KFDM COOP

15-7 Kountze 1st Q.

75-42 Silsbee late 4th.

30-29 Half OF.

60-36 Silsbee after 3.

16-14 OF after 1.

I think Micah will be very happy in North Texas..

Stay tuned.

Final.

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;D

Final.

Stay tuned..

Stay tuned..

STICK TO THE TOPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Don't think so.

Should be an exciting district.

Its Official, Hal Wasson Is New Hc At Slc Wasson inherits Dragons tradition Hal Wasson was named head coach of the Carroll Dragons football team at a press conference Monday evening. Wasson replaces Todd Dodge, who departed for the University of North Texas head football coaching position last month. Wasson, a former Carroll assistant coach who was considered the leading candidate to replace Dodge, was the head coach of Fossil Ridge High School. He coached Fossil Ridge to a 28-15 record overall, including 22-11 his past three seasons. Last season he was 10-2 and his team claimed the District 6-4A championship. The Panthers reached the playoffs each of the past two seasons. “Obviously, to say I'm excited to be a Dragon again is an understatement,†Wasson said. "I feel like I'm back home. This is where it all got started." Carroll athletic director Ronnie Tipps introduced Wasson, saying that Carroll was committed to continuing the success it enjoyed under Dodge. "Somebody told me an era has ended," Tipps said. "I'm going to tell you that the era has just begun: this is the Hal Wasson era. We're happy that he made the choice to be a Dragon again." Wasson takes over a program that Dodge had led to a 79-1 record and five state championship appearances, including four state championship titles. See the Feb. 2 edition of The Southlake Journal for more coverage. -- Zach Warner, Staff Writer

[Hidden Content] Southeast Texas high school baseball coaches start practices, set lineups One certainty about former Little Cypress-Mauriceville baseball player Chris Buechner is that he's no Michael Jordan. At least that's how longtime LC-M baseball coach Steve Griffith chooses to look at his former star pitcher. A lesson reinforced for Griffith nine years ago is something that anyone familiar with Jordan's brush with failure in high school already knows: "Be careful about who you cut," Griffith said. Griffith is among a handful of Southeast Texas high school baseball coaches who will spend this week conducting tryouts and then making cuts. Monday was the first day the UIL allowed teams to practice. Teams can start playing games Feb. 19. Final rosters for Griffith's varsity, junior varsity and sophomore teams will be posted Friday after school, and anyone who has ever tried out for anything at any school - West Brook, Newton, Bridge City or anywhere else - has read a similar list. Jordan probably read a list at his high school in North Carolina to learn that he failed to make the varsity squad as a sophomore. His rejection and the legendary status he later achieved is a story told to hundreds of high school athletes who have failed to make a team. "Even Michael Jordan got cut," said Griffith, whose closer-to-home story involves Buechner, a 23-year-old who spent the last three seasons in the Colorado Rockies' minor league organization. Buechner was a high school freshman nine years ago who - and unbeknownst to him - was on the verge of being cut from the LC-M baseball squad when tryouts ended. Griffith said each of his three assistant coaches had Buechner on their list of players to cut. Griffith listened to their reasoning but liked Buechner's arm enough so that his "one vote overruled three votes," he said. Buechner then spent his first two high school seasons on the sophomore team and developed into a good enough pitcher to be promoted to the varsity as a junior. Then as a senior, he was named the District 20-4A player of the year. Buechner then pitched at Lamar University and was selected by Colorado in the 11th round of the 2004 draft. "He threw the ball well," Griffith recalled about Buechner's performance during the week of tryouts, and that was enough to make up for any areas where he might have been lacking. As for this season's team, Griffith said he already had a clear idea who would be on his varsity squad. LC-M went undefeated in District 20-4A last season but returns only one starter. Catcher Jake Rowell returns and has signed to play at McNeese State. So no matter who makes his teams this season, Griffith said one thing is certain: "We'll be playing a bunch of young kids this year. We know that. They'll get a chance."

