Tigers drop games before, after break

The Wills Point Tigers played their first two home games of the season last week, wrapping up their pre-Thanksgiving holiday with a game against Crandall before playing host to Caddo Mills following the break. Wills Point would go winless in the two contests, struggling to find offensive consistency in their game against the Pirates before struggling with foul trouble throughout much of the night against the Foxes.

Wills Point and Crandall met on the hardwood Nov. 20 with the Pirates scoring a 71-34 victory over the Tigers.

Crandall set the pace early, building up a 21-11 lead after eight minutes of play. The margin would swell to 44-20 at the half and 62-28 through three quarters.

The Pirates would wrap up the afternoon by holding the Tigers to just six points in the fourth quarter, on two field goals and two made free throws, to close out the 37-point win.

Leading scorers for the Tigers included Klayton Spencer with nine, Savion Kellum with seven, Jaden Huff and Jayton Oldacre with five each, Demontre Hill with four and Zane Coffman and Jaquez Thompson with two each.

The Tigers returned to the court Nov. 27, putting together a much better effort at both ends of the court in a 59-51 win by Caddo Mills. Fouls and foul trouble would be a huge factor in the contest for both sides as the Tigers and Foxes combined for 51 whistles.

Led by Demontre Hill's eight first quarter points, Wills Point took a 14-12 lead over Caddo Mills in the early going.

The Foxes fought back in the second, benefiting from 11 free throw attempts to take a 26-25 lead into the half.

Caddo Mills put together their best quarter of the night in the third, outscoring the Tigers 21-13 to take a 47-38 lead.

Wills Point upped its defensive intensity in the fourth quarter, shaving off one point of the Foxes' lead to cut the deficit to 59-51 at the final buzzer.

Demontre Hill led all Tiger players with 22 points, Jayton Oldacre with eight, Josh Davis with seven, Jaquez Thompson with six, Kash Adams with three, Coby Bennett and Jaden Huff with two points each, and Savion Kellum with one.

The Tigers were slated to stay within the boundaries of Van Zandt County this weekend, making their way to Edgewood Nov. 29-Dec. 1 to compete in 52nd annual Jack Shelnutt Invitational.

The Tigers were scheduled to open up tournament play at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 29 with a game against Paris North Lamar. With a win, the Tigers will advance to play the winner of Caddo Mills and Mt. Pleasant Chapel Hill at 1 p.m. Nov. 30. A loss would mean the Tigers take on the loser between Caddo Mills or Chapel Hill at 10:20 a.m. Nov. 30.

Other teams in the field outside of Wills Point include tournament host Edgewood, rival Canton, as well as Hooks, Scurry-Rosser, Bullard, Mineola, Sunnyvale, Commerce, Quinlan and Life Oak Cliff.

The Tigers will hit the road to take Scurry-Rosser Dec. 4 before returning home for their own annual tournament Dec. 6-8.