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O'Shanique Foster became the city of Orange's first world boxing champion -
East Chambers boys basketball coach Todd Sutherland celebrates 900 career victories -
Lumberton girls soccer celebrates coach Jason Hopson's 300th win -
Ava Wiltz will compete in cross country at Mary Hardin-Baylor
Boxing
Orange native O’Shanique Foster shocked the boxing world Feb. 11 when he defeated Rey Vargas by unanimous decision to win the WBC junior lightweight title at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, by the scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109. With the win, Foster improved to 20-2 overall while Vargas felt defeat for the first time (36-1).
“I can’t put it into words,” said Foster in a post-fight interview on Showtime. “I know my mom, my uncle, my grandpa, they are all looking down on me. I’m definitely not satisfied with my performance. I feel like I can do better and I’m going to show it in my next fights.
“It was Orange, Texas, in the house tonight, man. It was lit to see the whole city come out.”
Soccer
Coach Jason Hopson of the Lumberton girls’ soccer program won his 300th game Feb. 7 when the Lady Raiders blanked Bridge City, 7-0.
Ranked No. 21 in Class 4A, Lumberton is 9-1-1 overall and undefeated at 5-0 in district play.
Basketball
East Chambers head boys basketball coach Todd Sutherland earned his 900th career victory Feb. 3 when the Buccaneers defeated Orangefield, 47-38.
Sutherland has also coached at Hardin-Jefferson, Kountze and West Orange-Stark. Coincidentally, his first win as a coach came in 1993 against Orangefield.
Nederland
Senior Ava Wiltz of Nederland High School signed a National Letter of Intent to run cross country at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas.
Lamar Cardinals
Senior Josh Blankenship has been named preseason second-team All-Southland Conference and the Cardinals have been picked to finish third, behind Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese in the SLC Preseason Baseball Poll.
Blankensip had a breakout season in 2022 as one of the top run producers in the Western Athletic Conference. The Santa Fe, Texas native finished second on the team with a .340 batting average to go along with four home runs, 15 doubles and a team-high 53 RBIs and scored 33 runs. He also recorded two triples and drew 27 walks on the season – primarily as the Cardinals designated hitter.
He finished the season with a .340 batting average that saw him play in 55 games while starting all but three of those. Blankenship also posted a .944 OPS in a season that saw him record 19 multi-hit games and four three-hit efforts.
The Cardinals also received 88 votes in a poll of the league coaches and media relations directors to be picked third, behind preseason favorites McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana. McNeese and SLU combined to receive 17 of the possible 18 first-place votes.
The Cardinals will open the 2023 campaign at home Friday, Feb. 17, with a three-game series against Oakland at Vincent-Beck Stadium. Tickets can be purchased online at lamarcardinals.com or by calling (409) 880-2278.
LU’s women’s basketball team is currently in the midst of a four-game winning streak and a big reason for that has been the play of Akasha Davis. Following a pair of victories last week in which she recorded two double-doubles, Davis was given her second Southland Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week.
Leading LU to wins over UIW and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Davis averaged 19.5 points and 11 rebounds per game while hitting on 77.2% from the field (17-of-22). Against UIW, she scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while shooting 10-of-13 from the field in a 74-67 victory. That marked her third straight 20-plus point game and fifth of the season. Though that streak ended two days later against AMCC, she still managed to record yet another double-double with 16 points by hitting all but two of her nine shots and grabbed 10 rebounds as she helped LU cling to a 73-68 win. This now means she has scored in double-figures in the last 15 games dating all the way back to Dec. 17.
Davis last won this award on Jan. 2 when she averaged 20.5 ppg. At this point, Davis has recorded six double-doubles and is averaging 13.6 ppg, which is sixth in the SLC while leading in field goal percentage (58.1%).
The Cardinals’ winning streak has gotten them fourth in the conference and they will look to keep climbing up as this week will see them battle Houston Christian not once, but twice. It will be a home and away for the Cardinals as LU hosts the Huskies on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 5 p.m. then travel to Houston on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m.