In Saturday's first game at TC Gym, Weatherford College's tough women's basketball team used its dominant inside players to wear down Temple College for an 85-67 victory.Faced with the same challenge later on, TC's men didn't let Weatherford's achieve the same result in their duel for first place in the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.The Leopards seized an 11-0 lead, fell behind by nine early in the second half, then used Keith Connor's go-ahead 3-pointer with 56 seconds left and late defensive stands to prevail 85-82 in a foul-laden showdown.TC (20-4 overall) improved to 9-2 in NTJCAC play to push its lead over 7-3 squads Weatherford and McLennan Community College to 1 As Lamar eighth-grade student Justin Williams said, going to Puerto Rico to play baseball is a once in a lifetime opportunity."We get to represent the United States," Williams said. "It's our shot. You don't know if you'll get another chance, because you might not get picked again."Williams, 14, and Lamar seventh-grader Danny Hernandez, 13, will be teammates and traveling buddies next month as they take part in the Easter Friendship Baseball Series Tour as members of the Coast to Coast Amateur Baseball Stars. They'll play against other kids ages 11 to 15.The organization is a national baseball and youth development program based in Marietta, Ohio. It has led delegations of players to Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia and Hawaii, providing them with instruction, competition, opportunity, exposure, and, as Hernandez states, education."It will be amazing playing people from different countries, seeing what they're like," he said.Both youngsters qualified for the Coast to Coast team during an October tryout at Temple College. They were among a group of several hundred players who tried out nationally. They obviously impressed during their tryouts, which tested their all-around skills."It took hard work to get selected," Hernandez said. "Your bat speed had to be quick and you had to run the bases quickly."Added Williams: "You've gotta have the speed." By Nick Taylor
Belton has a beef with the University Interscholastic League. But does it have a case?Big Red will appeal its placement in Class 5A to the UIL's State Conference and District Assignment Review Board. It has until Wednesday to file the written request, and on Feb. 20 it will present its oral argument. That afternoon in Austin, it will know whether it wins or loses. A brief background: Belton school officials say the district's "school of choice," Waskow Leadership Academy, is an autonomous entity that's totally separate from the main high school. Its 94 students, they say, should not be lumped in with the 1,900 figure submitted to the Texas Education Agency | |
