Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 322.32 Water Temperature:
58  degrees - top
56 degrees - bottom

Rockwall edges Panthers for Shoot-Out crown
Monitor Staff Reports
MABANK–A poor third quarter led to a six-point loss for the Mabank Panthers Saturday, as the Rockwall Yellowjackets edged the Panthers to win the 11th annual Cedar Creek Lake Shoot-Out basketball tournament.
Now 4-4 on the season, the Panthers were scheduled to host fourth-ranked (Class 2A) Sabine Tuesday night.
The Panthers will travel to Richardson’s J.J. Pearce High School Friday, Dec. 11, for a 7 p.m. varsity contest, and will stay on the road Tuesday, Dec. 15, when they visit Wills Point, with a 4:30 p.m. freshman contest opening a three-game slate.
Next weekend, Dec. 17-19, the Panthers will travel to Liberty City for the annual Sabine tournament before taking a holiday break.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
AT RIGHT: Mabank Panther senior Griffin Marshall (left) and sophomore Jordan Allen (34) wrestle with Rockwall senior Luke Wardell during the first quarter of the 11th annual Cedar Creek Shoot-Out championship game Saturday. Marshall was charged with a foul on the play.

After Christmas, the Panthers will travel to the Tyler Junior College campus to play in the Wagstaff Holiday Classic Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 28-30.
Following another break, the Panthers will open District 15-4A play on the road against the Terrell Tigers Tuesday, Jan. 5.
Mabank opened tournament play Dec. 3 with a 58-42 win over former district foe Kaufman.
A 20-8 third-quarter run proved to be the key for the Panthers, who broke open a tie game to take a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Kaufman opened an early 16-14 lead behind nine points (including a pair of 3-point baskets) from senior guard Taylor Marlar and five points (including a trey) from senior forward J’Lil Herndon.
The Panthers countered with seven points (including a trey) from senior guard Jacob Woodard and seven more from senior forward Tyler Fisher.
Fisher, Griffin Marshall, T.C. Greene and Tray Phillips all scored in the second quarter to help tie the game at 28 by halftime, despite Herndon’s efforts, as he scored eight of Kaufman’s 12 points.
Fisher (six points), Woodard (eight, including two treys) and Marshall keyed the Panthers’ third-quarter run, and the Panthers held the Lions to just six points in the fourth quarter to forge the final 16-point margin.
Fisher ended with a team-high 21 points, with Woodard finishing with 17 (including four treys) and Marshall 11.
Phillips finished with four points, as Jordan Allen had three and Greene finished with two points.
Herndon led the Lions with 21 points, but Marlar was the only other Lion in double figures with 11.
In other first-round games, eventual tournament champion Rockwall eased past Dallas Bryan Adams 57-51, Little Cypress-Mauriceville defeated Hallsville 53-45 and Dallas Samuell edged Tyler’s T.K. Gorman 37-30.
Mabank faced Dallas Samuell in the second round, and cruised to a 67-38 victory.
The Panthers opened a five-point lead in the first quarter, but outscored Samuell 28-12 over the middle two quarters to forge a 21-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
In the final stanza, the Panthers outscored the Spartans 19-11 behind Greene, who scored eight of his 13 points (including 9-of-10 from the free throw line) in the period.
Marshall led the Panthers with 17 points (including a trey), while Fisher finished with 14.
Woodard added six points, James Burkhalter scored five, both Phillips and Unterrious Toliver added four points each and both Matt Lowe and Trey Fernandez scored two points each.
The Panthers took advantage of numerous Spartan fouls, hitting 28-of-42 (66.7 percent) at the charity stripe, while the Spartans hit 8-of-11 attempts.
Samuell had one player foul out, but lost leading scorer Anthony Toney to a pair of technical fouls in the first half.
In other second-round games, Rockwall vaulted into the championship game by edging Little Cypress-Mauriceville 48-42, Bryan Adams eliminated Hallsville with a 54-33 win and Kaufman eliminated T.K. Gorman with a 63-48 victory.
Mauriceville defeated Samuell 54-36 to take the tournament’s third-place trophy, while Bryan Adams edged Kaufman 66-62 for the consolation trophy.
Mabank and Rockwall played fairly evenly in the first half of the championship game, as Rockwall opened a 13-11 lead in the first quarter, but Mabank came back to take a 31-28 halftime advantage.
The third quarter proved to be the key to the contest, as Rockwall outscored the Panthers 17-7 behind six points (two treys) from Hunter Jorgenson and six points from Taylor Oden.
Mabank got just two baskets (one a trey) from Marshall and one from Fisher in the quarter.
The Panthers tried to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, but were stymied by Oden, who scored nine of his team-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line.
Fisher, who scored six points in the fourth quarter, led all scorers with 19 points, while Marshall finished with 13, including a trio of 3-point baskets.
Woodard had eight points (including two treys) and Burkhalter had seven points, with Toliver, Jordan Allen and Phillips all adding two points each.
In addition to Oden’s 18 points, the Yellowjackets got 13 (including three treys) from Jorgenson, 11 from Griffin Frasier and nine points from Carson Brooks.

