Quitman Tops Mt. Vernon In Tournament Championship

Holding Mt Vernon scoreless in the second quarter, the Bulldogs win their own tournament 59-45.

The Quitman Bulldogs went undefeated in their tournament, trouncing Paul Pewitt's Brahmas 54-33, and besting New Diana 57-51 on their way to a final round match-up with the Mount Vernon Tigers.

Mt. Vernon brought a spotless tournament record to the match, as well. With double digit wins over Winona and Hughes Springs, the 16-3A Tigers looked good to walk away with the crown.

But Quitman wasn't in the mood to roll over.

Opening a lead midway through the first quarter, the Bulldogs never looked back. Holding the Tigers scoreless in the second, they took a 29-13 lead into the break.

Mt Vernon mounted a small comeback in the first 4:00 minutes of the third quarter, holding Quitman to 2 points as they reeled off 9. But the comeback was short lived, and the Bulldogs matched the Tigers basket for basket after that to end the period holding a 38-29 lead.

Even holding a commanding lead, Quitman didn't let up. They outscored the Tigers 21-16 in the fourth quarter, saving the easiest work for last: The short walk to the trophy case.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Quitman	16	13	9	21		59
Mount Vernon	13	0	16	16		45

Player stats were not available for either team.

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Hughes Springs Girls Surge In 2nd Half To Deny Quitman The Championship

Lady Mustangs take top honors in Quitman tournament, squeaking by the host Lady Bulldogs 35-31.

Held to a single basket in the first quarter, the Lady Mustangs trailed by 6 at the half, 8-14.

Outscoring Quitman 14-9 after the break, the Mustangs had whittled the Bulldog's lead down to 1 point to start of the fourth quarter.

Scoring was fairly even through the fourth, but with 3:20 left on the clock, Hughes Springs tied things up at 31, and went on to open a 33-31 lead with 1:20 remaining.

Proving hope springs eternal, with only 23 seconds left, and still leading by 2, Hughes Springs fouled.

But Quitman, with a chance to send the game into overtime, could only manage to sink one free throw, and still trailed by one. Hard? Yes. Hopeless? No.

It got even harder for the Lady Bulldogs when Hughes Springs drew a foul with just seconds left, and made both shots, opening the lead to three. Still the heartbeat of hope lived.

Gamely, with less than 5 seconds left, the Lady 'Dawgs moved the ball down court, and lobbed a desperation half court shot at the buzzer. Amazingly, the shot looked good.

A whole gymnasium held it's breath. But missing the rim, the ball merely disturbed the net as the shot fell short, and the buzzer sounded.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Hughes Springs	2	6	14	13		35
Quitman	10	4	9	9		31

The 13-2A Lady Bulldogs travel to Grand Saline Tuesday the 6th for a district match-up.

Also playing Tuesday, Hughes Springs will be at Chapel Hill (MP) in a 17-2A contest.

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Hughes Springs Takes 3rd Place In Quitman Tourney

Hughes Springs gets the best of a physical, fast paced match against New Diana, posting a 52-43 win.

In a see-saw match featuring two squads who move the ball around well, New Diana fell victim to a late game time crunch.

In the opening quarter, the Mustangs bucketed 15 points, and allowed the Eagles to score just 9.

The game's momentum shifted in the second quarter, and the Eagles rolled up 20 points while allowing Hughes Springs only 4.

After the break, Hughes Springs came out of the lockers smarting from the second quarter thumping, and returned the favor by outscoring New Diana 14-8.

With 3:00 left in the fourth, the Mustangs led 43-37. New Diana went to a press defense, hoping to force Hughes Springs into turning over the ball. But the Eagles ran into a string of fouls that the Mustangs took advantage of.

The Mustangs were accurate shooting from the free throw line, and had put the game out of Diana's reach with a minute left.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Hughes Springs	15	4	15	18		52
New Diana	9	11	8	15		43

New Diana's Shay Bradley was named tournament alternate.

Both teams open district play in their next game.

Hughes Springs will visit Queen City on Tuesday, Jan. 6th, and New Diana hosts Harmony Thursday, the 2nd.

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Hooks Girls Blow Out Union Grove, Take 3rd In Quitman Tournament

Lady Lions have trouble finding a rhythm in 46-19 loss.

Coming into this third place match, no one had any doubt that the Hooks Lady Hornets could post big numbers. They won big over New Diana in their first tournament game, 50-31, and put 35 points up in a losing effort against Quitman.

Union Grove's Lady Lions had shown some scoring skills, as well. Despite losing their first match of the tournament to Hughes Springs 36-42, Union Grove hit the floor fresh off a 40-28 win over the Quitman JV.

