Tyler All Saints + Tyler Lee To Meet In Wednesday Night’s Platinum Bracket Championship At Wagstaff Tourney

TYLER -- One of East Texas' most prolific scorers was held in check for most of Tuesday night, but rose to the occasion when the stakes were at their highest.

Tyler All Saints senior guard Aston Francis scored 10 of his team-high 15 points during a critical stretch in the fourth quarter, helping the Trojans push past Lindale, 54-43, at the Wagstaff Holiday Classic.

Lindale's Jordan Gray drives the lane against Tyler All Saints' Luke Lee during their game Tuesday night at the Wagstaff Holiday Classic in Tyler. (Mark Martin, ETSN.fm)

Francis, who scored 32 points in Monday's win, and All Saints advanced to Wednesday night's Platinum Bracket championship game against Tyler Lee, which also improved to 2-0 at the tournament with a 58-48 win over Liberty-Eylau earlier Tuesday.

Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m., the 24th and final game of the three-day event.

All Saints led Lindale for all but nine seconds, but saw its lead trimmed to three points with 6:30 remaining in the fourth. But the Trojans went on 10-2 run in the game's next 1:33 to increase the lead to 46-35 -- all 10 points coming from Francis, who didn't score his first basket on the night until the latter stages of the first half.

Lindale never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Jaired Maddox had 12 points and three steals for All Saints, while Luke Lee finished with eight points, five rebounds and two steals. Spencer Ball chipped in with seven points, five boards, two assists and two steals, while Matthew Brunson had three points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Jordan Gray led Lindale in defeat with 22 points to go along with three steals, but no other Eagles player reached double figures in scoring. Laettner Greenhill added nine points -- all in the first half -- and a team-best seven rebounds.

Lindale will face Liberty-Eylau at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Platinum Bracket consolation game.

Tyler Lee Overcomes Liberty-Eylau

It wasn't as pretty as Monday night's 23-point win over Whitehouse, but the Tyler Lee Red Raiders punched their ticket to the Platinum Bracket title game with a hard-fought 58-48 win over Liberty-Eylau.

The Red Raiders, who were outrebounded 37-25 for the game, opened up a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter but had to overcome a dreadful performance at the free-throw line in the final period to secure the victory.

The trio of senior forward Garrett Thibodeaux, junior guard Isjuwan Barker and senior guard Rico Major provided most of the Red Raiders' punch.

Thibodeaux, an Air Force signee, led the way with 19 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Barker added 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals, while Major put up 10 points with six boards and four steals.

Lee made just 9 of 21 attempts from the charity stripe, and just 4 of 15 in the fourth, which allowed Liberty-Eylau to trim the Red Raiders' lead to 45-41 with 2:44 remaining. Ironically enough, however, it was a missed free throw that began Lee's game-deciding 9-0 run in the next minute.

Major was fouled on a made layup, and Jordan Devers followed the missed free throw with a putback, which preceded a Thibodeaux steal and layup off the inbounds pass, giving Lee a 51-41 lead in a matter of 16 seconds. Major connected for another bucket, and Barker made one of two free-throw attempts to extend the lead to 54-41 with 1:41 remaining.

Liberty-Eylau, which tallied just four points in the third quarter, came alive offensively in the fourth with 23 points.

Leopards 6-5 sophomore post LaGaryon Carson finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds and three steals. Malik Sherman added 12 points and four boards, while Malcolm Gant had 11 points, which included L-E's only three 3-pointers of the night.

Whitehouse Pulls Away From Palestine

The Whitehouse Wildcats rebounded from Monday's blowout loss to Tyler Lee with a strong finish in the fourth quarter of their 68-55 win over Palestine.

Whitehouse, which twice had its lead cut to one point in the fourth, finished the game on 20-8 run to advance to Wednesday night's Diamond Bracket championship game. The Wildcats will take on Kilgore, a 71-57 winner over Bullard Brook Hill, at 7 p.m.

Palestine, 0-2 at the Wagstaff tournament so far, will look to finish the three-day classic with a victory when it faces Bullard Brook Hill at noon Wednesday in the Diamond Bracket consolation game.

Whitehouse freshman guard Javier Neal led the Wildcats with 18 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Sophomore guard Ryan Walls knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points and five rebounds in the win.

Trent Williams had eight points, three boards, two assists and to steals, while Isiah Clark, Logan Gonter and Landry Mayo ended the night with seven points apiece for Whitehouse.

Palestine was led in defeat by Kevin Parish's 13 points, which accompanied four rebounds. Vay Davis added 12 points and four boards, while Gee Clark and Keelan Yarbrough added nine points apiece.

With Whitehouse clinging to a 48-47 lead with 5:20 remaining in the fourth, the Wildcats went on an 11-2 run to take control. The game-deciding sequence was highlighted by a pair of Gonter baskets, a Mayo layup and Walls' fourth 3-pointer of the night.

