KFDM COOP

[Hidden Content]

[Hidden Content]

Duncanville, Oak Hill meet in clash of hoops titans Duncanville, Oak Hill meet in clash of hoops titans 07:43 PM CDT on Thursday, July 5, 2007 By KEITH WHITMIRE / The Dallas Morning News [email protected] Two teams that finished No. 1 in separate national high school polls will meet when Duncanville and Virginia's Oak Hill Academy play Dec. 19 at SMU. Duncanville coach Phil McNeely said the game could be combined with another marquee matchup or two. But few matchups could come close to the appeal of Duncanville and Oak Hill, which both claimed national championships earlier this year. Duncanville went 39-0 and won the Class 5A boys state championship. Duncanville topped the final HoopsUSA.com rankings, which only includes teams that are members of state high school associations. Oak Hill, which is not a member of any state association, was 40-1 last season and finished No. 1 in the USA Today Super 25 rankings and other polls. It was the seventh mythical title for the school located in Mouth of Wilson, Va. "It's one of those games you're not supposed to win," McNeely said. "It kind of gives you a good gauge of where you are." McNeely said Duncanville played Oak Hill once before, losing in a holiday tournament in the late 1980s. Oak Hill played in Dallas in December, defeating San Antonio Cornerstone in the Prime Time Tour event at Ellis Davis Fieldhouse. Duncanville returns four of its top seven players from last season's team, including starting forwards Roger Franklin and Shawn Williams. Point guard Brian Talley also has starting experience and forward Kevin Butler was a key reserve. Oak Hill is expected to be led by former North Crowley guard Willie Warren, who was ranked the No. 1 recruit in the state by TexasHoops.com. Warren announced last month he will transfer to Oak Hill for his senior season. __________________

Not sure yet.

Great News!

[Hidden Content]

Good chance! Tough pool though with Orangefield. Normangee has already qualifed though so i like OF and Hardin's chances.

Jasper has decided to drop out!

Revised Sam Houston St. SQT Pools Only 14 teams are playing....6 teams will qualify 4 pool winner the 2 second place non-qualified teams in each pool will play in a qualifier game Pool A Danbury Hardin Normangee* Pool B Jarrell Orangefield Madisonville Rockdale* Pool C Navasota New Waverly Oakwood Pool D Houston 2nd Baptist Somerville West

They have a very good shot!

Battlin' Bears working hard over the summer Van Wade The Orange Leader LITTLE CYPRESS — There has been quite a turnout at Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School over the summer. Battlin’ Bear football players have hit the weightroom and track hard, harder than they have in several years and LC-M Athletic Director Todd Moody is proud of the Bears’ work habits. The Bears barely missed the playoffs last season, getting nipped by Nederland late in the season as LC-M finished fourth in rugged District 22-4A. That has just motivated the Bears more as they seek even more BOJO magic this season. “The kids have displayed great work habits all summer long thus far,†said Moody. “This week has been a little tough with the July 4 holiday and all. They’re coming in here with a lot of confidence and making the most of the opportunity. We’re open pretty much all day long and they’re taking advantage of it.†Incoming sophomore Troy Davenport, 15, has certainly been one to use the LC-M facilities as much as possible. “I try to get up here every single day,†Davenport said. “I have my own little schedule down pat pretty good. I start off by jogging two miles to get here.†Davenport played the positions of tailback and cornerback on the freshman team last year and he’s motivated to get more playing time going into his sophomore campaign. “I played quite a bit last year but I know I can play more,†Davenport said. “I found out high school was a lot tougher than junior high pretty fast last season. Everybody starts getting faster and stronger. I knew I had to dedicate myself to getting more physical and to work harder and I’ve been doing that pretty good since the offseason started.†Davenport was collecting quite a bit of sweat jumping rope in the Bear weightroom Thursday. “I jump rope everyday,†said Davenport. “It helps build strength and conditioning in your legs and it even helps out your upper body too. Playing tailback and cornerback, your legs are so important and that’s what I work on the most. Hitting the track is important and so is running the stands. All of that helps you build a whole lot of stamina.†Without question, Davenport likes what he sees in the Battlin’ Bears’ future. “Everyone believes that we can be winners,†said Davenport. “Coach Moody has us really pumped up about what we can accomplish. A lot of people have been up here working hard and pushing everyone to be the best. To accomplish goals, you have to do it as a team and the turnout all summer long has been awesome.†So what are Davenport’s plans for the upcoming season? “Hopefully I can make a good impact on the JV team and continue to learn and just get better,†Davenport said. “The ultimate would be to make the varsity team. I know that’s coming down the road. I’m just going to continue to work hard and give it my best effort every day.†The Battlin’ Bears should be right in the hunt for District 22-4A supremacy this season. LC-M has a nice early-season schedule. All three of the Bears’ non-district games with Caney Creek, West Orange-Stark and Houston Kashmere are in the friendly confines of Battlin’ Bear Stadium. LC-M also has last year’s first and second-place teams Dayton and Beaumont Central at home in 22-4A play along with Beaumont Ozen and Nederland. LC-M’s 22-4A away games include Nederland, Port Neches-Groves and Orange County rival Vidor. Also, a new twist in District 22-4A this season, all the district games will start at 7 p.m. instead of the old 7:30 p.m. starts.

