Arp's (5) Jacoby Hawkins keeps his eye on Grace Community School's (10) Garrett Tauscher as he dribble the ball during the Wagstaff Holiday Classic help at Tyler Junior College. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

The cause looked to be lost.

Whitehouse thought otherwise.

Led by 10 fourth-quarter points from Jackson Mahomes and some final-minute heroics by Javier Neal, Whitehouse erased a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to stun Marshall 67-66 Wednesday in their opening-round game at the Wagstaff Holiday Classic.

Trailing 66-64 with 12 seconds remaining, Neal drove hard to the hoop, scored and was fouled with 0.8 seconds remaining. All he needed to do was sink the free throw to secure an unbelievable comeback victory. Neal had made 5 of 9 from the charity stripe thus far, but with a win on the line, the junior guard drained it.

“The kids just kept battling and that is what we talked about at halftime, to keep battling and let’s try and make it a game in the fourth,” Whitehouse coach Brent Kelly said as the Wildcats trailed 41-27 at halftime and 63-43 with a little over seven minutes remaining.

“We had some things go our way in the fourth, but in late-game situations we work those a lot.”

Marshall took its foot off the gas in the final frame, attempting six field goals and none from 3-point range after the Mavericks had gone 10 of 24 from 3-point range in the first three quarters.

“They did some things with their offense and made some choices with their shot selection that kind of let us get back into it,” Kelly said. “In the first half and third quarter they made those shots, but in the fourth, it finally turned our way.”

Whitehouse advances to face Robert E. Lee in one of two Diamond Bracket semifinals on Thursday. That game is slated to tip off at 8:30 p.m. at Wagstaff Gymnasium. The other semifinal will feature Shreveport (Louisiana) Evangel against Fort Worth Brewer at 7 p.m. at Wagstaff Gym.

The Red Raiders used a solid second half to hold off a Jacksonville comeback and defeat the Indians for a second time this season, 61-45. Jalen Smith led the team with 16 points and Caleb Culver knocked down 4 of 5 3-point attempts for 14 points.

“We had a great practice yesterday and good shoot-around and it makes a world of difference when you score the ball,” REL coach Alan Simmons said. “We have a long way to go on the boards, but our fear coming into this one was we had beaten them before and our guys were going to relax. We responded (at halftime) and I thought we came out and played better in the second half.”

REL led 29-24 at halftime and saw that lead trimmed to 31-28 in the third quarter, but thanks to a double-double from both Kirby Mabry (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Bryce Harden (10 points, 10 rebounds), the Red Raiders were able to push out to a 43-37 advantage entering the fourth.

Lee put the game away with a 7-0 run to begin the fourth quarter using a basket by Harden, 3-pointer from Smith and basket by Mike Donnell to end any doubts.

 

2016 Wagstaff Classic

Wednesday, Dec. 28

Day 1 Matchups

Gentry Gym Games

Game 1: Van 67, Bishop Gorman 36

Game 2: Kilgore 41, Palestine 38

Wagstaff Gymnasium Games

Game 1: Arp 68, Grace Community 48

Game 2: Athens 94, Chapel Hill 71

Game 3: Brownsboro 71, Bullard Brook Hill 53

Game 4: All Saints 82, New Summerfield 38

Game 5: Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian 63, Crowley 58, OT

Game 6: Fort Worth Brewer 50, Lindale 35

Game 7: Whitehouse 67, Marshall 66

Game 8: Robert E. Lee 61, Jacksonville 45

 

Thursday, Dec. 29

Day 1 Matchups

Gentry Gym Games

Game 3: Bullard Brook Hill vs. Chapel Hill, 9 a.m.

Game 4: Arp vs. Bishop Gorman, 10:30 a.m.

Wagstaff Gymnasium Games

Game 9: Van vs. Grace Community, 9 a.m.

Game 10: Palestine vs. New Summerfield, 10:30 a.m.

Game 11: Kilgore vs. Athens, noon

Game 12: All Saints vs. Brownsboro, 1:30 p.m.

Game 13: Crowley vs. Jacksonville, 3 p.m.

Session Break

(Gym will be cleared)

Game 14: Lindale vs. Marshall, 5:30 p.m.

