BYE-BYE, HOOKS | Tatum knocks Hooks from postseason, moves on to round three
By SHAWN CHRISTOPHER
Special to ETBLITZ.COM
PITTSBURG – Don’t call it a comeback, LL Cool J said.
We won’t. And we won’t call it an upset, either.
Because here in East Texas, we’ve seen what the Tatum High School Lady Eagles can do. We’ve seen it all season. We’ve seen them run through teams like a hot knife through butter.
And Thursday night here in Pittsburg, in Hot Link Land, coach Patricia Nelson and the Lady Eagles made hot links out of the ninth-ranked Hooks, 55-45, in the second, or area, round of the University Interscholastic League’s Class 3A, Division II girls basketball playoffs.
Next into the frying pan – er – opponent for Tatum in what will be the regional semifinals, or the third round, will be either Paradise (23-10) or Mount Vernon (17-12), who play Friday night. As soon as that series is set, we’ll have details here on ETBlitz.com.
As for Tatum, it was business as usual Thursday in Pittsburg: the Lady Eagles’ 24th win of the season (they’re 24-6 this year) and their 12th win in a row.
After a tight battle in the first half, Tatum outscored Hooks, 21-13, in the third quarter, and Hooks found out what everyone else already knew in the fourth: no one plays defense tighter than Tatum.
Kamdyn Scott, who had a double-double in the first-round win against Edgewood on Monday night, had another against the Lady Hornets: 18 points and 10 rebounds. The five-time Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week also had five steals and three blocks for good measure.
Aundrea Bradley had 13 points, 10 steals, nine assists and four rebounds.
Kaleigh Hooker also hit double figures in scoring with 12 points, and had eight assists, four steals and four rebounds in the game. Alecia Halton had seven points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. And Mariyah Bradley chipped in five points and had six rebounds.