Fletcher to lead Deweyville baseball program Van Wade The Orange Leader DEWEYVILLE — A golden opportunity arose for former Orangefield assistant Darin Fletcher and the young and talented coach jumped on it. Fletcher, who served as a tremendous assistant for Jeff Bennett at Orangefield last season and also had successful assistant stints for Steve Griffith at Little Cypress-Mauriceville and Russell DeLome at Buna, recently accepted the head baseball position at Deweyville High School. “I was really excited at first, now I’m both nervous and excited,†said Fletcher, who graduated from Vidor High School in 1998 and went on to get his degree at Lamar University. “I’m looking forward to working with the Deweyville kids, there’s a lot of young talent there.†Fletcher saw something in the Pirates last season. “We scrimmaged them at Orangefield and they (Deweyville) had some terrific bats up and down their lineup,†Fletcher said. “I know there is a great group of seniors coming back plus some young guys that are very promising.†Orangefield’s Bennett feels that the Pirates are getting quite of a gem in Coach Fletcher. “Darin has so much baseball knowledge,†Bennett said. “He’s really a student of the game and he always seems to find a way to get things done the right way. He had an opportunity to learn from coaches like Steve Griffith and Coach DeLome. I really appreciate everything he did for our program. We’re certainly losing a tremendous asset.†“I’ve been fortunate enough to start coaching in places and learning from some of the best people that I could,†Fletcher said. “Coach Bennett and the Bobcats, I’m going to miss those guys. They’re still so young and I saw nothing but a very bright future for those guys last season and I wish them the best.†Hopefully Fletcher and the Pirates can play on the new Pirate Field this season at the new Deweyville High School. Weather has hampered Pirate programs from playing at the new football stadium along with the baseball and softball complex. “It’s still a work in progress but I know we’ll get to play in great facility when everything gets set,†said Fletcher. “We’ve got a company from Katy that wants to help us out and they do tremendous jobs on fields. They did a great job getting Vidor’s field up and running. We’d love to play on the new field this year but if we have to play on the old one, that’s fine too. I know that I’m getting a chance to work with kids that love the game and that’s what matters the most.†Fletcher will go from coaching in one tough district to another by going to District 24-2A. The 24-2A loop was extremely competitive last season with the Pirates losing a handful of nailbiters as they finished tied for fifth in the race. 24-2A champion Buna advanced all the way to the 2A Region III semifinals. “It’s a challenging district,†Fletcher said. “There were a lot of close games last year. Buna will again be the team to beat but anybody can be beaten on any given day and that’s the way that district kinda shakes up.†Fletcher will replace Brad Haeggquist as the Pirate head coach. Haeggquist will continue to be the head basketball coach and cross country coach.

Oh no! ;D

The Stunner has returned!!

[Hidden Content]

[Hidden Content]

kogt The Orange CRUSH 14U recently traveled to Conroe and walked away with the 2007 South Texas USFA State Championship title by going undefeated. The CRUSH defeated the Houston Timebombs 2-1 in the Championship Game scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the last inning after a rain delay in a game that finished shortly after midnight. They will travel to Panama City, Florida July 15-21 to participate in the United States Fastpitch Association’s World Series. Crush team members include: (Front row L to R) Lacy Hanks, Rayleigh Templet, Baleigh Bussell, Shannon Sain, and Jacquelyn Brown. (Middle row L to R) Kylin Carpenter, Katye Harris, Malorie Lee, Emilee Reed, Tiffani Thompson, and Madison Cole. (Back row L to R) Coach Tim Templet, Coach Kevin Wiggins, Coach/Manager Tommy Thompson, and Coach Mike Sain.

They'll be on the main field and practice fields.

HF will challenge for a playoff spot, no doubt!