Records aside, the Lions never found their scoring groove against Hooks. The Lady Hornets scored early and often, holding Union Grove scoreless in the first quarter, and to single digits in the remaining three.

Leading 23-6 at the half, the Hornets would go on to outscore the Lions 23-13 in the second half.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Hooks	12	11	12	11		46
Union Grove	0	6	6	7		19

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New Diana Lady Eagles Beat Quitman JV For Tourney Consolation Spot

Ending on a high note, New Diana's Lady Eagles capped off a tournament that brought losses to the Quitman varsity and Hooks with a 49-37 consolation match win over the Quitman JV.

Both teams came into the game 0-2 in tournament play, Quitman's JV squad having lost earlier to Hughes Springs and Union Grove.

Raney Matthews led the Eagles in scoring, dropping in 16 points and snatching 12 rebounds.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
New Diana						49
Quitman JV						37

Box Scores

New Diana	Pts	FG3	Reb	Quitman JV	Pts	FG3	Reb
Savannah Hudgins	6	0	3
Kelsey Southern	3	0	5
Jami Sampson	3	0	10
Elisabeth Johnson	6	0	6
Tai Spencer	8	0	7
Lauren McCallum	0	0	3
Raney Matthews	16	0	12
Sara Smith	6	0	0
Leah Prime	1	0	2

Quitman's player stats were not available.

See the updated tournament bracket here.

The Lady Eagles will next face Harmony in district play.

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Overton Wins Heartstopper Over Chisum To Capture Quitman Tourney Consolation

In a game that went down to the buzzer, Overton hangs on to beat Chisum 47-46.

Overton droped their first round game to Hughes Springs 56-70, them won over Winona 60-46, to find themselves pitted against Chisum in the consolation game.

For their part, Chisum earned the berth after losing a close first round match to New Diana, 48-52. They then downed Paul Pewitt 69-62.

The teams played evenly in the first half, ending with Chisum leading 19-18 at the half.

After the break, Overton went on a tear, scoring 16 points in the third, while holding Chisum to 9 points. But Chisum wouldn't go away.

Up by 6 at the opening of the fourth, Overton watched their lead evaporate, and led by only 1 point with two minutes left.

They opened the lead to four on a 3 point bucket with 1:03 remaining, and Chisum was under the gun and running out of time, but not out of heart.

Chisum scored a 2 point goal and drew a foul, giving them a chance to send the game into overtime with less than a minute left, but it was not to be.

Only one free throw fell, and Overton walked off the court with a hard fought 1 point win.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Overton	10	8	16	13		47
Chisum	11	8	9	18		46

Nathan Holland led the scoring for Overton with 16, followed by Garret Williamson with 12.

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Carthage Lady Bulldogs Thump Jefferson 71-42

The Carthage girls racked up their second win at the Dan Noll Classic Monday, with a decisive victory over Jefferson.

After downing Gladewater 64-56 Saturday, the Carthage Lady Bulldogs have staked a claim for the top spot, and placed themselves on a collision course with tournament host White Oak, who also has wins over Jefferson and Gladewater.

Shereana Robinson led all scorers with 22 points for Carthage, and Cassie Smith added 15. Ashley Robertson netted two 3 pointers for her total of 6 points.

Santisha Jackson paced Jefferson's scoring with 14 points. Teynadra Baker added 10 points, including two 3 pointers.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Carthage	15	16	22	18		71
Jefferson	10	6	6	20		42

Carthage will face White Oak Tuesday at 4:00pm, in the match that will decide the tournament champ.

Jefferson meets Gladewater at 11:30am, battling for third place as both teams try to avoid walking away from the tourney without a win.

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Roughnecks Top West Rusk, Advance To Championship

White Oak took advantage of a fouth quarter Raider shooting slump to post a 60-48 win in semi-final play of the Dan Noll Classic Monday.

White Oak moved the ball around well from the tip-off, driving well and finding open men in the lane consistently, ending the first quarter leading by six points.

In the second quarter, a pressing Raider defense disrupted the 'Neck's rhythm, forcing turnovers that ended as easy lay-ups for West Rusk. The half ended with the Raiders shaving White Oaks lead down to 4 points.

With halftime adjustments made, the third quarter was an evenly matched street fight, and hard fought post shots resulted in players on the floor almost every possession.

But the 4th quarter was all Roughneck.

White Oak's Taylor Carr caught fire, draining two three pointers from the left side, and West Rusk lost their touch in the lane, missing numerous two pointers from the paint.

