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February 4, 2010

Dogs, Jags head hoops slate

By Cody Pastorella

The big matchup tonight for area prep basketball takes place in Beaumont where the Nederland Bulldogs will square off with the Central Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. in Central High School's boys gym.

Both teams own 7-3 District 20-4A records going into tonight's game. Nederland is coming off a disappointing 63-51 beating at Little Cypress-Mauriceville on Tuesday, while the Jags escaped Lumberton with a 69-63 decision.

In their previous league matchup, the Jags clobbered Nederland 63-44 on Jan.12th. Central also beat Nederland in an overtime game at the YMBL Tournament in Beaumont earlier this season.

The Bulldogs will be looking to avenge those losses and retake sole possession of second place in the league standings.

Ozen is pacing the district with a 9-1 record and Livingston sits alone in fourth place at 6-4 after topping the Port Neches-Groves Indians 50-49 at the Reservation on Tuesday.

That result dropped the Tribe to 4-6 in league play and their overall mark to 16-10. With four games remaining, the Indians are still in the playoff picture despite back-to-back losses, but their pulse is fading quickly. PN-G absolutely needs a victory in Vidor tonight to keep their chances alive.

It will also be hoping LC-M (5-5) can knock off the Lions in Livingston because that would level Livingston and the Bears in a tie for fourth place. That outcome coupled with a win in Vidor, the Indians would trail LC-M and Livingston by one game for that final playoff spot.

PN-G owns the tiebreaker advantage over LC-M but the Lions have the same advantage over the Indians.

Meanwhile, the Memorial Titans continued to prove their worth as District 21-5A's best team by getting a tough 70-64 victory over the North Shore Mustangs in Galena Park on Tuesday. That win moved Port Arthur's overall slate to 22-3. They are now 6-0 in league play and will take on the Sterling Rangers tonight in Baytown.

In District 20-4A girls' basketball action, it's now or never for PN-G, who will host the Lady Pirates tonight. The Lady Tribe and Lady Pirates are both 3-7 in the league table and still have a chance to catch Lumberton and LC-M (5-7) for fourth place. LC-M hosts third place Livingston tonight while Lumberton travels to second place Ozen.

Neither Livingston (9-3), Ozen (10-2) or Central (10-1), who plays in Nederland (2-10) tonight at 6 o'clock, have lost a game to any district team with a record below .500. PN-G finishes the regular season at Lumberton and LC-M will close out at Vidor.



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  • Seahawks overcome player shortage, win easily

    Matt Cross wondered Wednesday whether Lamar Port Arthur’s basketball team had enough healthy players available to face Kilgore College.
    The Lamar State program literally was falling apart before head coach Cross’ eyes. The game clock didn’t work. The players were dropping like Lakeshore mosquitoes.
    Point guard Derrick Dawkins had crutches after sustaining a knee injury Saturday. Wing man Elton Roy missed last Saturday’s game with a knee sprain. Opposite wing Eldridge Moore was hobbled by an ankle sprain. Power man Jayon James was sick with bronchitis. Post man Elijah Pittman seemed out of sorts too.
    “I’m only about 75 percent,” said the Seahawks third-year coach after canceling a lunch appointment.
    It got worse at the start of this 75-50 victory in Carl Parker Center before life improved any on the good ship Seahawk.
    Playmaker deluxe Brandon Peters said he was “hit in the mouth” by a Kilgore player’s shoulder.
    “I’m going to have to go to the dentist tomorrow morning,” Peters said, shaking his head. “The guy knocked my teeth all the way back.”
    Battered and beaten to a pulp, the Seahawks (especially Peters) proved that basketball definitely is played above the shoulders, too.
    More than anything else, Lamar State simply relaxed and rebounded. And rebounded some more.
    The Seahawks crashed the boards in a way that they have not pounded them in a couple of weeks. They knocked home seven three-pointers and welcomed a special addition to their star of the game show. Lamar State College-Port Arthur, meet Lakeem Duncan.
    “We asked one person to step up in practice with Derrick going to the doctor tomorrow (Thursday) and Lakeem did,” his head coach Cross said.
    Duncan led the way with 16 points and backcourt buddy Shondel Stewart added 15. Peters changed jerseys (to 32 from his usual 23) after losing blood from being hit in the mouth. Peters had 11 points and 8 boards. Roy patiently treated his wounded knee all weekend with ice and also scored 11. Bum ankle or not, Moore managed 10 boards and 8 points.
    And a clean shaven head coach smiled afterwards after every one in Seahawk Nation told him that his team needed to rebound better. After Trinity Valley outrebounded Lamar State by seven on Saturday, the Seahawks returned to work and captured the backboard battle on this night, 33-22.
    “I thought we rebounded the ball well consistently,” Cross said. “We’re still No. 1 in our conference and if we can get everybody healthy, we can still have a very good chance to defend our championship.”
    Parker Center’s game clock has been malfunctioning for the past three home games and it had a way of really dictating a lot about this game. The game officials had to frequently counsel Kilgore head coach Brian Hoberecht about the clock and its unpredictable nature.
    A very good indicator of Seahawks prosperity arrived eight minutes into this one when Roy penetrated on a weave and dished out to Moore in the left corner. The 6-5 sophomore knocked home a three-pointer for a 15-8 Lamar State lead. Kilgore never got within five points the rest of the game.
    Another telltale moment developed right before the half when Roy missed a jumper, but followed his own shot on a layup to give the Seabirds a 36-19 cushion. Kilgore never got closer than 10 after that.
    Lamar State (18-5 and 10-2) will welcome all the support in Baytown that it can receive on Saturday night. The Seahawks visit Lee College that night at 7:30 p.m.

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