Area basketball teams enjoyed another week heavily laden with tournament competition. The Mineola boys and Quitman boys were busy at the White Oak tourney, while the Alba-Golden boys were at All Saints in Tyler. The Quitman Lady Bulldogs made the trek to Winnsboro for tourney play while the Lady Panthers played in the Pine Tree Tourney. The Lady Jackets have their sights set on the Brownsboro Tourney, Dec 7-9.

End-of-week coverage started with the Bulldogs and a mid-morning game against the hosting White Oak Roughnecks.  

The Bulldogs made a great start, forcing two Roughneck turnovers in the opening moments. Defensively, the Bulldogs were on the balls of their feet and only sparingly gave White Oak a decent look at the basket. 

Two jump shots by Klayton Meadows and a nice inside score by Jace Peek on an assist from Carter Smith stoked the offense. Payton Sapp sunk a 3-pointer to close out the quarter and give Quitman a 11-6 lead.

The second stanza saw some indecisiveness by the Bulldogs in the offensive zone, while at the other end White Oak began to drive the basket. Three consecutive 3-pointers by Sapp restored the five-point Quitman lead going into half. 

Momentum shifted to the Roughnecks in the third quarter, and they retained the edge through the final buzzer. The home team hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer between quarters and made it a 4-point play. White Oak led by a point 26-25.

Frustration was evident among the Bulldogs, as they dominated the boards all game. Peek likely out-rebounded the entire Roughneck team himself, but the Bulldogs could not convert those rebounds to points. 

White Oak took a 4-point lead midway through the fourth and used a harassing man-to-man defense to stymie any Quitman designs on a comeback. Quitman fell 37-31. 

After recording a 59-48 win over Henderson in the first day of action, the Mineola Yellowjackets faced Kilgore to open play on Friday morning. 

Followers of Mineola basketball pretty much know what they will get year after year. An exhausting defense, great court awareness and attacking play. 

Despite facing a Kilgore side which was a bit depleted, due to Kilgore’s football team being yet in the post-season, the Yellowjackets came to play.

Two quick turnovers forced by the Mineola press launched the Jackets in the early morning match-up. Five Yellowjackets etched the scorecard in the opening quarter. 

The Jackets scored inside (Colton McMahon with two strong moves in the paint), off of turnovers (Keke Martin with a steal and score on a tough contested lay-up), and from mid-range (a smooth jumper from Ainsley Steward). 

Every opportunity was leveraged by head coach Ryan Steadman to instruct his charges on learning points throughout the game. Little escaped his attention. 

The second quarter highlighted just how important Braydon Alley is to the team. Alley was busy at both ends of the court. His presence on the boards was critical, but he also was able to take the ball the length of the court and score on a drive. 

At the half, the Jackets led 33-14.

Mineola went on to outscore Kilgore by a dozen points in the second half. The game allowed plenty of playing minutes to be shared by the team.

Most notably was the ability of the team to change their game according to direction from the bench. This Yellowjacket team seems to have considerable basketball acumen and promises an exciting season. 

The Jackets took the game, 58-27.