KHS girls 3rd at S-R
Monitor Staff Reports
SCURRY-ROSSER–Kemp’s Lady Yellowjackets suffered their first loss of the season in the second round of the annual Scurry-Rosser Wildcat Invitational tournament Friday, but came back to capture third place Saturday.
Now 8-1 on the season, the Lady ’Jackets were scheduled to host Malakoff’s Lady Tigers Tuesday night.
The Lady ’Jackets are scheduled to play in the Venus Lady Bulldog Invitational basketball tournament this weekend, opening Thursday (today) before returning home to host the Italy Lady Gladiators Tuesday, Dec. 15, with a 5 p.m. junior varsity match opening a two-game slate.
Saturday, Dec. 19, the Lady ’Jackets will travel to Lindale, with a freshman contest opening a three-game slate at noon.
Kemp will return home to welcome Miller Grove for a 2 p.m. varsity game Monday, Dec. 21, before taking a Christmas break.
At Scurry-Rosser, the Lady ’Jackets opened tournament play with a narrow 35-30 win over Class 4A Corsicana.
Although the Lady ’Jackets started cold, trailing 18-16 at halftime, junior Michelle Ritterbach came out red-hot after intermission, scoring all seven of the team’s points in the third quarter to forge a narrow 23-22 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the final frame, the Kemp defense – fueled by steals from Ritterbach, Amanda Lawrence and Brittany Simmons – helped the Lady ’Jackets outscore Corsicana 12-8 to forge the final five-point margin.
“Shannon Shipp really stepped it up underneath, pulling down 10 rebounds (six offensive) to go along with six points,” second-year head coach Kent Smith reported.
Ritterbach led all scorers with 20 points, including a pair of 3-point baskets, and also shut down Corsicana’s main scorer, Smith noted.
“(Ritterbach) played man defense on Ames during the first half, with Brittany Simmons taking her in the second half,” Smith said. “Both girls held Ames to only five points.”
In their second game of the opening round, the Lady ’Jackets knocked off the No. 25 Class 2A team, Elysian Fields, 42-32.
Lawrence and Ritterbach both hit treys in the first quarter, but Elysian Fields forced several turnovers in the second quarter to take a 16-12 lead at halftime.
Elysian Fields’ star player, Lilly Liles, capitalized on the turnovers, scoring on several layups, Smith reported.
Again, the Lady ’Jackets came out on fire in the third quarter, with Lawrence, Brandy Simmons and Brittany Simmons all converting steals into layups to cut Elysian Fields’ lead to one point, 24-23, going into the fourth quarter.
“Our press had caused several turnovers, and I told the girls we should keep on our path,” Smith said. “But the girls surprised me with a strong effort, and we took the lead almost immediately at the start of the fourth, outscoring Elysian Fields 19-8.”
Brittany Simmons hit three treys in the second half, and almost shut out Liles, who finished with just 13 points, about half of her average.
Shipp again had a strong game in the paint, pulling down 11 rebounds, including six offensive.
In the second round of the tournament, the Lady ’Jackets suffered their first loss of the season, falling to Dallas Life Oak Cliff 42-34.
“Oak Cliff had a dominate post, Chontiquah White, who had 23 points,” Smith reported. “Our posts couldn’t match up with her, and she accounted for more than half of their points.
“We also had trouble hitting from the outside, more than we’re used to, hitting just two threes,” Smith added.
The Lady ’Jackets had the opportunity to tie the score late in the fourth, trailing by three points, but a turnover and a resulting Oak Cliff layup ended the threat, and Kemp never got that close again, Smith said.
In the third-place game Saturday, the Lady ’Jackets led throughout the game, as they defeated Rose Hill Christian 49-40.
Smith reported the Lady ’Jackets were able to handle pressure better than Rose Hill, because Rose Hill couldn’t match the Lady ’Jackets’ speed.
“Our outside shooting was dead on, as we hit eight threes out of 20 shots from beyond the arc,” Smith said.
Brandy Simmons, Brittany Simmons and Ritterbach all had treys in the first quarter, and Brittany Simmons wound up hitting four of the six treys she attempted.
As Rose Hill tried to press the Lady ’Jackets in the fourth quarter, Ritterbach caught fire, scoring 11 of her 16 points in the final frame, including two treys.
Brittany Simmons finished with 20 points, six assists and four steals, while Ritterbach added three steals and six rebounds.
Ritterbach and Brittany Simmons were both named to the All-Tournament team.