Game 15: Shreveport Evangel Christian vs. Fort Worth Brewer, 7 p.m.

Game 16: Whitehouse vs. Robert E. Lee, 8:30 p.m.

 

Game 1 (Wagstaff Gym)

Arp 68, Grace Community 48

Grace 10 6 21 11 – 48

Arp 12 11 17 28 – 68

GRACE COMMUNITY-Drew Sherrell, 6; Zach West, 2; Nic Forman, 2; Garrett Tauscher, 16; Jack Forman, 13; Andrew Sherman, 3; Jacob Shultz, 5; Huston Yeatts, 1.

ARP-Kayce Medlock, 10; Tray Baker, 2; Jacoby Hawkins, 19; Brady Crawford, 5; Jordan Brantley, 4; Tyler Stewart, 7; Mack Stroupe, 5; Dermarvion Overshawn, 16.

THREE POINT GOALS-Sherrell, Shultz, Tauscher (2), J. Forman (2). A: Crawford.

Game 2 (Wagstaff Gym)

Athens 94, Chapel Hill 71

Athens 22 22 22 28 – 94

Chapel Hill 17 22 16 16 – 71

ATHENS-Miles Koehler, 30; Javiry Bowman, 23; Jabrile Richardson, 16; Chris Taylor, 7; Gary Lyons, 12; Xavious Fulton, 4; R. Sheffield, 2.

CHAPEL HILL-Devon Taylor, 15; Caleb Hampton, 14; Q Daniels, 2; Blake Harris, 7; Fred Attaway, 6; Ty Osborne, 10; Cade Williams, 5; Taylon Scott, 2; Colt Carroll, 10.

THREE POINT GOALS-A: Bowman, Taylor, Koehler (6). CH: Hampton.

Game 3 (Wagstaff Gym)

Brownsboro 71, Brook Hill 53

Brownsboro 14 12 23 22 – 71

Brook Hill 15 8 7 23 – 53

BROWNSBORO-Saul Williams, 1; Kenneth Woods, 22; Jamal Bell, 22; Jake Connor, 11; Kevon Thompson, 9; Wyatt Rinehart, 6.

BROOK HILL-Jarod Johnson, 19; Alec Hitt, 10; Campbell Fletcher, 2; Parker Galbraith, 13; Jacob Yeager, 2; Reid Hill, 3; Miguel Vega, 4.

THREE POINT GOALS-B: none. BH: Galbraith (3).

 

Game 1 (Gentry Gym)

Van 69, Bishop Gorman 36

Van 14 25 17 13 – 69

Gorman 7 12 6 11 – 36

VAN-Zamden Worley, 20; Holden Myers, 7; Austin Hulsey, 12; Jake Hutchins, 4; Bray Doring, 3; Sam Reeves, 5; Isaiah Allred, 10; Brax Thompson, 8.

GORMAN-Luke 000, 6; Jake Smith, 20; Grant Mcinnes, 7; Tyler Hobbs, 1; Daniel Schmitt, 2.

THREE POINT GOALS-V: Doring, Reeves, Allred, Worley (2). G Smith, McInnis.

 

Game 2 Gentry Gym

Kilgore 41, Palestine 38

Kilgore 9 12 11 9 – 41

Palestine 12 8 9 9 – 38

KILGORE-Trayvious Dunn, 11; Octavian McKee, 9; Nesha Brown, 3; Elijah Williams, 2; Hunter Bonnet, 7; Sam Kosel, 1; AJ Henson, 4; Seth Thomas, 3; Demontrae Wheat, 1.

PALESTINE-Ladarius Spurlock, 8; Eric Rhodes, 4; Darin Parkes, 11; Jamone Edens, 3; Julian Benton, 5; Israel Fatade, 5; Kameron Hamilton, 2.

THREE POINT GOALS-K: none; P: Fatade, Parkes (3).

 

Game 4 (Wagstaff Gym)

All Saints 82, New Summerfield 38

New Summerfield 7 10 8 13 – 38

All Saints 24 30 19 9 – 82

NEW SUMMERFIELD – Joseph Hernandez, 3; Gabriel Garcia, 3; Brayden Davis, 2; Fernando Torres, 5; Derrick Donnell, 2; Juan Mendoza, 3; Collin Wilkerson, 20.