Despite losing starting guard Blake Ware to fouls, White Oak dominated underneath and outside, outscoring the Raiders 18-11 in the final eight minutes.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
White Oak	11	16	15	18		60
West Rusk	5	18	14	11		48

White Oak next takes on Chapel Hill (MP) tomorrow for the top tournament spot.

West Rusk will battle Atlanta for third place.

See the updated bracket here.

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White Oak Girls Roll Over Gladewater In Tourney Play

The Lady Necks outworked Gladewater in the paint to notch a 58-44 win over the 3A Lady Bears in round-robbin play.

Gladewater struggled through three quarters of poor post shooting and rebounding, as White Oak steadily netted points. Harassed by a determined Lady 'Neck defense, Gladewater surged in the fourth quarter, too late to overcome the point spread White Oak had built.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
White Oak	19	14	12	13		58
Gladewater	11	10	6	17		44

Player stats were not immediately available.

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Chapel Hill Over Atlanta In Dan Noll 2nd Round

In a second half that saw aggressive defenses by both teams, Chapel Hill made Atlanta pay for every foul, winning 65-57.

Atlanta committed 21 shooting fouls in the last half, and the Red Devils hit 27 out of 41 free throws to outscore the Rabbits 39-28, more than enough to overcome a 5 point halftime deficit.

Arturo Tores led the Red Devil scoring, dropping in 15 points. Graham McAuley scored the only Chapel Hill three pointer.

Atlanta was paced by Jatorian Linwood and Kane Boroski, both posting 14 points in the loss. Nic Perrott laid in two treys for the Rabbits, followed by Linwood and D.D. Lockhart, with one apiece.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Chapel Hill	6	18	24	15		63
Atlanta	16	13	12	16		57

Box Scores

Chapel Hill	Pts	Atlanta	Pts
Graham McAuley	14	Shemiah Blaylock	4
Rex Shults	5	Jatorian Linwood	14
Tyler Eargle	2	Nic Perrott	12
Jesse Bradley	6	DD Lockhart	5
Arturo Tores	15	Kane Boroski	14
Landon Johnson	4	Devondre Olives	8
Geofrey Smith	1
Travis Nolan	12
Eric Lunsford	4

See the updated tournament bracket here.

Chapel Hill, now 2-0 in the tournament, will face White Oak in the championship round tomorrow.

Atlanta, at 1-1, will face West Rusk for third place. That match will also be played tomorrow.

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New Diana Tops Chisum In Quitman Tourney 1st Round

In the first round of play Saturday, the Eagles squeaked by the Mustangs 52-48.

An aggressive Eagles teams played well on both ends of the court, forcing 16 Chisum turnovers and outworking the Mustangs under the glass, grabbing 34 rebounds to Chisum's 22.

New Diana's Bo Yarbrough led all scorers with 16 points, followed closely by Chisum's Brian Temple with 15.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
New Diana						52
Chisum						48

Box Scores

New Diana	Pts	Chisum	Pts
Bo Yarbrough	16	Brian Temple	15

18-2A New Diana advances to the semi-final round, facing either Paul Pewitt or tournament host Quitman Monday.

12-2A Chisum falls into the consolation bracket.

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Dan Noll Christmas Classic 1st Round Scores

Chapel Hill, Atlanta, West Rusk and White Oak all advance towards championship.

White Oak won in a runaway over Troup, and West Rusk sweated out a victory over Trinity to set up a rematch from the Sabine-West Rusk Last Man Standing tournament two weeks ago. White Oak won that matchup, advancing to place second.

First round scores:

Chapel Hill 64
Spring Hill 46

Atlanta 55
Daingerfield 51

West Rusk 69
Trinity 64

White Oak 95
Troup 36

In the second round of championship play Monday, Chapel Hill faces Atlanta, and White Oak takes on West Rusk.

In the consolation bracket, Trinity meets Troup, and Spring Hill and Daingerfield square off.

See the bracket here.

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TPWD Migratory Bird Hunting Update Dec. 24th, 2008

Cold weather arrives, just in time to push ducks and geese south for Christmas.

Mallards are finding the lakes, and creeks and ponds see increasing numbers of greenheads and woodies.

Excerpt of the TPWD Report follows:

North Zone Duck: Frigid temperatures throughout the Central Flyway have sent many more mallards across the Red River. Some good hunts were posted in the snow last week on area lakes and reservoirs. Sloughs and backwaters are loading up with greenheads and wood ducks. Green-winged teal have been seen on shallow flats on lakes and reservoirs. Mallards, gadwalls and teal have been solid on Lake Wright-Patman, Lake Palestine, Lake Fork, Lake Tawakoni and Cooper Lake. Wood ducks have been steady in wooded sloughs. Inland ponds near the coast were fair over the weekend. Mostly teal, gadwalls, pintails and shovelers were taken. Some good goose hunts were posted just north of IH-10 near Winnie last week when four days of fog socked in along the coast. Prospects are fair to good.

