Rebel Yeller

I am out in the Abilene area not more than 75 miles from Clyde where Eula is from. The Alilene paper is of course full of the championship for the Pirates. I have seen the paper from Thur - Sun and there is of course plenty of "game winning shot" memtioned frrom the local papers here about the shot that beat the Rebels, but not one word about the fact that the shot never got off in time. I applaude Eula for winning, but I will always feel cheated that the Rebels did not at least have the opportunity to win or lose in an overtime that should have happened.

Thanks to all the sponsors who made the broadcasts of the games possible!

Rebels pulled out just a bit after 8 this morning. They were headed to Lamar for a shoot around before getting on the road to Austin.
If you are not able to go to Austin, be sure to listen to the game here on SETX.

Sponsors for the game include Farmers Funeral Home and the Evadale Catfish Festival. I know there are others, but those are a couple that I know of right now.

Go Rebels!

To all area head basketball coaches, girls and guys

I need you to send me a PM with your school email address. Next week we will begin to send out nomination forms for the All Star games that will be played as a part of the Evadale Catfish Festival.

Once I get addresses I will send out the nomination form and you can respond via the internet. The All Star games will be for senior players only and if you have seniors that might be participating in other games, please make them aware that they need to select games that will not effect their NCAA status.

The 4A/5A games will be on Thursday, May 12th at 6 & 7:30
The 2A/3A games will be on Friday, May 13th at 6 & 7:30
The 1A games will be on Saturday, May 14th at 3 & 4:30
all games will be played in the Rebel Gym on the Evadale ISD campus.
Players will be instructed as to wearing their light or dark uniform to the game.

We hope to invite players from
5A  West Brook and PA Memorial
4A  Central, LCM, Livingston, Lumberton, Nederland, Ozen, PNG and Vidor
3A  Bridge City, Hampshire-Fannett, HArdin-Jefferson, Orangefield, Silsbee and WOS
2A  Anahuac, Buna, Deweyville, East Chambers, Hardin, Kountze, Newton, Warren and Woodville
1A  Burkeville, Chester, Goodrich, High Island, Leggett, Spurger, Big Sandy, Hull-Daisetta, Sabine Pass, West Hardin, Colmesneil, West Sabine and Zavalla
Private Schools  Kelley (4/5A game), Legacy (2/3A game) and Orange Community (1A game)

Coaches please send me your addresses ASAP so we can fill out the rosters and make preparations for the games.

The Evadale JV will finally get the Rebel baseball season underway tonight in a double header that will be more like a scrimmage for the Rebels. They will be playing Good Samaritian, a private school.

The varsity will still have to wait to get started until next week when they have a district game scheduled against High Island. The Rebels will have to make up a game against Leggett which was postponed last week due to the basketball playoffs. Several starters from the baseball team are still participating in basketball and the team will not begin defense of their district crown until all the team members are back on the field.

The Rebels are hopeing to make a return trip to Round Rock in June where they hope to win one more game than last year and win the state tournament. The Rebels are the #1 1A ranked team in the state after finishing as the state runner up last season. The team also wants to make their third trip to state in the last four team sports.

I thought Coach Williams had a great interview with Alex on Sports Extra last night. He is a class act!

I just spoke to Coach Williams and he told me that the team will leave early Wed morning. He is working on a shoot around at a larger facility to help the team get focused on playing in a larger gym, but he want to get the team up to Austin and get them focused for the game as soon as possible.

He mentioned 8 AM so if you want to be a part of the send off I suggest that you make your way to the gym parking lot around 7:30 to be ready to give them a send off worthly of a team that we expect to be bringing home a state championship on Saturday.

See you Thursday morning!

Side note to Rebel fans...$600 has been donated SETXsports to help with the broadcast costs so the game can be heard over the internet. We still need to raise at least $400 more to be sure that the game(s) are broadcast. Thanks! 

I just got word that $600 was donated to help cover the broadcast costs. The person does not want to be recognized, but I do want everyone to know that the Rebel Nation appreciates the gesture and that those who will not be able to attend the game(s) in Austin are very grateful for this so they can be a part of it where ever they happen to be.

The Rebels appreciate all the support they are getting in this poll even as they have yet to play their first game of the season. Regardless of what happens this weekend I know that the team will be on the firld for practice a week from tomorrow. They have their sights wet on a return trip to Round Rock and coming home with the state title this year.

The Rebel faithful are growing quite fond of Austin and the surrounding area. The fans are getting rather comfortable with the hotels and eating establishments in the capitol city.

We might even start calling it Evadale North!

Just watched Evadale's basketball coach, Laurence Williams on channel 6, Sports Extra. I believe I can speak for the Evadale community when I say that we are excited to have him at the head of our program. We have had some good coaches leading the program in the past each with their own strengths. Coach L as the guys call him is a real student of the game and he teaches that to his players.

