WAKE UP! to a BASKETBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP | Tatum, Overton, Beckville on to round 2; sayonara to literally everyone else, unfortunately

How long has it been since you treated yourself to something great, just on a regular work morning? How long has it been since you’ve had something really good, a coffee, tea or sandwich, from Cozy Coffee Station? If the answer isn’t ‘yesterday,’ then you’re missing out! CCS has locations in Kilgore, at 110 Midtown Plaza, and in Gilmer at 755 Highway 271 North, and they will get you off to a rockin’ start to your day, or if you drop by in the afternoon, they’ll provide a spark to allow you to finish it. Check out their menu here, Cozy Coffee Station, and then go by and, you know, get drinks and stuff. And be happy.

High school boys basketball playoff roundup

The Kilgore High School boys basketball Bulldogs will have to continue development under its new coaching staff next season, after the Bulldogs’ season came to an end Tuesday night at Tyler High School in a 48-36 loss to Lindale.

Lindale (26-9) moves on to meet Ford on Thursday night, at a game with details to be announced.

Kilgore finished its first full season under head coach Brian Malone with a 14-10 overall record, but in the postseason, having finished third in the district. Malone replaced the now-retired coach Jeff Coleman.

The Pine Tree Pirates advanced to round two of the University Interscholastic League (UIL)’s Class 4A, Division I playoffs with a 58-50 win over Mabank Tuesday at the University of Texas at Tyler’s Patriot Center. It was the Pirates’ seventh straight win.

PT (19-10) meets Paris (27-4) in round two – when we have details for that game, they’ll be posted here. Paris beat Community handily, 87-52, in round one, in Sherman.

Also at Tyler High on Tuesday night, it was Athens over Gilmer, 76-58, in a first-round matchup in the 4A, Division II playoffs. Athens (21-4) will meet Sunnyvale in the second round sometime later this week; Sunnyvale (18-10) got by North Lamar, 42-35.

The Buckeyes finished the 2025-26 season with a 13-18 overall record.

Tatum 82, Mineola 59: The defending UIL Class 3A, Division I state champions successfully took care of business Tuesday night in the first round, a big 82-59 win over Mineola at Hallsville High School.

Coach Jayme Bradley’s Eagles (19-9), winners of three straight games and six of their last seven, are heating up at just the right time.

Tatum will face another team that’s playing well, Liberty-Eylau, in the second, or area, round game, at a time, date and site to be announced – we’ll have it here as soon as it is. L-E routed Daingerfield, 96-65, on Monday.

Winona 54, Troup 43: The Troup Tigers’ season has came to an end, as Winona was able to hold them off Tuesday night at the University Of Texas at Tyler.

Winona (15-12) will meet Hooks (21-11) on Thursday night in round two.

Troup finishes its season with a 23-8 overall record after having won the district championship. The Tigers had won eight straight prior to the loss Tuesday night.

Grand Saline 68, Gladewater 53: The Gladewater Bears’ season came to an end, unfortunately for the Bears and their fans, in Brownsboro with a first-round loss to Grand Saline Tuesday night in the 3A, Division I playoffs.

Gladewater (14-14) led after the first period, 18-14, but Grand Saline (22-8) got hot in the second, outscoring the Bears 18-9 for a 32-27 halftime lead.

Grand Saline’s Indians (22-8) will take on Jefferson in round two. Jefferson blew by Atlanta, 75-26, Tuesday night in Pittsburg.

Overton 47, Union Grove 35: The Mustangs are moving on to the second, or area, round of the UIL Class 2A, Division I postseason after beating Union Grove by 12 at Floyd Wagstaff Gymnasium on the Tyler Junior College campus on Tuesday.

Coach Kerry McConnell and the Mustangs, now 17-8 on the season, are into the second round and will face San Augustine. San Augustine (19-5 this season) routed Timpson, 70-34, on Tuesday night.

The second-round game will be played Thursday at Tenaha High School (in the special events center) at 6:30 p.m. Overton will be the visitors. Tickets will be $5 each and either card or cash will be accepted, as will district passes, Texas High School Coaches Association passes, Texas Association of Basketball Coaches passes, and senior citizens passes.

The Overton-SA winner will face either Lovelady (22-7) or Mildred (24-3) in round three. Mildred routed Bruceville-Eddy, 80-53, in the first round, and Lovelady beat Frankston, 66-51.

In Tyler, Overton survived some nice shooting by Union Grove in the first half – one three pointer after another, including four in the first quarter – to stay within a point (21-20) at halftime.

But the Lions went cold in the second half. They just weren’t feeling it, hitting only one of nine three-point attempts.

The Mustangs took the lead early in the second half and even though the game remained close until midway through the fourth quarter, UG never reclaimed the lead. A 15-3 run by Overton finished the Lions’ second-round dreams. Union Grove went most of the distance without one of its senior leaders and best players, Wrigley Roberts, who was injured late in the regular season. Roberts, in a boot, only got in momentarily very late in the game, and did hit a bucket.

With Roberts out, for the most part, Hudson Wrightman’s 13 points led the Lions in the contest. Tate Salter and Jaxon Ledbetter each had nine, and Kohl Simmons and Kody Nutt each had two. The Lions went 14-18 in the 2025-26 season.

Overton’s season continues, obviously. The leading scorer for McConnell’s Mustangs against UG was Rylan Holleman, who also had 13. Brody Brown had nine; Christian Hall, eight; Landon Hill, six; Ivan Ransom, five; Nolan Hill, four; and Elijah Dorsey, two.

Beckville 59, West Sabine 54: Someone had to escape to the 2A-DI second round from a close one Tuesday night at Center High School, and it was Beckville’s Bearcats, a five-point winner over West Sabine.

The Bearcats have won seven of their last eight. ETB will be back with more on this one – leading scorers, etc. – shortly.

Beckville (16-5) will meet Mount Enterprise (7-7) this week, although we’re still awaiting word on those arrangements. When we have them, they’ll be posted right here on ETBlitz.com.