LINDALE — In an early-season clash of unbeaten teams, it was Robert E. Lee that stayed that way.
The Red Raiders locked down North Forney in the second and fourth periods while senior Taylor Tankersley scored 26 points in a 48-32 win Thursday at Eagle Gymnasium.
Lee (6-0) advanced to the semifinals of the Lindale Hoop Heaven Tournament against host Lindale on Friday. The Eagles defeated Bishop Gorman, 49-44.
North Forney (4-1) shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening period, but REL limited the Falcons to 8 for 29 shooting (.275) the rest of the game.
"I love the defense," said Lee coach Alan Johnston. "I've been saying it for a while: We may not be the greatest athletes around, but the kids get down and get after it."
Tankersley finished one rebound shy of a double-double and he also had four steals. Jack Calhoun hit 3-pointers in the first and fourth periods with REL connecting on six from beyond the arc.
North Forney also drained six treys with five different players doing the honors, led by Armani Watts, who led the Falcons with nine points.
Both teams began the game on fire with REL matching North Forney's shooting to lead 14-13 entering the second period.
The Falcons tied the game at 16-16 in the early minutes of the second period on a trey from Roy Neugent.
Lee's defense coupled with North Forney going ice cold offensively enabled REL to finish the half on a 9-0 run to lead 25-16 at halftime.
"We made a couple adjustments (on defense) after the first period," Johnston said. "They beat someone last week by 69 points because they go-go-go, and we knew we had to get back and keep them in front of us.
"I thought we handled everything about the game defensively (we needed to)."
North Forney sliced REL's lead to seven points, 37-30, with 5:25 to play, but Tankersley and Calhoun combined to help Lee respond with an 11-2 run to close out the win.
Lindale 49, Bishop Gorman 44
LINDALE — The host Lindale Eagles had their hands full in the first-round game Thursday night against the Bishop Gorman Crusaders, but a strong fourth quarter brought the Eagles back for a thrilling 49-44 win in the final game of day one in the Hoop Heaven Tournament.
Lindale's Mason Terry finished as the game's high-point man with 17 points. Brian Boaz added 12 points inside for the Eagles (2-3) while grabbing eight rebounds.
The Crusaders (3-4) were paced in scoring by Goforth with 13-points while Brandon Lackner added 10 points. Gorman point guard Ben Ashworth, although held to only eight points, led the Crusaders at the point while drawing double teams all night.
In the final quarter, Terry scored two baskets and two free throws in vital spots to lead the Eagles to the win.
Gorman's Mitchell Rainey scored all five of his points in the first period, building a five-point cushion with a lay-in and a 3-pointer in the final minute for a 13-8 lead after one quarter.
Lindale trailed 31-26 before rallying in the fourth quarter.
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Lindale Hoop Heaven
Girls Bracket
Thursday Scores
Brownsboro 36, Kilgore 32
Pine Tree 47, Bullard 28
Athens 63, Henderson 51
Lindale 51, Chapel Hill 28
Friday's Schedule
Game 5: Kilgore vs. Bullard, 9 a.m.
Game 6: Brownsboro vs. Pine Tree, noon.
Game 7: Chapel Hilll vs. Henderson, 3:30 p.m.
Game 8: Lindale vs. Athens, 6 p.m.
Girls Boxes
Brownsboro 36, Kilgore 32
Kilgore 5 8 10 9 — 32
Brownsboro 10 12 4 10 — 36
KILGORE — Mehringer, 4; Burks, 19; Rossum, 2; Williams, 5; Thomas, 2.
BROWNSBORO — Cavek, 1; Bagby, 9; Hightown, 10; Alexander, 1; Montgomery, 3; Warren, 12.
THREE POINT GOALS — K: Mehringer, Williams. B: None.
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Pine Tree 47, Bullard 28
Bullard 9 6 8 5 — 28
Pine Tree 19 11 10 7 — 47
BULLARD — Taylor, 19; Abercrombie, 1; Kirgan, 7; Anderson, 1.
PINE TREE — Patterson, 1; Clayton, 4; Holmes, 22; Richard, 2; Mitchell, 14; Jones, 4.
THREE POINT GOALS — B: Taylor. PT: Mitchell (2).
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Athens 63, Henderson 51
Henderson 14 10 19 8 — 51
Athens 20 16 14 13 — 63
HENDERSON — Jackson, 7; Stewart, 12; Neal, 8; Smith, 2; McElhanon, 5; Pegues, 3; Partin, 8; Lee, 6.