Palestine cut its deficit to 62-55 with 47 seconds to play, but Whitehouse went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the win.

Tyler All Saints' Spencer Ball goes up for a fastbreak layup during the Trojans' 54-43 win over Lindale during Tuesday's action at the Wagstaff Holiday Classic in Tyler. (Mark Martin, ETSN.fm)

Wagstaff Holiday Classic

TUESDAY'S FEATURED BOX SCORES

Tyler All Saints 54, Lindale 43

Lindale 9 13 9 12 -- 43
All Saints 10 17 9 18 -- 54
LINDALE -- Jordan Gray, 22; Laettner Greenhill, 9; Dietrich Fry, 4; Terrell Cooper, 2; Tryceton Griffin, 2; De Jackson, 2; Garrett Sir Louis, 2.
ALL SAINTS -- Aston Francis, 15; Jaired Maddox, 12; Luke Lee, 8; Spencer Ball, 7; Clayton Smith, 6; Matthew Brunson, 3; Sean Phillips, 3.
THREE-POINT GOALS -- Lindale: Gray (2), Greenhill. All Saints: Francis (2), Maddox (2), Phillips.

Tyler Lee 58, Liberty-Eylau 48

Liberty-Eylau 10 11 4 23 -- 48
Tyler Lee 11 13 12 22 -- 58
LIBERTY-EYLAU -- LaGaryon Carson, 12; Malik Sherman, 12; Malcolm Gant, 11; Brandon Harper, 6; Decorian Meadows, 3; KT Hernandez, 2; Ricardo Lockett, 2.
TYLER LEE -- Garrett Thibodeaux, 19; Isjuwan Barker, 17; Rico Major, 10; Jordan Devers, 5; Jordan Berry, 4; John Davis, 3.
THREE-POINT GOALS -- Liberty-Eylau: Gant (3). Tyler Lee: Barker (2), Davis.

Whitehouse 68, Palestine 55

Palestine 12 21 6 16 -- 55
Whitehouse 18 19 7 24 -- 68
PALESTINE -- Kevin Parish, 13; Vay Davis, 12; Gee Clark, 9; Keelan Yarbrough, 9; C.J. Barrett, 4; Forrester Polk, 4; Devonte Mims, 2; Cameron Wilson, 2.
WHITEHOUSE -- Javier Neal, 18; Ryan Walls, 16; Trent Williams, 8; Isiah Clark, 7; Logan Gonter, 7; Landry Mayo, 7; Dominique Hollie, 3; Ashton Melton, 2.
THREE-POINT GOALS -- Palestine: Clark (2), Parish (2). Whitehouse: Walls (4), Mayo.

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Wagstaff Holiday Classic

Monday-Wednesday
At Tyler JC’s Wagstaff Gymnasium

MONDAY’S RESULTS

Game 1 — Van 65, Tyler King’s Academy 29
Game 2 — Brownsboro 83, Athens 82 (OT)
Game 3 — Bullard 50, Tyler Bishop Gorman 42
Game 4 — Chapel Hill 57, Tyler Grace 54
Game 5 — Liberty-Eylau 58, Kilgore 44
Game 6 — Tyler All Saints 72, Palestine 57
Game 7 — Lindale 61, Bullard Brook Hill 57
Game 8 — Tyler Lee 68, Whitehouse 45

TUESDAY’S GAMES

Game 9 (Apache Bracket) — Brownsboro 64, Bullard 35
Game 10 (Apache Bracket) — Tyler Grace 56, Tyler King’s Academy 38
Game 11 (Gold Bracket) — Chapel Hill 52, Tyler Bishop Gorman 36
Game 12 (Gold Bracket) — Athens 61, Van 55
Game 13 (Diamond Bracket) — Kilgore 71, Bullard Brook Hill 57
Game 14 (Diamond Bracket) — Whitehouse 68, Palestine 55
Game 15 (Platinum Bracket) — Tyler Lee 58, Liberty-Eylau 48
Game 16 (Platinum Bracket) — Tyler All Saints 54, Lindale 43

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Game 17 (Apache Bracket consolation) — Bullard vs. Tyler King's Academy, 9 a.m.
Game 18 (Gold Bracket consolation) — Tyler Bishop Gorman vs. Van, 10:30 a.m.
Game 19 (Diamond Bracket consolation) — Bullard Brook Hill vs. Palestine, noon
Game 20 (Platinum Bracket consolation) — Liberty-Eylau vs. Lindale, 1:30 p.m.
Game 21 (Apache Bracket championship) — Brownsboro vs. Tyler Grace, 3 p.m.
Game 22 (Gold Bracket championship) — Chapel Hill vs. Athens, 5:30 p.m.
Game 23 (Diamond Bracket championship) — Kilgore vs. Whitehouse, 7 p.m.
Game 24 (Platinum Bracket championship) — Tyler Lee vs. Tyler All Saints, 8:30 p.m.