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I was impressed with Letsinger. He could wind up being a very good D1 combo 1/2. If he played for us (HJ), I wouldn't worry at all about our state title prospects this year! Tramain Thomas is so athletically gifted, it's not even fair. He has excellent basketball instincts. I hope he plays basketball, not football, in college. He may have the best shot at the NBA of anyone in the area. Ryan Donahoe had the best year of any of the POY candidates from a personal and team statistical standpoint. I am biased (HJ fan/parent); maybe I am wrong; but look at what Donahoe has done on a torn meniscus and despite the concussion and broken nose. He is a pass-first PG by nature who has taken on the primary scorer burden because that's what his team needs from him. He plays through pain every time he cuts or lands on that bum leg. He is incredibly courageous. I wish him a state title, another All-State selection, flawless arthroscopic surgery and rehab. There's no telling how far he can will himself to go in basketball and in life.

Hey Warren, get back, pack it in, and force Newton to shoot threes. You'll be fine. Make sure you block out!

That was a nice game for the Buc bench. The whole team looked strong. Preston might be quicker than ever, and Tramain is, well, Tramain. Vance played well in the minutes the refs allowed him. You guys have what it takes to win in Austin. This HJ fan/parent hopes to see y'all there!

It's knowing how good we can be that makes us so miserable when we play so poorly, even in victory. We jumped up on 'em pretty good out of the gate and then... we just looked tired. The defensive intensity was not there. No one was blocking out. We were barely chasing the ball. No one moved in half-court offensive sets; everyone seemed to look at Donahoe like, "Score for us, will you? I'm too tired to play right now." Thank goodness Donahoe was obliging. It's nice that we're 32-4, but now it's one-loss-and-you're-out time. I know everyone's dinged-up and/or ill. Drink plenty of fluids, get some rest and proper nutrition during our first-round bye. Then bring Hawk intensity on every possession. Don't worry about a state championship. Just go crazy after every loose ball.

Other than Donahoe, we looked like we were running in mud.

More HJ prayers. There is nothing like a beloved's illness to put everything-- especially high school basketball-- in context.

Donahoe at WO-S, 3rd-Q buzzer-beater, ~90-footer (his foot was on the low block), off the in-bound right after WO-S had hit a three... I saw several WO-S players hang their heads at that sight. That was a dagger.

I love that Nome gym and its wood floor. I coached Little Dribblers in Beaumont on dusty, dilapidated, synthetic surfaces. After seeing what Twin County had in Nome, I was jealous. There have been efforts to make a centralized, multi-court, basketball facility in Beaumont for Little Dribblers and/or other leagues, but nothing's happened. I guess it's just not a very financially viable enterprise. Of course, HJ has Coaches Sutherland/Davis/Lee to develop the players once they get to the high school level. They are outstanding coaches.

Donahoe. Also: Ryan Donahoe for President.

This has been a very fun season for the 30-4, 21-3A champion, TABC #3, HJ Hawks. Our fans have been absolutely fantastic, have really pumped the players up. Just think: we went undefeated at home this year. The Hawk Hecklers traveled to every away game-- even to East Beauregard, LA, for goodness' sake. Many thanks, Hawk Hecklers. Let's hope in this coming month we will travel farther and cheer louder than ever. All the way, Hawks!

Lincoln.

Me neither.

SE Texas all-star team? That's easy: 1 Weldon 2 Benard/Payne 3 Donahoe 4 Burrell/Sundgren 5 Durley Just kidding (maybe)-- that's HJ. If I wanted to field a SE Tx squad to whip Lamar right now, I'd start: 1 Donahoe (HJ) 2 Tramain Thomas (EC) 3 Stephen Moten (Oz) 4 Marcus Malbrough (WB) 5 Richard Netherly (WO-S) and bench: Richards (Oz), Joseph (Oz), Walters (Silsbee), Sims (Warren), Antoine (WB), Benard (HJ), Burrell (HJ), Letsinger (WH), Powell (KHS), Randall (Kelly). My apologies to Busby, Bray, Haynes, Durley, Chambers, Copeland, Pace, Pitre, Buckner, Chavis, Guillory, Fisher, Malone, Savoy, and others I've overlooked. I could be badly wrong, and I haven't seen every one of y'all play. The fifteen above have a good mix of skills. I'd get coaches Sutherland, Davis, Lee, and McCarter to coach 'em up for three weeks. Then we could pack the Montagne and watch 'em run LU off the court.