Beaumont Enterprise..Source Marquee high school basketball squads Hardin-Jefferson, Kountze playing today The Hardin-Jefferson boys basketball coach and the Kountze coach have a lot in common these days. Both coaches' only district loss of the season was on the road. Now, both hope home court advantage works in their favor the second time around. "I think we are a better team at home," Sutherland said. "We have a good fan base that cheers us on and that helps a lot." So far, the Hawks (26-4) have won all of their district home games this season. It's been the same for Kountze. But it dates back even farther for the Lions. Kountze hasn't lost a district home game since 2000. "It's going to be a tough game," Joubert said. "We hope playing at home helps, but we know we also have to come out ready to play if we want to win the game." Silsbee plays at Class 3A's No. 4 Hardin-Jefferson at 7:30 p.m. today in the teams' second District 21-3A meeting of the season. East Chambers travels to Kountze for a 7:30 p.m. game in the second round of District 24-2A play. "Kountze is a tough place to play," said East Chambers coach Hank Hargraves. "We have to take it one possession at a time." Hargraves and Silsbee coach Travis Williams also share a few things in common. The two gained big wins at home and now they must figure out strategies to do the same on the road. "It's always tough when you have to play at Hardin-Jefferson," Williams said. "They have a strong fan base that is ready to cheer on their team." Hardin-Jefferson knows first hand how tough it is to play on the road. Silsbee beat Hardin-Jefferson 77-58 in their first district meeting at the Tigers' gym. "We missed 22 free throws that game, and we can't let that happen again," said Sutherland, whose team beat Kirbyville 99-44 last Friday. "I think in order to get the win this time around we have to take care of the ball. We have to minimize the turnovers." Silsbee (19-6) enters the game coming off a 63-58 overtime victory against West Orange-Stark last Friday. The win kept Silsbee, which is now ranked No. 14 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll, in the hunt for the district championship. Silsbee and Hardin-Jefferson are tied for first place in district at 8-1. WO-S, which is no longer ranked in the TABC poll, is tied for third place with Jasper at 6-3. "I think the kids felt confident after the win against West Orange," said Williams, who was Sutherland's assistant at Kountze for five years. "We feel we can play with Hardin-Jefferson. We just have to minimize our turnovers. In this district, anybody can beat you on any given day. You've got to be prepared every time you step foot on the court." East Chambers (21-6) handed Kountze a 65-60 loss in their first District 22-4A meeting at the Bucs' gym. It was the first time East Chambers had beaten Kountze since its first district meeting in 2005. The Lions were on a five-game winning streak in the series before the loss. "It was definitely a big win for us," said Hargraves. "The win gave us more confidence this season." East Chambers, which is ranked No. 2 in Class 2A's TABC poll, enters the contest in first place in 24-2A at 8-0. Class 2A's No. 6 Kountze (20-5) is in second place in district at 6-1. The Bucs are coming off of a 52-30 victory over Buna last Friday, while Kountze beat Hardin 95-72. "It was a big game for us to win the first time around, but we now have an uphill battle," Hargraves said. "We can't turn the ball over and we have to give them only one shot on their end of the floor."

Former Texas A&M coach Slocum leads Aggie Night at Wildcatters game Former Texas A&M football coach R.C. Slocum will be on hand at the Texas Wildcatters hockey game Friday night for the ceremonial puck drop and other activities, the team announced Monday. Advertisement Slocum's presence at Ford Arena will be for a part of what is being billed as Aggie Night. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. A Texas Longhorn night has not been scheduled but is being considered, said team broadcasting and sales representative Anthony Langella Jr. The Ross Volunteers will present the colors Friday during the national anthem, which will be sung by Justin Partlow, a member of A&M's Century Singers who attended Kountze High School. An Aggie hockey jersey will also be auctioned. The Wildcatters also announced Monday that team owner Rick Adams and Malcolm Cameron will be available for a question and answer session before Saturday's game. Both will be available in the Ford Park Exhibit Hall at 6 p.m. Cameron will answer questions until 6:15 p.m. and Adams until 6:30 p.m. Saturday's game begins at 7 p.m.

Port Neches-Groves boys 7, Hardin-Jefferson 0 PORT NECHES -- Port Neches-Groves excelled at distributing the ball and thoroughly dominated on defense in blanking Hardin-Jefferson 7-0 on Monday night at The Reservation. PN-G (4-2-2 and 3-1) stayed in charge so much that junior goalkeeper Steven Baque needed to make only two saves. Matt Parks collected one goal and two assists while Sean LeBlanc added two goals and one assist. Parks accepted LeBlanc's assist to score the night's first goal as the Indians headed to a 4-0 halftime lead.

