KILGORE — It was a long and emotional day for Tyler Junior College basketball coach Mike Marquis and his Apache family.

His team scored a 66-54 win over Kilgore College on Wednesday at Masters Gym. Earlier in the day, Marquis conducted the services for his mother, Noreen, who had passed away on Saturday after a long illness.

“It was a long, long day,” Marquis said. “You are so thankful for the support you get in situations like this. … It was overwhelming from the community, my TJC family and my team. It is so appreciative.”

Sophomore Jaron Johnson, who hit for 11 points and eight rebounds, said the Apaches wanted to win for their coach.

“Before coming over to Kilgore we dedicated the game to coach Marquis and his family,” said Johnson, a John Tyler High School graduate. “He and his family have been through a lot and we wanted to win for him.”

Johnson said the Apaches showed support for their coach’s mother and the Marquis family by wearing black wrist bands. On Wednesday morning, the entire team attended the services and placed yellow roses on her casket.

In the first game, Bianca McGee hit for 18 points as the Lady Rangers upset the No. 16 Apache Ladies 63-57.

TJC has “Sophomore Day” on Saturday as Blinn visits the Apache Ladies and Lamar State-Port Arthur meets the Apaches. The games are set for 2 p.m. (women) and 4 p.m. at Wagstaff Gymnasium.

Men

The Apaches (17-10, 10-8 Region XIV) played one of their better games of the year with four TJC players scoring in double figures — Johnson, Hershey Robinson (15), Trent Washington (13) and Chris Coleman (10).

“We played well,” Marquis said. “We got into foul trouble and Abdi (Nur), Trevor (Berkeley), Tyler (Brunson), Kameron (LaTouche), Ta’Jon (Welcome) and Winslo (Barry) came off the bench and played well. They always play good defense, but they played well offensively tonight. It was a key because Kilgore could have easily grabbed the momentum late in the first half, but they kept us ahead (31-25). That was huge for us.”

Travis Betran led Kilgore with 20 points. The Rangers fell to 16-12 and 8-10.

 

Women

After winning 11 straight, the Apache Ladies have now dropped two consecutive games.

“I’ve seen teams that hit a nosedive after a long winning streak,” said TJC coach Trenia Jones, whose team fell to 22-7 and 13-4 in Region XIV. “Our kids have to decide they need to come together and decide not to let anyone else beat them.

“They just flat outplayed us tonight and some of our (Apache Ladies) did not score like usual.”

Once again TJC did not shoot well. The Apache Ladies were hurt as leading scorer Markisha Hawkins got in foul trouble early and played limited minutes, notching just five points, 10 below her average.

Also, Ericka House (six points), Ashley Benjamin (seven points), Shawnee Johnson (seven) and Cecilia Okoye (three points) all average in double figures but didn’t come close to their normal output.

Along with McGee, Lauren McKinney and Aundrea Gamble each hit for 11 points for the Lady Rangers (15-11, 9-8).

Kirbi Clark did play well for TJC, scoring 18 points.

“This was a good win for us,” said KC coach Roy Thomas. “At halftime, we changed our defense (against Clark) and did a better job.”

After falling behind by 11, 37-26, in the second half, TJC rallied twice to take the lead, the first on Okoye’s jumper (48-47 at 7:36) and the second on a lane jumper by Benjamin (54-53 with 3:12 to go). 

However, KC outscored TJC 6-1 to go up 59-55. TJC’s Clark pulled Tyler within 59-57 with 53 seconds remaining but the Apache Ladies had a key turnover and KC made four free throws (two each by Gamble and Billingsley) in the final 15.1 seconds.

Benjamin led TJC on the boards with 14. 

NOTES — Between games, longtime KC cheerleader sponsor Latane Speer was honored. She came to KC in 1971 and is scheduled to retire at the end of the year. Mrs. Speer, who is a government instructor, was inducted into the KC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

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Region XIV Basketball

Masters Gym, Kilgore College

Women

Kilgore 63, No. 16 Tyler 57

TYLER — Ericka House, 6; Markisha Hawkins, 5; Carolina Lopez, 0; Ashley Benjamin, 7; Keaira Arion, 7; Tayshia Hunt, 4; Cecilia Okoye, 3; Shawnee Johnson, 7; Kirbi Clark, 18.

KILGORE — Lauren McKinney, 11; Tanisha Winston, 2; Aundrea Gamble, 11; Cieara 6; Demetrius Heard, 2; Taylor Tucker, 9; Victoria Billingsley, 4; Bianca McGee, 18.

THREE-POINT GOALS — TJC: House, Arion. KC: McKinney, Gamble, McGee.

HALFTIME SCORE — Kilgore 27-22.

FREE THROWS — TJC 11 of 19; KC 18 of 25.

RECORDS — Tyler 22-7 (13-4), Kilgore 15-11 (9-8).

NEXT UP — Blinn at Tyler, 2 p.m. Saturday; Paris at Kilgore, 2 p.m. Saturday.

 

Men

Tyler 66, Kilgore 54

TYLER — Jaron Johnson, 11; Trevor Berkeley, 2; Trent Washington, 13; Tyler Brunson, 4; Hershey Robinson, 15; Kameron Latouche, 2; Chris Coleman, 10; Ta’jon Welcome, 0; Abdi Nur, 2; Winslo Barry, 0; Danile Edozie, 7.

KILGORE — Jalen Washington, 4; Chineda Amajoyi, 8; Travis Betran, 20; Tre Potter, 0; Ashton Khan, 8; Fred Mattison, 10; Braylon Lazare, 4, Patrick Gnagbo, 0; Michael Eneh, 0.

THREE-POINT GOALS — TJC: Johnson, Washington (4), Robinson (2). KC: 

HALFTIME SCORE — Tyler 31-25.

FREE THROWS — Tyler 15-22; Kilgore 9 of 13

RECORDS — Tyler 17-10 (10-8), Kilgore 16-12 (8-10).

EST. ATT. — 1,000.

NEXT UP — Blinn at Tyler, 4 p.m. Saturday; Paris at Kilgore, 4 p.m. Saturday.