TATUM SWEEPS TROUP | And that’s not easy; regular season ends for girls, boys honor Rockwell
TATUM – There were lots of things happening here at the gym on the Tatum High School campus on Tuesday night – all good, if you’re a Tatum fan. If you were a Troup fan, it wasn’t as good of a night.
Both Troup High School teams had been on lengthy win streaks since their first meetings with Tatum over on their own turf, at the Tigers’ gym, winning their way through District 16-3A.
Tatum, though, played identical games at home on Tuesday, jumping out to an early lead in both girls and boys games, and never looking back – coach Patricia Nelson and her Lady Eagles won, 61-14, and the Eagles held off Troup, 92-47.
That completes the regular season for the Lady Eagles, who finished it 22-6 overall and a perfect 12-0 against 16-3A teams. They’ll begin the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 3A playoffs next week, as will Troup’s Lady Tigers, as well (23-8 overall, 9-3 in district play, a second-place district finish to the regular season).
Prior to the tip-off of the boys game, Tatum coach Brent Carr and his program paid tribute to one of their own: former Eagle Robbie Rockwell (more below).
Tatum 61, Troup 14 (girls): The Lady Eagles played swarming defense over the Lady Tigers for the bulk of this game, and held Troup to just 10 first-half points.
Tatum was up 27-10 just before the half, and Kyndal Greenwood popped a three-pointer to give the Lady Eagles a 20-point lead at the break.
By game’s end, Kaleigh Hooker and Kamdyn Scott each had scored 16 points – Scott had seven rebounds and two steals, Hooker four assists and three rebounds.
Aundrea Bradley scored 13 points and had 10 steals, six assists, five rebounds and blocked three shots for Tatum. Patience Price added five points and also had five rebounds and four assists. Greenwood finished with the three points and two steals. Mariyah Bradley, Alecia Halton, Addyson Saunders and Rhianna Harris each scored two points: Harris had eight rebounds; Halton had two steals and two rebounds.
Also for Tatum, Alayah Creer and Saniya Cotton didn’t score, but Cotton had two rebounds and two steals, and Creer had three rebounds.
A couple of important notes: since the start of the 2023-24 season (last season), Nelson’s Lady Eagles are 52-8 overall, 22-0 in district play and 20-0 at home.
How about this, which is just ridiculous: the Lady Eagles have not lost a district game since Feb. 3, 2021, a 43-35 loss at Waskom. Since then, the Lady Eagles have won every single district game they’ve played, all 50 – 50 straight wins in district play.
And there’s this.
Four of Tatum’s teams did not lose a single home game this season.
That bears repeating, and explaining: Tatum football, volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball have gone a combined 41-0 at home this year.
Tatum football went 4-0 (really 5-0, but only played a half against Winnsboro). Tatum volleyball went 17-0 at home this year. Tatum girls basketball went 10-0 in its regular season, and will likely be at neutral sites throughout the upcoming playoffs.
And coach Carr’s Eagles are currently 10-0 at home. They’re off Friday night, but if they’re able to finish the season at home against White Oak with a win on Tuesday, Feb. 11, they will have also completed the regular season without losing on campus, just an unbelievable feat.
Tatum 92, Troup 47 (boys): Much like the girls game, Tatum’s defense was in attack mode early, and often – Luke Sigler, who was to sign a football national letter of intent with University of Texas-Permian Basin on Wednesday – had three steals in the first period alone.
Troup, a very good basketball team, was just in a tough spot, and the play of the Eagles didn’t make things any easier.
Jordan Chambers (another Tatum football signee on Wednesday, with Navarro) had 26 points to lead all scorers. JaCorie Bradley finished with 22. Sigler had 17.
Cooper Whiteus hit a big first-half three-pointer and finished with eight, and Cayden Tatum also finished with eight. Nalayus Boyd chipped in six points and Quincy Davis had five.
Troup is 21-7 and 7-3 in district play, and has two games left: at White Oak on Friday, and at home against Sabine on Tuesday. The loss to Tatum snapped a five-game winning streak.
Tatum is 24-2 on the year, has been ranked in the state’s top three for the bulk of it, and has an 11-0 district record. They’ve got 10 straight wins.
Now, Rockwell. The former Eagle was honored prior to the boys game Tuesday with a huge “jersey” brought out onto the floor by some of the current Eagles, and on the jersey: 168, the number of single-season three-pointers Rockwell had while starring for Tatum from 2012-14.
Rockwell and his family were welcomed onto the court for a good ovation, and the jersey will be yet another item placed in that award-filled gymnasium.
Rockwell, by the way, is in the NFHS record books for career three-point attempts (1,005), three-point attempts in a season (405), career three-point shots made (399) and the single-season three-pointers he had (168 in the 2012-13 campaign).
