Memorial-Ozen rivalry building

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Memorial-Ozen rivalry building

By Cody Pastorella

The Port Arthur News

Maybe tonight's 7:30 p.m. game between the Memorial Titans and Ozen Panthers isn't that important in the big picture. It's just the first game of the regular season and will have little impact on either team's year.

Maybe it is not yet the rivalry that Port Neches-Groves and Nederland share.

The one thing tonight's game does have is a lot of history, great coaches and great players.

For the most part, Memorial is still a new program, trying to find its place in the history of Port Arthur basketball.

For years it was Lincoln High School that was the area’s dominant basketball force. In 1997, Ozen emerged on the scene as a new school with an old touch.

A touch of Port Arthur's James Gamble and Beaumont Hebert's Fred Williams.

Add the two legendary coaches together and you have the blueprints for Andre Boutte, who won state titles as a player at Hebert High School in 1980 and '81.

Boutte led Lincoln to championship titles in 1991 and '95 as the Bees head coach. Then Boutte took over at Ozen and led the Panthers to a state championship in 2001 and finished second in state in 2002 and 2003.

Ozen, Lincoln and TJ never competed in the same district but all were successful programs in the late 90s and into the turn of the century. And TJ ended Ozen's 1999-2000 season at the Montagne Center in Beaumont in the third round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The next year, coach Boutte and current Port Arthur head coach Turrul Henderson met in the season opener for the 2000 season.

Ozen beat Lincoln in that game and went on to a perfect 36-0 season.

Memorial and Ozen did not meet in 2002-03 (Memorial's first season). Since then, the Panthers and Titans have squared off seven times, with Ozen being the victor in four of those meetings.

The two teams met twice in the 2003. Memorial won the first meeting 46-45. The second meeting came during the YMBL tournament. Ozen came out on top with a 51-40 victory in that game.

The Panthers won both matchups in 2004, including a 65-58, overtime victory and a 51-43 win in the YMBL tournament for the second consecutive year.

The teams played their 2005 game at the Beehive on Dec. 14. The Panthers won that game 53-49. Last year, Henderson's first year as Memorial's head coach, the Titans won both meetings with the Panthers.