Yoemen set for playoffs after battle with Rogers

The Yoemen defeated the Rogers Eagles 43-36 to wrap up third place in District 20-3A on Tuesday night.

They are set for bi-district next Tuesday night against Teague at Robinson High School starting at 7 p.m. The Yoemen will be the home team.

With the win the Yoemen improve to 14-10, 9-5 in district play.

“We knew it was going to be a hard fought battle tonight,” Coach Nick Burns said. “Rogers did a great job of attacking the paint and making us have to shot the three-ball. Those three’s have been falling the last few weeks, but they weren’t falling tonight.”

The Yoemen and Rogers kept the score tight for most of the first half going into the locker room with the Yoemen ahead 33-20. Rogers would never quite catch up in the second half even though both team scored 20 over two quarters.

Burns gave credit to Rogers along with his team for going toe-to-toe all the way through.

“You have to learn how to play every type of game,” he said. “Last week we blew Rockdale out by 30, but this week was a good game for us going into the playoffs.”

He said the game will help his team learn how to grind a game out with a team that is nipping at your heals the entire time, to now make mistakes and turn the ball over and hang on to the lead.

Braden Brashear lead the Yoemen with nine points, followed by Thomas Melton with eight.

Rounding out the scoring for the Yoemen were Dre Booze with five, Kadrian Hammond with four, Kobe Young with four, Greg England with three, and ZaKorien Spikes with two.

Burns said the Yoemen have played their best basketball the second half of district and they are going to play a really deep team that makes a lot of playoff runs next week with Teague.

“Tonight was a team effort and I felt like Dre Booze got to the rim for us,” Burns said. “He is a senior and has been a leader for us all season.”

The Yoemen also blasted past Rockdale on Feb. 8 77-49.

Scoring for the Yoemen were Kobe Young with 20, Thomas Melton with 11, Greg England with 11, Nico Vargas with 10, Kadrian Hammond with 10, Dre Booze with eight, Braden Brashear with five, and Dashon Smith with two.

Junior Varsity

The Yoe Junior Varsity A defeated Rogers 36-27 on Tuesday night. 

Scoring for the Yoemen were KeVaughn Booze with 13, TK Young with eight, Brayden Hollomon with seven, Trevyon Fisher with four, Phaibian Bynaum with two, and Will Scott with two.

The Junior Varsity B team also completed their season undefeated district champs with a 42-32 win over Rogers.

Scoring for the Yoemen were Phaibian Bynaum with 12, Nolan Brashear with 11, Ryan Muniz with 11, Javoun Goldsby with six, Davioun Scott with one, and Tate Stroud with one.