Sabine Wins A Nail Biter Over White Oak, 59 - 55

Cardinals knock the Roughnecks out of first place contention and lock up the 18-2A championship

WHITE OAK, TX, Feb. 10, 2009 -- Almost 1200 fans packed the White Oak High School gymnasium tonight to see the two premier 18-2A teams battle it out for 1st place in the district. If they came expecting a close, hard fought game, they weren't disappointed.

Third ranked Sabine jumped out to an early lead, and by the end of the first quarter, led the Roughnecks by seven. But what started as another cakewalk for Sabine quickly turned into a roundball brawl, as White Oak battled back in the second period. Playing a close man-to-man defense, the Roughnecks managed to shut down Noah Jackson, the Cardinals leading scorer, and take a half-time tie into the locker room.

But the Cardinals have more than one way to score, and junior point guard Colton Kirk repeatedly found ways to penetrate the Roughneck defense. He ended the night leading all scorers with 25 points, and locked up the Sabine win by scoring the final three points of the game on a lay-up and a clutch free throw with under a minute to play.

Sabine fans rushed the floor at the final buzzer, congratulating their team, and relishing the win. It was the first time in over ten years that a Cardinal team had taken a victory from the Roughnecks on the road.

White Oak's Trevor Wait led Roughneck scoring with 18 points, followed by Jackson McCurdy with 11.


SCORING BY QUARTER

           1Q  2Q  3Q  4Q  FIN
Sabine     14  14  10  21  59
White Oak   7  21   9  18  55

BOX SCORES:
Sabine: Colton Kirk 21, Jacob Kenna 12, Josh Montana 8, Noah Jackson 8, Tyler Woodrell 6, Lie'Quan Byrd 4

White Oak: Trevor Wait 18, Jackson McCurdy 11, Blake Ware 6, Taylor Goll 6, Caleb Carr 6, Connor Sharp 5, J.D. Richardson 3

Sabine will look to extend their 19 game winning streak, and polish their (12-0) district record when they host Union Grove Friday.

White Oak, with a solid hold on second place at (10-2), will host Harmony.