Monitor Photo/Blaine Clamon
Kemp’s Jackson Young (No. 3) puts up a Feb. 6 basket in his team’s 56-47 district win, trailed by Malakoff’s Evan Loper and Parker Poteete.

KEMP–Feb. 6 against the Malakoff Tigers, the Kemp Yellowjackets ran out to a 10-0 lead before seizing a 56-47 District 18-3A victory.
After closing out the regular season Feb. 13 against Eustace, Kemp next plays the Keene Chargers in Corsicana Feb. 19 in the Bi-district round of the playoffs.
To begin the contest, Kemp’s Jackson Young and Justin McCool combined for 8 of the first 10 Yellowjacket points. Malakoff got their first basket with a Christian Zeiger 3-pointer to trail 10-3.
Next for the Yellowjackets, Jose Morales had 5 points and Josiah Young had 2 points in a Kemp 7-0 run to build their lead to 17-3. For the Tigers, Brandt Powers sank a 3-pointer and Malakoff trailed 17-6 going into the second quarter.
Malakoff’s Chauncey Hogg scored the first 4 points of the second quarter as the Tigers cut the score to 17-10. Huston Cromer’s pair of Yellowjacket free throws extended Kemp’s lead 19-10 with 3:40 remaining until halftime.
The Tigers went on a 10-0 run to close the second half to take their first lead at 20-19. Hogg led the stretch with 5 points while Evan Loper and Powers both combined for 5 more.
To start the second half, Zeiger’s field goal increased the Malakoff lead to 22-19. The Jackets took the lead back at 23-22 with 4:04 left in the third quarter after baskets from Morales and Josiah Young. From there, Jackson Young, Josiah Young and Morales combined for 9-straight points to extend Kemp’s lead to 32-22 with 26 seconds left in the third period.
After a basket by Malakoff’s Davion Johnson, Morales banked a Kemp 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Jackets led 35-24 going into the fourth period.
With Kemp leading 37-26, 6-straight Yellowjacket points increased their lead to 43-26. Hogg and Parker Poteete then combined for Tiger baskets to allow Malakoff to trail 43-30 with 5:10 left to play.
After a Cromer basket for Kemp, Poteete had a pair of Malakoff free throws to get the Tigers within 45-32. With Kemp leading 51-38 at the 1:59 mark of the fourth period, Johnson and Zeiger had consecutive Malakoff 3-pointers, with the Tigers trailing 51-44 with 1:20 left in the game.
Cromer and Morales both had one free throw to build the Kemp lead to 53-44 with 50 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Tigers made a 3-pointer to trail 53-47, but Jackson Young was able to sink a trio of Yellowjacket free throws to ice it for Kemp.