TATUM WINS! | Sinks Ponder, 73-53, to advance to regional finals vs. Jefferson

CADDO MILLS – Ponder, playing fast and loose, wreckless and on the edge of their seats, kept their fans involved for much of the UIL Class 3A, Division I third-round playoff game against Tatum. Ponder had a plan.

Cue Mike Tyson’s famous quote: “Everybody’s got a plan, ‘till they get punched in the mouth.”

Tatum’s Luke Sigler served notice that this game was over with a dunk that doubled as an exclamation point, with just under a minute left.

Tatum fans, Coach Brett Carr and your Tatum High School Eagles are headed to the 3A, Division I Region 2 finals, after a 73-53 convincing win over Ponder’s Lions on Tuesday night.

The Eagles are 29-2, have won 16 straight, and will meet Jefferson (28-4) in the regional final. Jefferson beat Pottsboro, 66-56, on Monday night.

When details are final on the Tatum-Jefferson contest, we’ll have it here on ETBlitz.com.

This story isn’t about Jefferson, though, it’s about Tatum, who sailed by Mineola in the first round; handled Liberty-Eylau, who was undefeated before running into the Eagles, in round two; and then dealt Ponder (23-12) its ticket out of the playoffs with Tuesday night’s win.

Much like the game against L-E on Friday, Tatum trailed after the first quarter (16-14) and then outscored Ponder, 7-2, to start the second. Then, in the last three minutes of the half, Sigler hit a bucket, JaCorie Bradley hit a two, then another, then another, and Sigler stepped back behind the arc for a three-pointer that fell.

That brought the Tatum fans to their feet and put the Eagles in front, 33-23.

Ponder senior Sean Akins, who was quite the sharpshooter all night, hit a three of his own at the buzzer – or so officials ruled (it appeared Akins might have not gotten the shot off). The basket was counted and Tatum went into the half with a 33-26 advantage.

Ponder, mainly on the backs of Houstton Webster and Kannon Clark with baskets early in the second half, cut the Lions’ deficit to five (35-30) in the early moments of the third quarter.

But then Tatum began to pull away again. From the 1:44 point of the third quarter to just under five minutes left in the fourth, the Eagles went on a 15-4 run.

By the time Sigler hit his dunk with just under a minute left, had Don Meredith been at the game, he’d have been warming up to perform “Turn out the lights… the party’s over…”

Akins dropped back for one last three pointer – he opened the game that way and hit five of them – and that, for a moment, made it 69-53, the same score that Tatum defeated Liberty-Eylau by last weekend.

But Cooper Whiteus added a basket and Bradley and Nick DSouza each hit a free throw for the 73-53 final.

Bradley, who had 33 points against L-E, had 24 more against Ponder, to go with five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Sigler was up and down the court like a man with his hair on fire, and finished with 22 points, two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot.

Big Jordan Chambers had 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Whiteus finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, four steals and an assist.

Akins finished with 17 points to lead Ponder.

So with Mineola, L-E and Ponder all by the wayside, Carr’s Eagles look to face Jefferson next. Jefferson was one of just two teams to beat Tatum this year – that happened at Jefferson in double overtime, 85-73, back on Dec. 10. The only other team to beat the Eagles in 2024-25 was Kountze, 69-68, on Dec. 28.