SPORTS SHORTS | From The Examiner

High school basketball

Local girls’ basketball teams are just two wins away from heading to the UIL State Tournament next weekend in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, but first, they must win their respected Regional Tournaments.

In Class 4A, No. 7 Hardin-Jefferson (32-5) will play No. 3 La Vega (34-5) on Friday, Feb. 24, at Bryan High School at 6 p.m. A win over La Vega would put them in the Region III final Saturday, Feb. 25, at 1 p.m. against either No. 22 Madisonville (33-4) or Connally (27-9). 

In Class 3A, No. 12 Kountze (34-2) will travel to Waco Midway High School for the Region III Tournament and play Rice (28-8) on Friday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. A victory advances the Lionettes to play either No. 1 Fairfield (35-2) or No. 16 Hitchcock (28-3) on Saturday, at 1 p.m. 

In Class 2A, Evadale (30-8) will play Mason (15-10) on Friday, Feb. 24, at Buda Johnson High School at 6 p.m. If the Lady Rebels win, Evadale would next play Saturday against No. 10 Big Sandy (30-4) or Goldthwaite at 1 p.m. 

The boys are prepping for the second round of the playoffs. Area matchups are 6A No. Beaumont United vs. Dickinson; West Brook vs. Clear Springs; 5A No. 16 Port Arthur Memorial vs. Richmond Fulshear; 4A No. 3 Silsbee vs. No. 20 Jacksonville; LC-M vs. 4A No. 16 Bullard; 4A No. 15 Hardin-Jefferson vs. No. 21 Chapel Hill; 4A No. 22 Hamshire-Fannett vs. No. 18 Center; 3A No. 12 East Chambers vs. New Waverly; 3A No 18 Orangefield vs. Crockett; and Evadale vs. 2A No. 10 Flatonia. 

In TAPPS, the Legacy Christian Academy Warriors advanced to the 2A State Tournament, but lost 69-47 to No. 4 Houston Grace Christian. 

Milestones

Two Silsbee Lady Tiger basketball players hit big career milestones as junior Monica Bottley surpassed the 2,000-point mark while fellow classmate Ca’driane Martin netting 1,000 points along with 1,000 rebounds. 

Junior Aeneas Wollmann of Silsbee competed at the UIL Class 4A State Swim and Dive Competition on Feb. 9-10 in Austin. Wollmann, a foreign exchange student from Berlin Germany, was ninth in the 100-yard backstroke and 11th in the 200-yard individual medley.

Kountze Sophomore Keyiona McDaniel hit the 1,000-point mark during a recent playoff basketball game against Huntington. 

Sophomore Zac Sells, of the Kountze boys basketball team, finished the season with a two-year total of 1,701 points, 402 steals and 349 assists. 

AAU football

The Texas Reapers AAU football team will hold All-American tryouts on Sunday, March 12, at the Beaumont Sports Complex. It is open to youngsters age 9-12. 

For more information, call Luke Burke at (409) 239-4689, Taylor James at (409) 701-4525 or Austin Everett at (409) 658-1569.

Lamar Cardinals

LU got a pair of home runs from senior Ryan Snell, including one in a four-run seventh inning, to knock off No. 5 Texas A&M, 7-4, on Feb. 21 in College Station. The victory over A&M – just the eighth all-time in series history and the first since 1997 – moves the Cardinals to 4-0 on the season.

The Cardinals scored their seven runs on 10 hits from six different players, including multi-hit games from senior Kirkland Banks (3-5), Snell (2-4, 4 RBIs) and senior Ben MacNaughton (2-4). 

The offense was more than enough for Lamar’s pitching staff who used six different pitchers to get the victory. Senior transfer Quinn Waterhouse got the start and went 3.0 innings allowing just two runs – both earned – on two hits with two walks and a strikeout. Foster Kruezer, Kole Tauzin, Daniel Cole and Jackson Cleveland to pitch the final 4.2 allowing no runs and just one hit. Kreuzer picks up his first victory in a Cardinal uniform pitching 1.2 innings of no-hit baseball with a walk and a punchout.

LU will play in the Sugar Land Tournament this weekend and return home to Vincent-Beck Stadium on Tuesday, Feb. 28, with a 6 p.m. tilt with Alcorn St. 

For the second straight week, a member of the LU women’s basketball team was selected by the Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week. This time, however, it was sophomore Portia Adams, who earned her first career weekly honor after her two-game performance against Houston Christian University.

Against HCU, Adams scored a career-best 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field including three treys and went seven-of-eight from the free throw line. 

Adams in one of three Cardinals to average double-figures in scoring (12.3 ppg) only trailing teammates Sabria Dean (13.8) and Akasha Davis (13.4). 

The team (16-10, 10-5) will host their final two home games of the season beginning Thursday, Feb. 23, with Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m. then Saturday, Feb. 25, at 3 p.m. against New Orleans.