The Mineola Yellowjackets were stunned in a 52-42 loss at the hands of the Raiders in Winnsboro last Tuesday.

The Jackets looked glacial in the first quarter – cold and slow – compared to the hosts. None of the 11 field goals they attempted fell, and they earned no free throws, but the Raiders hit 7-of–12 from the field.

Braydon Alley secured the only Mineola rebounds, one on each end of the floor, while Winnsboro pulled down four offensive and seven defensive boards. The Jackets turned the ball over three times, the Raiders once.

It added up to an 18–0 lead after eight minutes of play.

Winnsboro pushed the margin to 24, prompting a Mineola timeout with 5:21 remaining in the second.

The Jackets got on the scoreboard with 4:53 left in the half off an inbound to Alley, who spun into the lane for a short, contested shot. A jumper from just inside the elbow by Keke Martin was the only other scoring for Mineola before halftime.

The Raiders tacked on three more field goals to take a 29-4 cushion to the locker room.

In the opening three minutes of the third, a couple of threes helped Winnsboro amass a 39-9 lead, the largest gap of the game.

After a Jacket timeout, Mineola scored in the half court on a dish from Alley to Zane Phillips on the block for the lay-in.

The Jacket full-court press forced steals by Caidon Beck and Ainsley Steward that resulted in two quick buckets. A Steward three followed shortly by a steal-turned-lay-in capped off an 11-2 Mineola run.

After drawing a hard foul, Raider Kyler Finney earned a technical foul for taunting. Whether that inspired Alley or his coaches did, with less than a minute left in the third, he scored twice, once on a steal with five seconds to go, which he took to the house at the buzzer. It was 45-25 Winnsboro heading into the final quarter.

Alley continued to dominate the lane through the opening minutes of the last period, scoring 11 unanswered points. For several sequences, he either found the bucket or was fouled and made a few free throws. Alley’s game total was 24 points.

A steal by Martin, converted into two-points with a left-handed finish while being fouled, made it 47–36.

A pass deflected out-of-bounds by Caden Rupert with 4:55 in the game yielded a Raider timeout, from which Winnsboro emerged with a more deliberate offense, trying to drain some clock.

An Alley jumper, a put-back by Aidan Sheppard, then a steal by Martin cut the deficit to 48-42 with two-and-a-half minutes left. It was too little too late.