Anyone who has seen the progress that the team has made since the beginning of the season can tell you that the players have bought into his system and he expects a great deal from the players on the floor. He has molded the Rebels into a very good team and while some on SETX would argue with that beig the only area team at the state tournament says that the accessment is deserved.

There is a fire in Coach L that can be seen during the game, but before and after he is all about the kids. He is an asset in the classroom at the high school and he always has time for the students. You will be hard pressed to find someone who is as likeable and approachable anywhere.

As the father of a player I would like to say thank you to Coach L and wish him and the Rebels two more victories this weekend. People have been selling this team short all season and all they keep doing is winning. So if we are making the trip back to Austin, why not go ahead and win the championshipand give the Rebels their second state championship and Coach L his first!

The Evadale Rebels are needing some businesses to step up and help with the cost of broadcasting their games (yes, we are making plans for both) at the State Tournament in Austin. We need to get this squared away by tomorrow so if anyone is interested in helping make sure that the Rebel fans who can't make the trip to Austin, can listen to the game on the internet, please contact me by PM and I will let you know the costs involved.

I am just trying to get the word out so this can get done. The sponsorship will be paid to SETXsports to cover the costs for broadcast of UIL games and SETXsports expenses connected with the broadcast.

I am sure that anyone who gets to listen back here at home will be very appreciative of any sponsor who made it possible to listen in as the Rebels make a run at the state championship.

Feelin good about the Rebels chances to come out of Austin theis weekend as the regional champion. Not overlooking Mason, but we the Rebels have found ways to utilize their size against the smaller teams that they have played in the last couple of games. I can look back and thank Kountze for putting on a clinic early in the season and helping us get better matching up against smaller quicker guards.

I can say that the Rebels defense has really looked good during the playoffs. If you take the second half against Yorktown and the first half against Milano it was textbook shut down. I was most impressed with the Rebels transittion on the fly from the 2-3 zone to man-to-man early in the 4th quarter against Milano, Wednesday night. No confusion and the change just made the Eagles scratch their heads.

The inside play of Dunigan, Tucker and Stark has been off the charts. Teams might shut down one, but it is hard to shut them all down. Murphy had a great game Wed. with 19 points and that was with the Eagles playing him man-to-man all over the court. He just stayed within himself and made the plays.

Well I know that plenty of Rebel fans are already in Austin or will be leaving shortly for the 6 PM tip off. Drive safely and let make some noise tonight as the Rebels move a step closer to the ultimate prize!

We appreciate the coverage! Not sure how many people will be left in town to listen, but for those who are it will be nice to be able to listen to the game live on SETXsports.

Sports is a funny thing and the outcome of games and seasons can take some weird bounces. Just take a look at the four regional 1A brackets coming up this weekend.

Region 1 - #12 White Deer vs. Olton & #1 Clarendon vs. #6 Farwell
Region 2 - #19 Albany vs. #4 Kerens & #3 Clyde Eula vs. #20 Munster
Region 3 - #7 Cayuga vs. #24 Tenaha & #2 Clarksville vs. #10 Grapeland
Region 4 - Normangee vs. Stacey & Evadale vs. Mason

Five undranked teams in the regional tournaments and region 4 has 4 of the 5. Normangee and Stacey were even the 3rd place teams in their districts and one of them will make it to the regional final.

Like I said sports is a funny thing and the ball can take a funny bounce. Region 1 & 3 could produce a #1 vs. #2 semi final contest and regions 2 & 4 just might send an unranked team to the final.

Congrats to Spurger for a great season. Evadale and Spurger have always had a rivalry and it was disapointing that we were not in district together this year. You guys have some great players who have been great together for several years. I can say you played your hearts out to get into the playoffs and you did yourself and your community proud playing hard and making it to the regional semis.

Congrats again on a fine season and we will see you on the diamond in the near future.

The Rebels have an impressive streak of their own going
2011 Baseball - pre season #1 state ranking (will have to wait a while longer before they get started)
2010-2011 Basketball - Regional semi finals (maybe further)
2010 Football - Regional quarter finalist - Lost to D2 State Champion - Falls City
2010 Baseball - State Finalist - Lost to State Champion - Windthorst
2009-2010 Basketball - Bi-district (loss in overtime)
2009 Football - Area finalist - Lost to eventual State Champion
2009 Baseball - Regional quarter finalist - Lost to eventual State Champion (I believe) - Maud
and most of these guys are on every team - that is 6 for 6 in the last team sports for the Rebels. Say what you will about a weak district (which I don't agree with in all instances), but this group of guys just plays to win.
Congratulations to the Rebels and the class of 2011 for leading the way!

