If the final three quarters of Memorial's 75-56 blow out victory over the Ozen Panthers on Tuesday night is any indication of what the Titans are bringing to the table this season, lookout Texas.

   Without Shaq White and early shooting troubles, Memorial blew the doors off Ozen with suffocating defense. Clarence Thomas forced a dozen steals and was a huge factor in Ozen's 23 turnovers, which led the Titans to 18 points in the second quarter, 25 in the third and 19 more in the fourth.

   After taking a 3-2 advantage on a 3-point play from David Green in the first frame, Ozen led until JaMarqus Jones banked in a layup at the buzzer before halftime. That knotted the game 31-31.

   As mentioned, it was a slow start for the Titans, as Ozen led 18-13 in the first quarter. The same numbers were posted in the second quarter, only, Memorial had 18 while Beaumont had 13.

   The Titans only needed a minute and change after the break to silence the Panthers. Thomas, along with teammates Kaleb Sanders and Wendell Piere, who had 15 points on the night, dominated the perimeter defensively.

   Memorial ran off 10-1 charge to start the third. Ozen took a timeout and was able to get to the charity stripe for two points and followed with a bucket to cut its deficit to 44-36. But Jones, 18 points, dropped in a layup to spark a second run in the quarter, which ended with a 12-0 charge. That brought the Titans lead to 56-36, as the Panthers only managed five points in the third period and three of those points came by way of free throws.

  Ozen actually scored 20 points from the line for the night, which bailed the Panthers out from further embarrassment.

  The Titans, who dominated the rebounding battle 31-19, started the final frame with a 7-2 run that pushed their lead to 63-38 with 6:10 left in the contest.

   Memorial head coach Terrul Henderson then sat his starting rotation, which gave Beaumont some breathing room. The Panthers scored 13 of their 20 points after Henderson called off the dogs and six of that total was from the stripe.

   "I thought we played good defense the whole game but we had some jitters in the first half. That showed," explained Henderson whose team starts the season at 1-0. "Clarence really provided the leadership we've been waiting for from him. He stepped it up and led us to a lot of transition points. Kaleb Sanders and Wendell Piere stepped up their defense as well. They really took charge of the perimeter and caused problems for them (Ozen)."

    Henderson added that Clarence did a great job running the floor in White's absence. White joined the basketball team this week after the Titans were knocked out of the Class 5A football playoffs on Saturday. Thomas is a major contributor for Port Arthur with or without White but typically slides to the wing when Shaq is on the floor.

  White did enter the contest with three minutes left in the game and scored one bucket.

  Henderson said he expects Shaq to be in basketball shape soon but will get him involved as he sees fit.

  Also for the Titans on Tuesday night, Darius Harris scored eight points and made three blocks.



Tribe escapes Cardinals late push

   BRIDGE CITY — The Port Neches-Groves Indians survived a nearly fatal fourth-quarter run from the Bridge City Cardinals in Tuesday night's season opener.

   Bridge City scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to make things interesting but the Tribe made off with a 48-40 victory to start the season 1-0.

   Layne Norris led the charge for the Indians as he dropped in 25 points. Also for the Tribe, Scott Pellegrin posted 10 points.

   The Indians will return to action next Tuesday when they travel to West Orange-Stark.



Lady Indians 43, Warren 37

   PORT NECHES — The Port Neches-Groves Lady Indians overcame a slow start in their 43-37 victory over Warren on Tuesday night to improve to 2-3 on the season.

   The Lady Tribe tallied just six points in the first quarter and trailed by four heading into the second frame. PN-G flipped the switch in that quarter, however, scoring 16 points and went into the locker rooms down 23-22.

   Behind three double digit scorers in Caitlynn Dykes, with 12, and Haley Savant and Lauren Hanratty, who each had 10 for the night, the Lady Indians went onto outscore Warren 21-14 in the second half to claim the win.

   The Lady Tribe will be back in action Friday against the visiting the Lady Bulldogs of Kelly.



Woodville 51, Lady Dogs 34

   NEDERLAND — The Nederland Lady Bulldogs were hammered Tuesday night by Woodville, suffering a 51-34 loss that drops the Dogs to 1-1 on the season.

   Jordi LeBouef was Nederland's top scorer. She had eight points. The Lady Dogs did not clear double digits until the fourth quarter, which is when they dropped in 15. But Woodville topped those efforts by scoring 16 of its own. Warren outscored Nederland 35-19 in the first three quarters and took a 28-14 lead into the half.