White Oak Holds Off Tenaha 55-51 in Boys Semifinal at Tenaha Holiday Hoops Scholarship Classic

TENAHA -- In the second intriguing 2A vs. 1A boys semifinal matchup of the night, the 2A school once again prevailed in the late stages of the game.

White Oak came back from a small deficit early in the fourth, built a seven-point lead with fewer than three minutes left, then survived three last-minute Tenaha chances to tie the game in a 55-51 Roughneck victory in a boys semifinal at the Tenaha Holiday Hoops Scholarship Classic.

The win sends White Oak, ranked No. 18 in Class 2A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, to its second consecutive Tenaha Holiday Hoops championship game. The Roughnecks lost the 2012 title game to Kountze, which awaits White Oak in Saturday's 8 p.m. contest at the Special Events Center. Kountze, ranked second in 2A, aims for its fourth tournament title in the five-year history of the event.

Tenaha, which is No. 7 in the Class A Division I poll, faces Laneville at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the third-place game. Laneville -- No. 4 in 1A Division II -- fell 82-71 to Kountze on Friday but led in the fourth quarter.

White Oak senior guard Slade Sutton hit five three-pointers to finish with 19 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while senior post Hayden Nichols added 13 points and seven boards. Senior guard Keontas Davis led Tenaha with 16 points and five rebounds. Senior forward Chavis Gregory had 12 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Tyler Davison contributed 11 points.

After leading by seven points at halftime, White Oak fell behind 41-40 going to the fourth quarter thanks to Tenaha's 16-8 third-quarter edge. But again gained control thanks to a 13-3 run that pushed the Roughnecks' lead to 53-44 with 3:22 remaining.

Tenaha then staged a 7-0 run to put the Tigers in position to tie the game in the final half minute.

Trailing 53-46, Tenaha got a three-point play from senior guard Keontas Davis to cut the White Oak lead to four points. With 1:34 to play, junior guard D'Andre Thomas scored on a putback to trim White Oak's edge to 53-51.

Tenaha missed two free throws with 1:02 remaining, but White Oak left the door ajar when it missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 15.5 seconds left. Tenaha failed to connect on a runner with seven seconds left, which led to a putback that barely rolled off the rim moments later to preserve White Oak's lead.

Two Sutton free throws with 1.1 seconds left iced the game, 55-51.

White Oak got seven points and seven rebounds from senior forward Josh Benson, plus six points, five boards, and three assists from senior forward Gabe Michael.

Tenaha senior Jacoby Ivy had seven points and eight rebounds. Thomas finished with five points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Tenaha led 15-14 after one quarter, but White Oak assembled a 15-0 run capped by a Sutton trey and Michael putback that allowed the Roughnecks to close the half on an 18-5 spurt for the 32-25 intermission edge.

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Tenaha Holiday Hoops Scholarship Classic

Boys Semifinal

White Oak 55, Tenaha 51

Special Events Center, Tenaha

White Oak -- 14 18 8 15 -- 55
Tenaha -- 15 10 16 10 -- 51

White Oak -- Slade Sutton 19, Hayden Nichols 13, Josh Benson 7, Cass Carr 6, Gabe Michael 6, Jake Pullen 4.
Tenaha -- Keontas Davis 16, Chavis Gregory 12, Tyler Davison 11, Jacoby Ivy 7, D'Andre Thomas 5.
Rankings -- White Oak: No. 18 in 2A. Tenaha: No. 7 in 1A D-I.