Set a weak side short-corner back screen, have Paul Sims back-cut from the strong side and, if the pass isn't there, run baseline and curl up off the back-pick as the ball is swinging and-- booyah!-- threes all night. Bonus tip to the back-pick guy: roll. Send the tape to EA Sports and make a mint. Only such precision teamwork will beat Tramain all by himself.

Trey is 6'0," maybe 6'1." Has a longer wingspan, and he's still growing. He's not just a leaper. He's extremely strong, quick, and fast. Takes it to the basket like he means to take it to the basket! I'm very glad he's on our team.

Trey Burrell jumped over a fairly tall kid who was standing on the low block, trying to draw a charge, and threw it down. Trey has 1-2 sick dunks per game. Friday night in Jasper he got up to eye level with the rim on a breakaway hammer. He's only a sophomore. Stephen "High Flya" Moten can leap even higher, I think.

Enjoy your fun while it lasts, and thanks for the locker room bulletin board material.

Josh Payne picked a good time to step up. Almost all the Hawks stepped their game up a notch or two since that Silsbee debacle. Our free throw and three point shooting have certainly improved. Got to respect Silsbee and credit them with flat-out whipping us at their place; but I'll be truly shocked if their stunning "free throw defense" is so stifling in our gym. They are a good team with a good coach and players, and they've proven they can whip us good. But we got Donahoe. We got Tap, Dunkey, Big Woo, Sunshine, Moonlight, Master Pain, Scuba Steve aka Soy Sauce ('cuz he ain't as spicy as Hot Sauce), and a bunch of subs who can hustle and hit threes. We got three outstanding coaches on the bench. We got an outstanding trainer. We got outstanding stat girls. I do like what we got... And Silsbee, here's a little free medical advice: bring ear plugs, because we got the Hawk Hecklers in the House.

Ole Miss? In the SEC?? That lost two nights ago to #1 Florida 79-70??? So an SEC school's interested, but not LU. Something doesn't compute.

Ryan Donahoe, HJ Paul Sims, Warren

And furthermore, the HJ coaches have never had to discipline an HJ player for such nonsense. I've seen every HJ game this past three years. The HJ players are good kids, win or lose.

HJ does not play dirty. HJ does play "physical," pressure defense. You will not see HJ players push guys trying to layup or dunk from behind; throw cheap shot elbows on picks; or undercut guys in the air-- the coaches will not tolerate such nonsense.

The Hawk Hecklers are not malicious. I think they are funny as heck. I've never heard them chant some of the stuff you'd hear at college games. They are loud, proud, and help make the Hawks' Nest the funnest-- if not biggest or nicest-- gym in southeast TX.

Nice to see the Hawks pull together. I hope this little rough patch we hit on the road will benefit us in the future. Special props to Big Woo: big fella, when you play aggressively, we are unbeaten. Ryan Weldon and Josh Payne have been looking stronger lately. Joe Scott contributed some invaluable hustle last night. When Joe bounced back up after taking that frightening flip & splat... wow, that was intimidating in itself! Donahoe/Burrell/Benard were just their usual-- the best of 21-3A. One game at a time guys. (But I am itching for the Silsbee rematch!)

The best shooting display I've seen or read of so far this year was Donahoe hitting his first six three-point attempts against EC. Only thing cooled him off were those stinking refs-- before they benched him with 4+ minutes left to go in the 2Q, he was on track for something seriously Kobyesque.