Just got home and the Rebels are advancing to the regional tournament in Austin! The team played hard and could have made the score difference greater, but turnovers and missed free throws kept it closer than it should have been. It was a hard fought game and it the Rebels proved to themselves and to others that they have plenty of character and heart.

The regional semi final will be against Mason and from here on out the Rebels need to believe that they can't be beat. Plenty of people said that the playoffs would end tonight, but once again the Rebels are marching on. So I have only one thing to say, last one out of town on Friday be sure to turn out the lights!

[size=18pt][color=blue]Great Job Rebels![/[/color]size]

Well in the end the Rebels took care of business and are headed to the regional tournament after a 45-38 victory over Milano.

Tonight the Rebels write the next chapter in their playoff book!

Lets go Rebels!

Thanks to Kountze for taking this on for Evadale. I know that the teams that are in the tournament are glad to not have to scramble and rearrange their schedules.

We always enjoy having the tournament and wish we still could have it, but being successful in one sport often means making a change to plans especially in a smaller classification school.

The Rebels will be on the diamond soon enough, we just hope not too soon.

Thanks again Lions for stepping up and helping out!

[quote name="bball11" post="972199" timestamp="1298654588"]
I hope your right but its always hard to make it back to back state appearances!!!!!!!!!
[/quote]

Two of the four teams in the 1A State tournament had been there the year before and one of them was making their forth straight appearance, Thorndale. Windthorst was the runner up in 2009 and won in 2010. Good teams make return trips, and I believe that a team that has the returning core that the Rebels do will make a return trip to Round Rock and come home with the championship this year.

Wrong maybe, but thats is my opinion knowing these young men and their desire to finish what they started as freshmen. They have won close to 100 baseball games since they were freshmen. They have won three district championships without a district loss. They have been to the regional quarterfinals and the state final in the last two years. This group wants to add to their legecy. They just hope to start playing a little later than usual since they are now in their second regional quarterfinal round of this school year.

If the Rebels could play a whole game like the second half they played tonight there is no telling how far they could go. The guys battled back from a 12 point half time deficiet to win by five. A 17 point turn around in the second half. This was the first time in several games where they faced a smaller team that pressed that the Rebels were able to use their size and win. The man to man defense in the second half was outstanding as they took the Yorktown shooters out of their rythum.

I also want to thank everyone who was concerned about my safety as I was taking pictures from the Yorktown side of the gym in the second half. I never felt threatened and I really just ignored them as I went about my newspaper duties. I was concerned about the Wildcat fans as they were becoming very threatening while leaving the gym. The Rosenburg Police even used the PA system on their patrol car to move people along in the parking lot.

I know every team thinks they were robbed once they are eliminated, but I felt that the refs in this one called it equally on both sides. I know that the Yorktown fans don't think so, but from my vantage point I felt that they made the calls they needed to and let the teams play when it was warranted.

I looked on the map and Conroe looks like it will be about half way from us and Milano, but we will have to wait and see where the game will be set up. Congrats Rebels!

Going to be waiting a while longer as the Rebel season continues to regional quarterfinal round.

Well SETX basketball fans the season will come to a close soon enough either through teams being eliminated or by hopefully several area teams coming home with hardware from Austin. Well that won't be the last that you can see of your favorite senior roundballers before they graduate.

The Evadale Catfish Festival will be hold 6 All Star games in Mid May to showcase talented young men and young women from all across the SETX area.

May 12th will be two games featuring 4A and 5A seniors. 6:00 PM girls and 7:30 guys
May 13th 2A and 3A seniors at the same times 6 and 7:30 PM
May 14th will be the 1A games with the girls at 2:30 and the guys at 4 PM

The Catfish Festival will be sending out nomination forms to area coaches in a couple of weeks and once the nomination deadline passes then the nominees will be contacted to see if they are interested in playing in the game. It is the hope of the festival to be able to announce the rosters for the teams at the end of April. Players will be in their school uniforms one last time and they will play with or face off against players they have been playing against since they were in Little Dribblers.

The Catfish Festival would like to invite everyone to come out and see the All Star games and to enjoy the festival. The tickets to the game will be $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under. The proceeds from the game will go towards the Gilbert & Betty Richardson, King & Queen Scholarship Fund. In the past three years the fund has presented $5500 in scholarships to seniors graduating from Evadale.

The dates of the game are the same as the festival, May 12-14 and everyone will have a great time as the games and the festival are all on the Evadale ISD campus on FM 105.

Yorktown was a 2A program back in the 90's. We lived in Kenedy and they were in our district. Kenedy dropped to 1A just like Yorktown. The Widcats were prdicted to win their district at the start of the season, but finished second. I believe that the Rebels if they play their game will come out with a win tonight.

I will be there to watch and I believe my trip home will be like the playoff game in football we played at the same location, a very happy trip home!