College Sports

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

Conference champs, outright.

The Tyler Junior College men's basketball program hadn't been able to proclaim such a feat in 21 years before Saturday.

With sophomores Jamie Vanderbeken and Malcolm Thomas combining for 52 points and 12 3-pointers in their final home game, the No. 10 Apaches dismantled Panola, 106-78, at Wagstaff Gymnasium.

The Apaches (25-2, 19-2 Region XIV), who shot an astounding 18-of-34 (53 percent) from the 3-point line, clinched the top seed for the regional tournament.

The eight-team playoff event, which begins Saturday at Kilgore College, will determine which team represents Region XIV at the national tournament.

"It's an honor to win this league," said TJC head coach Mike Marquis, in his seventh year at the helm.

"We play against well-coached teams every game. There's not a game you can take for granted. And you play against terrific Division I players every game. So for us to do this is such an exciting thing for our school, and I know how proud our kids are."

The Apaches will be rewarded with a trophy for winning the conference championship, but that's not their ultimate goal. That would be a trip to Hutchinson, Kan.

"Unfortunately, the way junior college works, the winner of a tough conference battle is only rewarded by seed," said Marquis, whose team has won 21 consecutive home games. "It is not rewarded by any sort of bid to the national tournament. We can be all excited about this for about 24 hours ..."

In women's action, the Apache Ladies lost a high-octane battle with the Panola Fillies, 82-76, which means TJC will play a first-round game at the regional tournament instead of receiving a bye.

The Apaches increased the tempo at practice this week, with playoff-bound Panola (17-12, 10-11) coming to town.

TJC, which knew it could run with the Ponies, instead ran them out of the gym in the first half as the Apaches led 61-32 at the break. TJC made 12 3-pointers in the first half, including seven in the opening 6 1/2 minutes.

"We felt like the last time we really ran and had some fast-break opportunities was the last time we played Panola," said Marquis, whose team won the first meeting, 91-77, on Jan. 23. "The rest of the games have been half-court, a little bit because teams have made it that way and a little bit because our own play slowed down.

"So for me to see this kind of activity was very thrilling, because that's something we've worked on all year. To see that energy come back into our kids was a real positive."

Vanderbeken, who stands at 6-10, scored a career-high 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting. The inside-out standout drained six 3-pointers and scored in double figures for the 13th straight outing.

Thomas, a former star at Karnack, made four of his first five 3-point attempts and finished with 23 points and four assists.

"We had a lot of energy and we had been focused all week," Thomas said. "We came out and executed everything we needed to do."

Jimmy Butler, a candidate for conference player of the year along with teammates Vanderbeken and Joseph Fulce, had another strong performance with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore point guard Randall Hampton dished out seven assists.

Panola (20-9, 10-7) completed a season sweep of the Apache Ladies (21-8, 11-6), who had won six games in a row, by attacking the basket and the 3-point line. The running Fillies made 22 of 29 free throws and eight of 19 3-pointers.

TJC stayed in the game by outrebounding Panola on the offensive glass, 26-8, which helped create 24 more shot opportunities. That was negated, however, by TJC's 35 percent field-goal shooting in the second half, and 33 percent overall.

Panola built an 11-point advantage with 2:13 to play in the game, but the Apache Ladies rallied to within four on a Kelly Stewart (20 points) layup with 39 seconds left.

After a Panola turnover, Stewart missed on a drive but the ball went out of bounds off a Fillies player. TJC called timeout to set up a play, but Panola's Kim Edmonson stole the inbounds pass which led to two free throws to ice the victory for the Fillies.

The Apache Ladies will look to clinch the No. 3 seed on Tuesday when they wrap up the regular season at San Jacinto.

Smoke Signals: The TJC sophomores were honored between games. The Apache Ladies playing their final home game were April Murphy 10 points, nine rebounds), Yoshica Spears (seven points, 12 rebounds) and Chasity Shavers (21 points). ... Student trainer Lyndsey Lambert and student manager Ricky Williams were also recognized. ... TJC's Vanderbeken, from Canada, and William Kossangue, a sophomore from Central Africa, were surprised before the game when their national anthems were played.

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Men

No. 10 Tyler 106, Panola 78

PANOLA - Milton Burton, 0; Aamir McCleary, 12; Fran Urli, 8; Justin Dennis, 9; Papa Oppong, 22; Christian Jones, 0; Christopher Jones, 11; Brandon Webb, 8; Elijah Cotton, 6; Chris Lewis, 0; Chris Williams, 2. FG 28-75 FT 11-16.

TYLER - Tyler Jefferson, 4; Reggie Nelson, 3; William Kossangue, 5; Alan Branch, 0; Randall Hampton, 9; Jamie Vanderbeken, 29; Malcolm Thomas, 23; Chris Williams, 2; Joseph Fulce, 9; Jimmy Butler, 22. FG 39-81 FT 10-15.

THREE-POINT GOALS - PC (11-30): McCleary (2), Dennis, Oppong (6), Christopher Jones (2); TJC (18-34): Kossangue, Hampton (3), Vanderbeken (6), Thomas (6), Fulce, Butler.

HALFTIME SCORE - Tyler 61-32.

TURNOVERS - PC: 22; TJC: 13.

RECORDS - Panola, 17-12 (10-11); Tyler, 25-2 (19-2).

NEXT UP - Blinn at Panola, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; Tyler at San Jacinto, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

EST. ATT. - 600.

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Women

Panola 82, Tyler 76

PANOLA - Kelsey Harris, 13; Melissa White, 7; Jasmine Brown, 11; Casie Adams, 15; Kayla Weaver, 5; Satara Harrell, 9; Vedrana Milakovic, 8; Kim Edmonson, 14. FG 26-54 FT 22-29.

TYLER - Chasity Shavers, 21; Kelly Stewart, 20; Brittany Roberson, 7; Monica Spearman, 6; Brandi Fowler, 0; Jessi Goodman, 0; Jasmine King, 0; Yoshica Spears, 7; Sonja Thompson, 5; April Murphy, 10. FG 26-78 FT 17-26.

THREE-POINT GOALS - PC (8-19): White, Brown (3), Adams (2), Weaver, Milakovic; TJC (7-29): Shavers (3), Stewart (4).

HALFTIME SCORE - Panola 33-30.

TURNOVERS - PC: 22; TJC: 18.

RECORDS - Panola, 20-9 (10-7); Tyler, 21-8 (11-6).

NEXT UP - Blinn at Panola, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday; Tyler at San Jacinto, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.