ATHENS — McNeece, 2; Barker, 3; Aguilera, 9; Demi Cumby, 43; Lawrence, 4; Sims, 2.
THREE POINT GOALS — H: None. A: Cumby (2).
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Lindale 51, Chapel Hill 28
Chapel Hill 8 0 10 10 — 28
Lindale 13 8 16 14 — 51
CHAPEL HILL — Campbell, 10; Battles, 2; Brooks, 4; Ross, 9.
LINDALE — Murphy, 2; H. Malone, 7; N. Malone, 6; Brookins, 5; Doss, 10; Geathers, 19; Brown, 2.
THREE POINT GOALS — CH: Campbell. L: H. Malone, Brookins, Doss.
Boys Bracket
Thursday Scores
Whitehouse 65, Pine Tree 41
Robert E. Lee 48, North Forney 32
Spring Hill 54, Lufkin Hudson 37
Lindale 49, Bishop Gorman 44
Friday's Schedule
Gorman vs. North Forney, 10:30 a.m.
Pine Tree vs. Hudson, 3:30 p.m.
Whitehouse vs. Spring Hill, 4:30 p.m.
Lee vs. Lindale, 7:30 p.m.
Boys Boxes
Robert E. Lee 48, North Forney 32
Robert E. Lee 14 11 11 12 — 48
North Forney 13 3 9 7 — 32
ROBERT E. LEE — Jack Calhoun, 7; Austin Fleet, 0; Luke Derfus, 0; Darriun Smallwood, 0; Christian Boone, 3; Taylor Tankersley, 26; Will Dougherty, 2; Caleb Johnston, 2; Tucker Boyd, 4; Justin DeSalvo, 4. FG: 17-35. FT: 8-12.
NORTH FORNEY — Breylon Jordan, 3; Tyrel Choice, 0; Armani Watts, 9; Alec Harris, 2; Roy Neugent, 8; J.R. Woods, 5; Hunter Hartley, 5; Jabari Ottun, 0. FG: 13-39. FT: 0-0.
THREE POINT GOALS — REL (6-15): Calhoun (2), Tankerlsey (4). NF (6-19): Jordan, Watts, Neugent (2), Woods, Hartley.
RECORDS — Robert E. Lee 6-0; North Forney 4-1.
NEXT UP — Lee vs. Lindale-Gorman, 7:30 p.m.; North Forney vs. Lindale-Gorman
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Whitehouse 65, Pine Tree 41
Pine Tree 8 9 14 10 — 41
Whitehouse 12 19 15 21 — 65
PINE TREE — Hawkins, 5; Hays, 4; Rayburn, 4; Chumley, 19; Hines, 9.
WHITEHOUSE — Patterson, 5; Neel, 4; Mahomes, 15; Dews, 6; Parker, 10; Cheatham, 2; Stickley, 7; Cantrell, 6; Shaw, 8; Dunning, 2.
THREE POINT GOALS — PT: None. WH: Patterson, Shaw (2).
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Spring Hill 54, Lufkin Hudson 37
Hudson 14 9 8 6 — 37
Spring Hill 5 13 12 24 — 54
HUDSON — Bernius, 6; Finley, 4; England, 8; Simmons, 12; Berry, 3; Zaher, 4.
SPRING HILL — A. Lattier, 5; Garska, 2; Womack, 7; Williams, 2; C. Lattier, 15; Phelon, 6; Patterson, 4; Brundrett, 13.
THREE POINT GOALS — H: Bernius, Simmons. SH: Phelon (2).
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Lindale 49, Bishop Gorman 44
Gorman 13 11 10 10 — 44
Lindale 8 18 7 16 — 49
GORMAN — Patrick Droder,2; Mitchell Rainey, 5; Sean Goforth, 13; Chris Danly, 1; Alex McKinley, 2; Brandon Lackner, 10; Adam Aucar, 2; Ben Ashworth, 8.
LINDALE — Mason Terry, 17; Dakota Heinaman 1; Kolton Pierce, 2; Garret SirLouis 3; Connor Lind 9; Brian Boaz, 10; Jacob Capo 9.
THREE-POINT GOALS — BG: Goforth (2), Rainey. L: Terry (3), SirLouis.
RECORDS — Gorman 3-4. Lindale 2-3.
NEXT UP — Lindale vs. Robert E. Lee, 7:30 p.m. today; Gorman vs. North Forney, 10:30 a.m. today.