ALL SAINTS – Nathan Jasper, 13; Mason Embry, 5; Christian Combest, 1; Lance Lee, 7; Landen Brown, 6; Sam DeBoer, 2; Sean Phillips, 22; Scottie Turner, 11; Will Sharkey, 8; Collin Gee, 2; Nick Vandiver, 5.

THREE POINT GOALS – NS: Hernandez, Garcia, Torres, Mendoza, Wilkerson. AS: Jasper, Embry, Vandiver, Phillips (3).

 

Game 5 (Wagstaff Gym)

Evangel 63, Crowley 58 (OT)

Evangel 16 14 16 9 8 – 63

Crowley 18 15 16 6 3 – 58

EVANGEL – Micah Baskerville, 6; Xzavier West, 20; Malik Cooper, 13; Jacob Jennings, 1; Jaimichael Randle, 10; Khameron Coleman, 6; Davin Cotton, 7.

CROWLEY – Kayden Anderson, 24; Jeremy Soloman, 7; Hayden Brittingham, 6; Ronnie Sanders, 1; Tyler Randle, 6; Jadakis Jenkins, 12; Zachariah Rucker, 2.

THREE POINT GOALS – E: Cooper (2), West (5). C: Randle (2), Anderson (6).

 

Game 6 (Wagstaff Gym)

Fort Worth Brewer 50, Lindale 35

Brewer 8 11 15 16 – 50

Lindale 9 12 2 12 – 35

BREWER-Dylan Chan, 0; David Woosley, 4; Joshua Burnett, 0; Aaraon Lelek, 3; Charles Barker, 0; Hunter Ellis, 2; Anthony Rodriguez, 2; Pedro Castro, 16; Cortland Blake, 10; Kenneth Harris, 8; Jahrad Taylor, 5. FG: 20-44. FT: 6-13.

LINDALE-Teigan Edwards, 3; Justin Chambers, 2; Joe Noble, 6; Connery Churchill, 0; Gray Pittman, 2; Blane Repinske, 6; Colton Brown, 7; Colton Ramsey, 0; Dillon Heinaman, 9. FG: 14-33. FT: 5-8.

THREE-POINT GOALS-FWB (4-18): Woosley, Lelek, Blake (2). LIN (2-11): Repinske, Heinaman.

 

Game 7 (Wagstaff Gym)

Whitehouse 67, Marshall 66

Marshall 15 26 20 5 – 66

Whitehouse 10 17 16 24 – 67

WHITEHOUSE-Javier Neal, 22; Jackson Mahomes, 14; Zach Parker, 7; Kendahl Fry, 2; Colby Duhon, 17; McKade Marquis, 3. FG: 28-67. FT: 10-18.

MARSHALL-Salah Smith, 5; Allen Medlock, 15; Kris Dunn, 7; Corteze Hurd, 15; Marje Smith, 0; Carrington Love, 15; Davante Carlisle, 4; Swat Lister, 2; Benjamin Tackett, 3; Jay Hall, 0. FG: 22-57. FT: 8-12.

THREE-POINT GOALS-MAR (10-24): Medlock (3), Hurd, Love (5), Tackett. WH (1-8): Duhon.

 

Game 8 (Wagstaff Gym)

Robert E. Lee 61, Jacksonville 45

Jacksonville 8 16 13 8 – 45

Robert E. Lee 12 17 14 18 – 61

JACKSONVILLE-Ashton Melton, 2; Cameron High, 15; Deshawn McCuin, 9; Josh McDowell, 5; Brady Robinson, 6; D’Montrey Christopher, 7; Jadarius Blake, 0; Cason McCuin , 1. FG: 18-53. FT: 4-19.

ROBERT E. LEE-Jalen Smith, 16; Mike Donnell, 6; Keashun Davis, 3; Kirby Mabry, 12; Bryce Harden, 10; Korbin Casey, 0; Caleb Culver, 14. FG: 22-53. FT: 11-20.

THREE-POINT GOALS-JAC (5-21): Robinson (2), High (2), D. McCuin. REL (6-15): Smith (2), Culver (4).