Article on Slocum-Laneville in Tyler Paper

[bobcatfan]

I posted this on eastexsports and i thought i'd post it on here for you small school fans or anyone interested.  This article talks about the tabc ranked #1 and #2 ranked teams in east Texas, Slocum and Laneville.  These 2 team have been the past 2 state champions and are in the same district and same region.

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20091115/SPORTS05/911150323

Famous For A Small Town: 1A Giants Think Big
By SHANE STARK
Staff Writer

Prior to the 2008 season, the Slocum and Laneville boys basketball teams had little history with one another.

No doubt, things change. When the UIL season begins Monday, Slocum's Mustangs and Laneville's Yellowjackets will officially embark on a race to district, regional and state supremacy.

Slocum is ranked No. 1 in Class 1A Division II by the Texas Association of Basketball coaches, plus is the defending state champion. Laneville is rated second by the TABC, plus is only two years removed from a state crown.

Note to East Texas hoops fans: The Mustangs and Yellowjackets meet Jan. 23 and Feb. 16.

"It's going to be extremely hyped up," Slocum coach Jay Bruce said. "It will be exciting."

In last year's regular-season meetings between the teams, Laneville prevailed each time -- 47-45 and 59-49 -- en route to the league title. However, the Mustangs avenged the loss with a 58-56 victory against the Yellowjackets in the regional final to punch their first ticket to Austin.

"It still kind of stings a little bit," Laneville all-state senior GerRaylon Carey said last week. "We are wanting to play them again so we can go back to state."

The success shared by Slocum and Laneville is a testament to 24-1A Division II's overall strength. Similar to the NCAA's Big East Conference, high-profile matchups are on tap almost every game night.

Just call it the Little East.

Over the last eight years, the league has been represented at state six times. In addition to Slocum and Laneville (twice), Kennard, Neches and Oakwood have also made trips.

Last season, Oakwood went 0-14 in league action but played Slocum to within 10 points in both of their meetings.

"When you look at our district, there's a lot of tradition in basketball," Laneville coach Brian Nichols said. "On any given night, the communities are going to support their basketball because that's the only thing to do in town. We are at the smallest level, so there's a lot of pride in it at the community level."


A Championship, The Yellowjacket Way
Laneville, which won back-to-back titles in 1992-93, is a basketball-crazed community in Rusk County. In 2006-07, the Yellowjackets returned to prominence by winning the regional title and making their first state appearance in almost two decades, but eighth overall.

They fell by nine points in the championship game to Nazareth, but set the foundation for better things to come. Laneville returned to the University of Texas' Frank Erwin Center the very next season, and cut down the nets following their 56-50 victory against Goodrich.

And just like Slocum last season, the Yellowjackets finished second in district that year but wound up tops in the land. Though the teams hadn't joined the same district yet, one of the Yellowjackets' five losses came against Slocum.

"I wanted this for them. Any coach wants to win a state championship, but after being so close to winning last year, it hurt the kids to taste that," Nichols said in the postgame news conference after the final.

This season, Laneville returns eight players who experienced the title. In addition, those players went through the agony of last season's end result.

"It hurt bad," Carey said. "We're still thinking about it and are working on it."


A Championship, The Mustang Way
Slocum, which fell to 1A Division II during the latest UIL realignments and reclassifications, is located in Anderson County and is building a winning tradition in Dr. James Naismith's game. In addition to the boys team, the Slocum girls have experienced success and enter the season ranked No. 11 by the TABC.

The boys went into last season ranked second. However, the Mustangs at times stumbled during non-district and experienced trouble finding an answer to Laneville in district.

That all became a distant memory in the regional final, though, when junior post Randall Thomason sank a pair of free throws in the waning moments to send the Mustangs to victory. The next stop was the final four, which Slocum capitalized on by beating five-time state champion Nazareth -- four-time this decade -- 45-27 in the championship game.

"It was awesome," Bruce said. "When we got into the playoffs, we had a tough season so it was one game at a time. We never thought a lot about anything like winning state. We just got really hot in the playoffs."

Slocum returns six lettermen and three starters, but lost leading-scorer Jared Lane to graduation. Thomason, a 6-4 senior post who averaged 13 points a year ago, is expected to take over the leading-scorer role for a team that's experienced, balanced and deep.

"I feel like there will be a lot of pressure on us," Thomason said. "A lot of us just have to keep our heads straight and focused, and act like (the state title) never happened."