Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 322.02 Water Temperature:
49  degrees - top
47 degrees - bottom

Kemp drops 4 in CTex
Monitor Staff Reports
KEMP–Kemp’s Lady Yellowjackets tuned up for District 14-3A play by facing four top-25 teams at the Gatesville tournament in Central Texas before returning to crush Cross Roads Saturday.
Now 15-6 on the season, the Lady ’Jackets were scheduled to visit Quinlan Ford Tuesday for their final non-district contest.
Kemp opens district play at home Friday, Jan. 8, against the Van Lady Vandals, with a 4:30 p.m. freshman contest opening a three-game slate.
Tuesday, Jan. 12, the Lady ’Jackets host Wills Point for a key first-round contest, again opening at 4:30 p.m., before going on the road to Eustace Friday, Jan. 15.
Second-year head coach Kent Smith said facing the caliber of opponents at the Gatesville tournament was essential, and almost worth four straight losses.
“Although we did not win, we did have chances in all the games, only to have bad luck rear its head,” Smith said. “Thankfully, this happened prior to playing district, and it actually helped us by seeing teams that had plenty of talent.”
Kemp opened tournament play Dec. 28 against 20th-ranked (2A) McGregor, and fell to the Lady Bulldogs 57-44.
“We were outmatched by the outstanding post play of their two posts – one of them, Brown, was 6-4, 275,” Smith said. “We let them get an 11-point lead in the first, and it was nearly impossible to catch up. We played them pretty even the rest of the game, but by then the damage had been done.”
McGregor opened a 19-8 lead in the first quarter and padded that lead out to 19 points at 48-29 with a strong third quarter surge. In the final frame, the Lady ’Jackets outscored the Lady Bulldogs 15-9 to cut the margin to 13 points.
McGregor also got the benefit of the officiating throughout the contest – something that would mark all four games of the tournament – getting whistled for just three fouls in the first three quarters.
Michelle Ritterbach led the Lady ’Jackets with 21 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Brittany Simmons had 10 points (going 5-for-5 inside the arc) with four steals.
Ritterbach impressed other coaches enough that she was named to the All-Tournament team, even though the Lady ’Jackets did not win a game.
The second game pitted the Lady ’Jackets against the Burnet Lady Bulldogs, ranked No. 6 in Monday’s 3A state poll, and the Kemp girls held a two-point halftime lead, 25-23.
“In the second half, they had a forward who caught fire, scoring all 17 of her points in the third and fourth quarters,” Smith reported.
Ritterbach again led the Lady ’Jackets with 22 points, nine rebounds, three steals, two blocks and three assists, but nobody else scored in double figures, as the next high score was nine points from Brittany Simmons, who also added one steal and six assists.
The officiating again went against Kemp, as both Brandy Simmons and Amanda Lawrence fouled out.
Dec. 30, the Lady ’Jackets faced the Comanche Lady Indians (ranked No. 22 in Monday’s 2A poll), and fell 45-36.
“We had every opportunity to win the game, but our shots didn’t fall in the fourth quarter,” Smith reported.
The Lady Indians also got the benefit of the officiating, getting 18 free throws (converting nine) in the fourth quarter alone.
Kemp’s Briana Powell fouled out and both Brandy Simmons and Shannon Shipp ended with four fouls each.
Balanced scoring marked the Lady ’Jacket effort, as Lawrence finished with nine points, and both Brandy Simmons and Ritterbach had eight points each.
In the tournament’s final game, the Lady ’Jackets fell to Salado’s Lady Eagles (a 2A regional finalist last year) 60-42, losing Ritterbach to a twisted ankle in the second half.
Kemp started slow, as the Lady Eagles opened a 13-5 lead in the first quarter, but the Lady ’Jackets came out strong in the third quarter, outscoring Salado 18-15 before losing Ritterbach.
In the fourth quarter, Salado outscored Kemp 18-8 to forge the final 18-point margin.
“Salado did an excellent job of keeping us at bay by hitting from the outside,” Smith said.
Saturday, the Lady ’Jackets stayed closer to home, using a 16-0 second-quarter run to pull away from the hosting Cross Roads Lady Cats 38-18.
Kemp outscored the Lady Cats 12-6 in the third quarter to take a dominating 34-10 lead into the fourth quarter.
“Brandy Simmons told me before the game she was going to hit some threes, and she didn’t disappoint, hitting three of six,” Smith said.
Simmons led the Lady ’Jackets with 12 points, with Lawrence adding eight points and Brittany Simmons seven points.
Although slowed by her still-tender ankle, Ritterbach finished with five points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.
“Brittany Simmons added to her state-leading charge count by taking six charges in the last five games,” Smith noted. “She now has 18 charges in 21 games.”

