24-3a hoops

[maestro]

columbia wins......

did not see it posted anywhere...

congrats to the boys and coach vernor..

[buff4ever]

what was the score?

[pololdb]

Grable propels 'Necks

By Joel Luna
The Facts

Published February 22, 2007

RICHMOND — Reserve junior guard Brian Grable ignited a sleeping Columbia offense by going 4-for-4 from 3-point land Wednesday night as the Roughnecks grabbed a 52-35 Region III, bi-district win over Bellville at Richmond Foster High School.

“Its not that big of a surprise with Grable, but he has been hitting those 3s

lately,” Columbia coach John Vernor said. “Boy, he just did a great job at the two position tonight.”

The win sends Columbia (14-17) to the area round where it will face Texas Hoops’ sixth-ranked team in Class 3A, Sour Lake Hardin-Jefferson, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill.

Jitters might have caused a turtle-like start as both teams combined to go 2-for-17 from the field in the first six minutes. Columbia hit just one of its first 10 shots until senior guard Jason Scott picked up his second foul in the first quarter and headed to the bench.

Grable took Scott’s spot in the lineup and calmly connected on his first trey opportunity as Columbia caught fire. The Roughnecks hit all five of their shots in the last couple minutes of the quarter to take a 15-4 lead.

The Brahmas (15-15) opened the game with a quick bucket by 6-foot-8 post Colton Smith for their only lead of the contest. Bellville did not score again until the final minute of the first period when Aaron Hoffman put in a layup.

Grable continued his hot shooting from beyond 20 feet by knocking down two treys as Columbia went 8-for-13 from the field in the second period. The Brahmas had another miserable quarter (4-for-16 shooting) as their main weapon, Terrence Bryant — who entered the contest averaging 16 points per game — never got on track in the first half.

“He is one of the top forces in the Houston area in 3A and also a top rebounder, but we concentrated on him tonight,” Vernor said. “We were nervous early, but our defense played great and got a lot of steals early. Once we knocked down a couple of buckets in a row, we settled down. The main thing was that someone finally made a shot in the beginning for us.”

By halftime, Bryant had only one basket as Bellville was a dismal 6-for-25 from the field, including 2-of-11 from the 3-point arc, and the ’Necks held a 31-15 halftime lead.

Early in the third period, Rick Gamboa’s bucket on the inside opened up what was Columbia’s biggest lead of the game, 35-15. Several times during the third stanza, the ’Necks pushed the advantage to 20 points as both offenses went cold, with each team scoring only eight points. Still, Columbia was able to maintain its 16-point advantage, leading 39-23 after three periods.

Bryant finally warmed up for Bellville in the second half as he scored 15 of the Brahmas’ final 20 points. But it was too late as Columbia cruised to the victory.

Bryant finished with 17 points to lead Bellville, while Grable had 12 points for Columbia, Justin Scott had 11, Gamboa chipped in eight and Dan Lee had seven.