San Augustine's Bobby Tanner drives past Grapeland's Quaderius Whitt in the Class 1A Division II Region III final at Wagstaff Gymnasium. Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.

The Wolves of San Augustine are headed to the state basketbal tournament after holding off Grapeland on Saturday at Tyler Junior College’s Wagstaff Gymnasium.

Bobby Tanner hit for 27 points to power San Augustine to a 92-77 win in the Class 1A Division I Region III regional championship.

Grapeland (33-5) whittled a 18-point deficit to six with 4:35 left, but the Wolves (23-6), led by JaCourtney Thomas, went on a 13-0 run to stop the Sandies’ rally.

The Wolves will play in the state semifinals in Austin at either 8:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. on Thursday at the Frank Erwin Center on campus of The University of Texas.

Grapeland cut the deficit to six (73-67) at the 4:35 mark of the fourth period on a Patrick Walker 3-pointer.

After a SA timeout, Thomas nailed a trey and followed that with a bucket and the Wolves eventually stretched the advantage to 86-67 on a basket from Bobby Tanner.

“JaCourtney Thomas broke their momentum with the 3-pointer in the final period when they cut our advantage to six and Bobby Tanner makes us go,” said an elated San Augustine head coach Tory Barnes.

Tanner took over in the first half when the leading scorer from Friday’s semifinal victory, Dezmond Randle, picked up his third foul when he fouled Trevelon Hart with seven minutes left before halftime. Hart was good on two free throws to cut the Wolves lead to 24-20.

Tanner scored nine straight points for the Wolves as they built their first double digit lead of the contest at the 2:33 mark of the second quarter, 37-27.

San Augustine had five players in double figures along with Tanner. Jarvis Smith contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Thomas had 18 with Randle and Jamikel Roberts each chipping in 10 points.

Grapeland was led in scoring by Walker’s 24, while setting out most of the first half due to foul trouble before eventually fouling out in the fourth.

Quaderius Whitt and freshman Jaques Faulk had 12 and 11 points, respectively for the Sandies.

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Class 1A Division I

Region III Final

No. 8 San Augustine 92,

No. 3 Grapeland 77

San Augustine22192625 — 92

Grapeland16152224 — 77

SAN AUGUSTINE — Jarvis Smith, 16; JaCourtney Thomas, 18; Bobby Tanner, 27; Dezmond Randle, 10; Al Horton, 9; Jamikel Roberts, 10; Jordan Garrett, 2.

GRAPELAND — Jacolby Simpson, 9; Jaques Faulk, 11; Javonte Woods, 5; Trevelon Hart, 7; William Whitehead, 9; Patrick Walker, 24; Quaderius Whitt, 12.

THREE POINT GOALS — SA: Tanner, Randle, Horton, Thomas (2). G: Simpson, Faulk, Whitehead, Whitt, Walker (2).

RECORDS — San Augustine 23-6. Grapeland 33-5.

NEXT UP — San Augustine will play in the UIL state tournament Thursday at The University of Texas’ Frank Erwin Center in Austin. Grapeland season complete.