Lady Bulldogs fall in third-place game
Monitor Staff Reports
EUSTACE–The hosting Eustace Lady Bulldogs fell in the third-place game of their annual Roundball Roundup tournament Friday, falling to two Palestine squads in the second and third rounds.
Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
AT LEFT: Eustace Lady Bulldog Allie Cass (2) battles with a Palestine Westwood Lady Panther for control of a rebound during their first-round game at Eustace's annual Roundball Roundup basketball tournament Dec. 3.

The Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to open play Thursday (today) in the Fruitvale Lady Bobcat Invitational basketball tournament.
They will return home Tuesday, Dec. 15, to host Cross Roads, with a 5 p.m. junior varsity match scheduled to open a two-game slate.
That will be their final contest before taking a Christmas break, as the Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to resume play on the road at the Great East Texas Shoot-Out in Brownsboro Dec. 28-29.
Following another break, the Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to open District 14-3A play at home against the Mineola Lady Yellowjackets Friday, Jan. 8.
Last weekend, the Lady Bulldogs faced their junior varsity in the opening round of the Roundball Roundup, and neither team got into the 20s as the varsity edged the JV with the clock steadily rolling.
In the second round, the Lady Bulldogs fell to eventual tournament runner-up Palestine Westwood Lady Panthers, 43-23.
Icy shooting and unforced mistakes, coupled with a quicker Westwood team (ranked No. 15 in Monday’s coaches’ poll), proved to be more than the Lady Bulldogs could handle.
Both teams played fairly even in the first quarter, which ended with Westwood up 14-12, but the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Bulldogs 25-8 over the next two quarters to build a 19-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
“We beat ourselves by making poor decisions on offense,” second-year Eustace head coach DaLinda Cassell said afterward. “We could not make our layups or chip shots, and we missed 10 of those throughout the game.”
Allie Cass led the Lady Bulldogs with nine points, as Jenny McConathy had five points, Ashlie Phillips four, both Vanessa Lopez and Megan Renteria scored two points and Catania Grant added a free throw.
In the third-place game, the Lady Bulldogs faced the Palestine Lady Wildcats, and gave up big first-quarter and fourth-quarter runs to lose 39-21.
“We did a great job on their two best players, who together had only five points,” Cassell said. “We still decide not to run our offense. When we ran our offense in the second quarter, we scored 10 points and held them to two points.”
Palestine opened a 17-3 lead before Eustace put together the second-quarter run and cut the Lady Wildcats’ lead to six points by halftime, 19-13.
The Lady Wildcats held off the Lady Bulldogs in the third quarter, outscoring them 9-6 to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.
In the final frame, the Lady Wildcats outscored Eustace 11-2 to forge the final 18-point margin.
Phillips led the Lady Bulldogs with nine points, as Grant, Cass, McConathy and Lopez all scored two points each.
Tyler’s T.K. Gorman, ranked No. 10 in large private schools in Monday’s coaches’ poll, defeated Westwood in the championship game to win the tournament.
Quitman’s Lady Bulldogs took the consolation trophy with a win over Fruitvale’s Lady Bobcats.