Daingerfield advances to the regional tournament, falls to Life Red Oak

The Daingerfield Tigers men’s basketball team advanced to the Regional Tournament for the first time in 18 years, before falling to two games shy of advancing to the Final Four State Tournament. The Tigers roared out to a 15-0 lead, and led by 19 early in the second quarter. Daingerfield saw their advantage nearly completely disappear with 11 minutes left before rallying for a 61-56 victory over Alba-Golden on Tuesday, March 1st at Rivercrest High School in the regional quarterfinals. The No. 25 Tigers (24-5) advanced to play sixthranked Life Red Oak (34-3) in the 8 p.m. Region II-3A semifinal game at Rockwall Heath High School Friday, March 4. Alba-Golden’s season ends at 24-8. Tigers’ season came to an end against Life Red Oak, 54-40 with the Mustangs pulling away 12-4 in the first half, Daingerfield cut their deficit 44-33 before each team matched nearly point for point the rest of the final half. To start the stretch for Daingerfield was Keke Chism who nailed a 3- pointer for the initial lead of the game, followed by a pair of layups for the Mustangs. Rickey Lee followed with a 3-pointer to extend the lead by 2. Chism made all three free throws after being fouled on a long range shot in the final 20 seconds of the first quarter. To start the second quarter 6-5 guard Justin Nimmer of the Mustangs scored the first four points and had eight in the period. Life took a 14-9 lead before Darrian Terry scored four points, cutting it to 14-12 and then 16-13 with 3.29 seconds remaining in the half. Nimmer scored a three-pointer and the front end of a one-andone to give the Mustangs a 20-13 lead at halftime. Leading the Tigers offensively with 13 points was Rickey Lee, followed by Keke Chism with 11 points and Denzel Mims with eight.