What's the best team ever at your School? Not individual Stars but one team as a whole.

Yes he did. Good luck Coach!

Probably so, The OL at LCM looks good this year.

[Hidden Content]

Racers young and old plying their wares at Motorama SpeedwayMotorama BEAUMONT - The quarter-mile dirt oval at Motorama Speedway supports more than the 20-plus vehicles per race every Friday night. It also supports generations of family racers. The competitors in the events at the speedway are mainly local people, who enjoy racing on the weekends. And when the American Sprint Car Series comes to town, as it did two weeks ago, the speed and the competition sharply increase. One of those ASCS drivers is Gary Watson, who lives in Beaumont, works for ExxonMobil and has been racing for 29 years. Watson helped current Motorama Speedway owner Butch Doyle purchase the track in 2002. They were co-owners until Hurricane Rita hit Beaumont. Following the storm, Doyle bought out Watson's share of the track. Now Watson travels with the sprint car series and has been very successful, although he isn't racing for the money. "I do it for the competition. Eighty-five percent of the people here aren't doing this for a living," Watson said. He says the sprint car itself costs about $80,000, and another $200,000 might be spent on trailers, extra parts and anything else that could be necessary. It makes for an expensive hobby, but he's a sponsored driver. Watson, who is the defending ASCS Gulf South champion, finished in fifth place in the feature race two weeks ago. Another interesting competitor in that ASCS race was 16-year-old Kathryne Minter of Bedford. Minter has been racing for four years and got started when her cousin gave her a four-cylinder mini stock car. Her parents, Mike and Tracy Minter, support her racing endeavors now. Minter has big dreams. She hopes to move up to the World of Outlaw series next year, which is a bigger sprint car division. "My eventual dream is to move on to NASCAR," said Minter. Minter needed to finish in the top three of the "B" main race to make the feature race. She finished second and ended up finishing 14th in the feature. It's not only the ASCS that has all the competitive, ambitious drivers. Jonathan Johnson, competitor in the modified car division, has seen quite a bit of the racing world in his young life. He was born in Beaumont and started racing at the age of 8 thanks to the influence of his father, Glen Johnson. The elder Johnson raced on dirt tracks as early as 1970 and started his own company, Johnson Motorsports, which still exists. In 2002, Jonathan Johnson moved up to the super stock division, where he won his first national race. That year he was ranked 13th in the world in super stock. After three successful seasons, he started racing alcohol funny cars under Brad McWilliams in Tulsa, Okla., and had a semifinal finish in his first event with the team. Due to his success, Johnson was invited to race under the Etterman Racing team in 2006 and finished fourth in his division and 18th nationally. Despite all the racing activity that's been going on in Johnson's life, he still has to make time for other things. When the Etterman's chose retirement at the end of 2006, Johnson chose to concentrate on his upcoming graduation from Texas A&M with a degree in architecture. Johnson has now gone back to his Beaumont roots and races on the dirt track at Motorama, as well as other tracks around Texas. As much as he would like to make a living racing, Johnson says he can't make that happen right now. "I don't do it for a living, but I certainly live and breathe it," Johnson said. Johnson now works as an architect for the SLI group in Houston. Another example of the generations of racing evident at the speedway is Johnny Arthur Jr. His father, Johnny Arthur Sr., was a driver and got the younger Arthur in to it. Now the daughter of Arthur Jr., Samantha Arthur, wants to move up into the same division her dad races in, the UMP Modified. Samantha has won numerous national go-kart races, according to Arthur Jr. Arthur Jr. is a mechanic at Mike Smith Dodge and lives in Beaumont. He is a regular competitor every Friday, unlike the ASCS drivers, who travel to different tracks each week. He said it takes about $20,000 to get a UMP Modified car ready to race. "I just enjoy coming here and hanging out with friends," Arthur, Jr., said.

Busch, Sauter lose points; crew chiefs lose $25,000 for violations DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR has penalized the Nextel Cup teams of Kyle Busch and Johnny Sauter for rule infractions found on their cars during the postrace inspection following Sunday's race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Both the No. 5 Chevrolet of Busch and the No. 70 Chevrolet of Sauter were found to have used unapproved parts and failed to meet the minimum front car heights. NASCAR said Wednesday that Busch and Sauter were each penalized 25 points and their respective crew chiefs, Alan Gustafson and Robert "Bootie" Barker, were each fined $25,000 and placed on probation until Sept. 19. In addition, Rick Hendrick, owner of the No. 5, was penalized 25 car owner championship points, as was Joe Custer, owner of the No. 70. Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press