Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 319.42
Water Temperature:
51 degrees - top
52 degrees - bottom

Kemp girls beat Mineola, make playoffs
Monitor Staff Reports
WILLS POINT–In a playoff to determine a playoff berth, the Kemp Lady Yellowjackets made it two-of-three against the Mineola Lady Yellowjackets this season by grabbing a 47-41 win.
Friday night’s win over Mineola in Wills Point gave the Kemp girls third place in District 14-3A and put them into the state basketball playoffs for the first time in at least 16 years.
It was just three seasons ago – the 2005-06 season – that the Kemp Lady Yellowjacket basketball program dwindled to just seven players and finished with fewer than a handful of wins. One of Kemp’s two seniors, Meagan Lacy, started as a freshman on that team.
Kemp was scheduled to face the District 13-3A runner-up Rains Lady Wildcats from Emory in the second game of a double-header at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Royse City.
The District 14-3A runner-up Van Lady Vandals were scheduled to play the 13-3A third-place Farmersville Lady Farmers in the 6 p.m. opening contest.
Canton’s 12th-ranked Eaglettes, who finished district play at 10-0, have a bye in the opening round of the playoffs.
Kemp and Mineola split road games during district play, with each team winning on the other’s home court.
Unlike their disappointing Feb. 6 contest at Kemp, which saw the Lady ’Jackets have a miserable shooting night, the Kemp girls found the range early on and quickly built a commanding lead.
“We played a great four quarters,” first-year Kemp coach Kent Smith said afterward.
Kemp outscored Mineola 31-14 in the middle two quarters. Up by eight at halftime, the Lady ’Jackets were up by 15 points in the fourth quarter before Mineola began bombing away with 3-point shots.
“Mineola went on a rampage, rushing the ball up the floor to take 3-pointers to catch up,” Smith said. “They hit five 3-pointers in the second half, four in the fourth quarter.
“However, we were able to play a very smart defensive game, probably our best all year,” Smith said. “We shut down all three of Mineola’s top scorers.”
Kemp held Mineola’s Brittany Tuck to just three points, Shena Woods to just eight and LeAundra Jackson to just six. In the Feb. 6 game, Jackson led Mineola with 18 points.
Mineola tried pressing Kemp, and wound up getting in foul trouble early. Kemp had a so-so night at the free throw line, hitting 22-of-40 attempts (55 percent), but Mineola shot just 10 free throws, Smith pointed out.
“We were able to maintain our composure (against the pressure), only turning it over 15 times, compared to Mineola’s 18 turnovers,” Smith said.
Amanda Lawrence led Kemp with 10 points, including a 3-point basket, while Shannon Shipp added eight points and seven rebounds and Michelle Ritterbach also had eight points.
Brittney Simmons also had eight points and five rebounds, while Kandace Rose had seven points and five rebounds.
Brandy Simmons added four points, and both Lacy and B. Powell added free throws.

9th-ranked Tigers slash MHS, 97-76
Monitor Staff Reports
LANCASTER–The ninth-ranked Lancaster Tigers blasted out to an early lead and cruised past the visiting Mabank Panthers 97-76 Friday, despite a 41-point effort from Panther senior Kolton Browning.
Now 15-10 on the season and 4-7 in District 15-4A basketball play, the Panthers were scheduled to wrap up the second round and the regular season at home Tuesday against the West Mesquite Wranglers.
The Wranglers (15-12) came into Tuesday’s season finale at 7-4, second behind unbeaten (11-0) Lancaster, and tied with Red Oak.
Mesquite Poteet (5-7) was fourth, followed by Mabank and Terrell (both at 4-7), with Forney last at 1-10.
Lancaster outscored the Panthers 27-17 in both the first and second quarters to take a commanding 20-point lead at halftime, 54-34.
The Tigers were able to maintain that lead through the second half, outscoring the Panthers by two in the third quarter, while Mabank outscored the Tigers 21-20 in the fourth period.
Mabank’s loss overshadowed a fine effort by Browning, who hit 11 two-point baskets, two 3-point baskets and 13-of-16 from the free throw line to lead all scorers.
Browning had all but two points (a pair of free throws by Trevor Peele) of Mabank’s 17 in the first quarter, and 11 of the Panthers’ 17 points in the second period.
Cameron Tucker hit 6-of-6 at the free throw line in the second quarter for the Panthers’ other points.
In addition to Browning’s 41 points, the Panthers got eight from Tucker and Jordan Featherston, six from Tyler Fisher, five (including a trey) from Mickey Pycha, and two points each from Peele, Jordan Allen, Griffin Marshall and Jacob Woodard.
Lynch hit six 3-point baskets en route to leading Lancaster with 28 points, while both Zackery and Skinner added 16 points each.

Vandals edge ’Jackets, 35-27
Monitor Staff Reports
VAN–In a tight defensive contest, the hosting Van Vandals cemented their hold on the district’s second-place playoff spot by edging the Kemp Yellowjackets 35-27 Friday.
Now 4-5 in District 14-3A basketball play, the ’Jackets were scheduled to wind up the second round and the regular season on the road Tuesday against the unbeaten (9-0) Wills Point Tigers, while Van (7-2) was to visit 0-9 Mineola Tuesday.
At 4-5, the ’Jackets are tied for third place with Eustace, who also improved to 4-5 with a 63-61 double-overtime road win against Mineola (see related story, page 2B).
Kemp swept Eustace in the first- and second-round openers. The Bulldogs were scheduled to host 3-6 Canton in their regular-season finale Tuesday.
In a game where both teams swapped baskets, the Vandals took the win by outscoring Kemp 12-5 in the fourth quarter.
Van opened the game by taking a slender 9-8 lead in the first quarter, but Kemp outscored the Vandals 9-5 in the second period to lead by three points, 17-14, at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Vandals returned the favor, outscoring the ’Jackets 9-5 to take a 23-22 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Wesley Kerr led Kemp with a game-high 14 points, including a 3-point basket, as James Trim added 10 points.
The ’Jackets also got two points from Joseph Weeks and a free throw from Ryan Emfinger.
Jordan Schmid led the Vandals with 10 points, as Travis Hand added nine.
Both Tyler Sharpe and Chris Lewis added five points each, while both Zach Gormley and Shane Hilton had three points each.