KFDM COOP Posted April 4, 2006 Report Posted April 4, 2006 Gamble Stars impress coach, players Noah Cole was proud to find himself in such good company Monday evening. “It's nice to be playing for a Hall of Fame coach,†the Vidor High senior said after the first practice for Friday night's Port Arthur News-James Gamble All-Star game ended at Lamar-Port Arthur's Parker Center. “It's an honor.†Cole is one of 11 finalists for the James Gamble Awards that will go to the two best basketball players in Southeast Texas Saturday night. They all convened to meet Gamble and start the preparation to play a team from Houston at the Parker Center Friday at 8 p.m. This is the third year that Vidor High School has had a player named finalist, with Jake McWilliams and George Williamson preceding Cole. “It was definitely a goal of mine to keep that tradition going,†said the 6-1 guard, who as a sophomore and junior helped Vidor to the playoffs for the first two times in school history, then averaged more than 20 points per game as a senior. Cole joins Ozen's Kris Richard, Hardin-Jefferson's Ryan Donahoe, West Brook's Nicholas Pearson and the Central duo of Brandon Moton and Keith Fisher on the roll of Mr. Outside finalists. Mr. Inside finalists are Memorial's Dominique Keller, Silsbee's Bryan Harris, Kelly's Johnathan Brown, Richard Netherly of West Orange-Stark and Mack Randall of Ozen. Richard, Donahoe and Netherly are juniors; all others are seniors. Keller is the only repeat finalist. “Everybody was asking me what they were supposed to do,†Keller, a 6-foot-7 senior, said. “I told them to just sit back and listen. That's all you can do. He (Gamble) knows pretty much everything about this game and you can learn a lot.†The learning curve may not be so steep for Brown, a Port Arthur resident who helped Kelly to three state TAPPS championships. At the Beaumont school, he played for James Knowles, a former Gamble assistant. “It was fun getting to know all the kids from around the Golden Triangle,†the 6-3 senior said. “And coach Gamble makes it feel like home. I know his system because I played for coach Knowles.†The importance of being on time is one thing they'll all learn. A slow start Monday bugged the 72-year-old Gamble, who led Port Arthur Lincoln to four state titles in the 1980s, and is 2-0 in coaching the all-star games that precede the annual Gamble Awards ceremony. “That was really disappointing to me. It threw us all off,†he said about the players not being ready to begin at the appointed hour. Several of them needed help finishing up paperwork. “We got a good hour's work in, but we didn't get to do everything we needed to do.†Maybe it was the short practice that couldn't be extended because Gamble had promised the players he'd let them off in time to watch Monday's NCAA championship game on TV. Maybe it was a better conditioned team. For whatever reason, the players didn't seem nearly as worn out as their predecessors after their first day of practicing for Gamble and assistant coach Melvin Getwood. “People seemed to be in good shape,†the coach said. “For the first day, they seemed to be the best conditioned group I've had. But we didn't get a full practice session in, so I didn't really get a good picture of what's going on.†Keller liked what he saw. “This team's better than last year,†he said of the group led by Mr. Inside Ashton Hall of Kountze and Mr. Outside Rod Bellard of Ozen. “We've got more shooters than last year, and we're bigger and stronger than last year. “We can press them or set it up, slow it down or do whatever we want to do.†Gamble, who spent most of his time working with the outside players, said he was impressed with the first-day showing of Richard and Moton. “Those two youngsters kind of stood out pretty good,†the coach said. Tickets to Friday night's Gamble Award Game are priced at $3 for adults and $2 for students. They are on sale at the Port Arthur News offices at 3501 Turtle Creek Drive and at the Lamar State College-Port Arthur business office at the corner of Stilwell and Procter.
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