stanza. It was at this stage that Yellowjacket Kadavian George really began to exert himself at both ends of the floor. His defensive pressure created a turnover in the backcourt, which he converted to make the score 24-11, and began to open the margin for Mineola.

A late flurry of activity by Alba-Golden spurred by Zane Smith’s tip-in of a missed free throw closed the gap to 26-17. An inside bucket by George and good Mineola work at the line made the score 30-17 at the half.

There is only one way to describe the second half play: reach and grab. It was not pretty basketball. There was far too much end-to-end play, too many turnovers by both teams, and unfocused effort. Mineola did continue to force Alba-Golden turnovers and capitalize on the extra possessions.

A Conner Dobbs three-pointer, a Bruner steal and score and a score by Davian Sneed from a nice Franklin assist built a 20-point lead late in the third quarter. The lead ballooned to 26 points after shots by George and Aiden Steward from beyond the arc.

The fourth quarter saw Mineola trading scores with Alba-Golden but with little effect on the margin.