Panthers fall in 5th place game at TJC
Monitor Staff Reports
TYLER–The Mabank Panthers fell on a buzzer-beating shot in the Gold Bracket fifth place game at the annual Wagstaff Holiday Classic basketball tournament last week.
Now 9-10 on the season, the Panthers were scheduled to open District 15-4A play on the road Tuesday night at Terrell.
Friday, Jan. 8, the Panthers will host Red Oak’s Hawks. Next Tuesday, Jan. 12, the Panthers will visit Mesquite Poteet, and then will host Forney Friday, Jan. 15. Each evening opens with 6 p.m. sub-varsity contests.
At Tyler Junior College’s Wagstaff Gym, the Panthers opened tournament play against eventual tournament champion John Tyler Lions, and lost 90-61.
The Lions maintained a six-point lead with less than two minutes to play in the first half, but opened the second half with a 12-2 run to forge a 21-point lead. The Lions led by as much as 33 points before winning by 29.
Tyler Fisher led the Panthers with 22 points, while Jacob Woodard added 20, including two treys. However, no other Panther player had more than four points.
In the second round, the Panthers knocked off the Sulphur Springs Wildcats, 77-53.
Mabank opened a 16-7 first quarter lead and then pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 29-15 to take a commanding 23-point halftime lead, 45-22.
Sulphur Springs made a run at the Panthers in the third quarter, but the Panthers posted a 14-5 edge in the fourth quarter to forge the final 24-point margin.
Griffin Marshall, Fisher and Woodard (three treys) all scored 20 points each for the Panthers.
In the fifth-place game, the Whitehouse Wildcats hit a last-second 3-point basket to grab a narrow 63-61 victory.
Whitehouse led almost the entire contest, taking an 18-11 lead in the first quarter and continuing to lead by six at halftime, 35-29.
The Wildcats still led by seven going into the fourth quarter, but the Panthers started a late comeback fueled by Marshall (who scored eight of his 10 points in the final frame) and Fisher, who scored seven of his game-high 20 points in the quarter.
In addition to Fisher’s 20 points, the Panthers got 11 points (nine in the second half) from Tray Phillips and 10 points each from Jordan Allen (two treys), Woodard and Marshall.

’Dogs bite Bobcats
Monitor Staff Reports
FRUITVALE–Senior guard Trevan Johnson hit two free throws with one second remaining to lift the Eustace Bulldogs past the hosting Fruitvale Bobcats 46-44 Tuesday.
Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Bulldogs will travel to Cross Roads for their next-to-last non-district contest, with a 4 p.m. junior varsity matchup scheduled to open a two-game slate.
Friday, Jan. 8, Eustace will host the Brownsboro Bears for their last non-district matchup, opening with a 4:30 p.m. freshman contest.
The next Friday, Jan. 15, the Bulldogs will open District 14-3A basketball play at home with a crucial first-round matchup against the Kemp Yellowjackets.
At Fruitvale Tuesday, the hosting Bobcats opened a 14-9 lead in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs outscored their hosts 9-2 in the second period to take a two-point halftime lead, 18-16.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs managed to pad their lead out to five points going into the fourth quarter, 33-28.
During the fourth quarter, the Bobcats managed to come from behind to tie the contest at 44 with time running out, but Johnson’s free throws sealed the narrow win.
Braden Strickland led the Bulldogs with 15 points, with Guy Hargrove adding 11.
Johnson finished with six points, with Addison Scott and Jacob McCarter also scoring six points each, along with two points from Marcus Emmons.
Westbrook led Fruitvale with 16 points and McCann added 13.