Lumberton takes major 20-4A step with win at NHS The Port Arthur News NEDERLAND -- Lumberton made a believer out of Nederland coach Rob Bledsoe on Monday night, taking a major step toward the 20-4A boys district soccer title with a 4-2 win over Nederland at Bulldog Stadium. District 20-4A scoring leader Brent Waldrup collected one goal and two assists while teammate Jeremy Garza added two goals and an assist. The Raiders of coach Chad Luttrull improved to 6-1 and 4-0. Nederland received two goals from a pair of freshmen, Austin Wyble and Taylor Trahan. The Bulldogs, playing as many as six freshmen, dropped to 3-5 and 3-1. The Bulldogs' fifth-year head coach Bledsoe watched his team compete hard and trail only 1-0 at halftime. Nederland's coach complimented Lumberton's team afterwards. "They have a good team," Bledsoe said. "I was impressed with their team. They hustle to the ball. "We were really fortunate to trail 1-0 at halftime. They dominated us. They were faster than us. They beat us to the ball. They were better than us tonight without a doubt." A great amount of difficulty existed for the Dogs in their efforts to maintain possession. The inability to do that led to Lumberton's lone first-half goal. Garza scored after Nederland turned it over at midfield. A one-on-one shot against NHS goalkeeper Kent Maxwell allowed the Raiders to take the early lead after Nederland's defense misplayed a header. Lumberton doubled its lead to 2-0 about 12 minutes into the second half. Two minutes later, Austin Wyble scored off a Taylor Rush pass, cutting the deficit to 2-1. The Raiders padded their advantage to 4-1, before Trahan followed up a deflection off Lumberton's goalkeeper. The deflection resulted after Rico Keeling's one-on-one bid. Nederland will return to action on Friday night in Beaumont's Zaharias Stadium against Central at 7 p.m. Lumberton will entertain Ozen on Friday at 7 p.m.

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OF's Shores ready for playoff push Gabriel Pruett The Orange Leader ORANGEFIELD — Orangefield senior Jessica Shores has always been able to spot up and drain a three-pointer. Shooting and making plays on both offense and defense is almost second nature. Speaking out and being loud, those two traits took a little time to develop for Shores. Now that she has become vocal on the basketball court, Orangefield Coach Sondra Ancelot has been one happy lady. It really has nothing to do with basketball. Ancelot has just enjoyed watching a young freshman turn into quite a fine young lady. “One of the best things for a coach is to see players go from kids to young adults,†Ancelot said. “It is neat to see them go from followers when they are young to being leaders. She (Shores) is right there in the middle of that mold. She does not like to lose and that right there makes her a winner.†Shores knows her place on a team filled of different roles needed to be filled. Any of about four to five Lady Bobcats can lead the team in scoring each night, steals come in bunches for numerous players and passing the ball around is a must. For Shores, there can only be one girl who is heard above all other voices. “I am the vocal leader,†Shores said. “I seem to be very loud. Instead of being annoying, I use it as a positive. Other players do not always know what to say so I seem to be the one to talk. I like being loud and screaming. “It wasn’t always like this. I was very shy as a freshman and very timid. This team doesn’t care who scores the most. We just want to win and do our jobs.†With the pieces falling into place and each girl doing their own job, the Lady Bobcats are now No. 9 in the state poll and are sitting in a two-way tie with No. 10 Silsbee for the District 21-3A crown. Shores does not want to just tie for the district championship and go a few rounds deep. A trip to Austin her senior year sounds like too much of a good time to pass up. “What we did last year is very exciting to look back on,†Shores said referring to the Lady Bobcats’ push all the way to the regional final. “In 10 years I will be able to look back and really enjoy that time,†she added. “Playing at a college arena (Sam Houston State University) is something I’ll always remember. Now it is time to have twice as much fun and go to Austin.†Shores knows the trip is not a given by a long shot. District 21-3A could be considered one of the toughest districts in the state, giving the Lady Bobcats every chance to get playoff ready. “The district season is narrowing down for us,†Shores explained. “It has been fun to compete around here because there are some tough teams. Everyday the seniors on this team talk about this being our last year and how we are going to leave with no regrets. We want to set the example and bar so all the following teams have something to look upon.†Ancelot agrees this year’s squad has the chance to accomplish any goal they set before themselves. “These kids, including Jessica, have a chance to do some special things,†Ancelot said. “I expect nothing less than a special senior season for them. They stay so close together and are such a close knit bunch. It is a tight little circle of players and friends. It helps that they are just as determined as I am.†The fun is not always confined to being on the basketball court with all her friends for Shores. “Being on the team and going on all the road trips is a blast,†Shores said. “I love it. We make sure to make the road trips a better time.†Shores and Co. have made the road their home in the second half of district play with big games away from Orangefield in Silsbee, Kirbyville and West Orange. After losing their first district game of the season at home against Silsbee, the Lady Bobcats are 9-0 since. Two of the wins came at Silsbee and at Kirbyvile. Orangefield plays at West Orange-Stark on Feb. 2. “We were in a slump that first district game,†Shores said. “All it did was make us work harder. We know we can be better than anyone. Our last year, we are going to be the best we can be at all times.â€