The full report can be found at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20081224a.

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Area Girls Named To 2008 All-State Volleyball Teams

The Texas Sports Writers Association has released it's selections for the 2008 All-State Volleyball, and several local players were named.

Topping the local girls named was Natalie Craven, Setter for White Oak. White Oak placed three players on the team, as did New Diana.

Class 2A First Team

• SETTER - Natalie Craven, White Oak

Class 2A Second Team

• MIDDLE BLOCKERS/OUTSIDE HITTERS - Elizabeth Johnson, New Diana

Class 2A Honorable Mention

• MIDDLE BLOCKERS/OUTSIDE HITTERS - Abbey Bybel, White Oak; Morgan Wilson, White Oak; Morgan Bristow, New Diana

• SETTER - Jami Sampson, New Diana

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Teams Announced For Dan Noll Christmas Classic Tournament

The White Oak Roughnecks, coming of a second place finish at the Sabine / West Rusk Last Man Standing tournament, will host the all boys basketball tournament.

Games will be played Saturday, Dec 27th, Monday Dec 29th and Tuesday, Dec 30th.

Teams scheduled to play:

• White Oak Roughnecks 18-2A
  
• Spring Hill Panthers 17-3A
  
• Chapel Hill (MP) Red Devils 17-2A
  
• Daingerfield Tigers 17-2A
  
• Atlanta Rabbits 16-3A
  
• West Rusk Raiders 19-2A
  
• Texas Trinity Titans TAPPS 2A-5
  
• Troup Tigers 19-2A

See the bracket here.

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Gladewater Falls To Pleasant Grove In Last Man Standing 3rd Place Game

Despite solid production from Demarcus Daniels, Terrance Leach and Jason Dougan, The Hawks outscored Gladewater in all four quarters, locking up third place with a 78-63 win.

Daniels, selected as all-tournament for Gladewater, put 19 points on the board for the Bears, leading all scorers. Dougan scored 12, all three point shots, and Leach nailed 3 three pointers on his way to a 16 point game.

Pleasant Grove's stand out player was Damian Watts. Selected as all tournament, Watts added 17 points to the Hawks winning total.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Pleasant Grove	18	25	16	19		78
Gladewater	15	19	14	15		63

Box Scores

Pleasant Grove	Pts	Gladewater	Pts
Damien Watts	17	Demarcus Daniels	19
Graves	14	Terrance Leach	16
Wacha	12	Jason Dougan	12
Ashby	9	Denzell Boone	7
Brocco	8	DeQuentis Smith	4
Threatt	8	Corey Davis	3
Broades	6	Gregary Morgan	2
Reid	2
Goline	2

See the updated tournament bracket here.

After the holiday break, Pleasant Grove will host Queen City on Dec. 29th. Gladewater will next play at Sabine on Dec. 30th.

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Sabine Doubles White Oak In Last Man Standing Championship

Tournament hosts Sabine rolled over rival 18-2A White Oak 48-24 Saturday, winning the championship and going undefeated in tournament play.

Sabine opened the lopsided scoring in the first quarter. Taking advantage of the Roughneck's 2-3 zone defense, which left Sabine perimeter players open, the Cardinals hit 7 consecutive three pointers.

Sabine held a 39-11 lead at the half.

White Oak, who trailed by 27 at one point in the first half, seemed to figure out the Sabine offense late in the game. The Roughnecks outscored the Cards 10-6 in the fourth quarter, but it was too late. The game was on ice, and Sabine had reached into it's bench by then.

The Cardinals ended with a tournament record of 6-0. Both Sabine and White Oak earned their championship berths with close wins over 3A teams.

White Oak defeated 3A Pleasant Grove 67-65, and Sabine dropped 3A Gladewater 39-37.

Sabine Forward Noah Jackson, a 6'-2" junior who has paced the Cardinals throughout the tournament, led all scorers with 12. Jackson was named tournament MVP.

White Oak's Conner Sharp led the Roughneck scoring with 9. Sharp, along with teammates McCurdy and Wait, were named all-tournament for White Oak, bringing home the second place finish.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Sabine	23	13	6	6		48
White Oak	5	6	3	10		24

Box Scores

Sabine	Pts	White Oak	Pts
Noah Jackson	12	Connor Sharp	9
Colton Kirk	9	Carr	6
Tyler Woodrell	8	Blake Ware	5
Jacob Kenna	8	Trevor Wait	4
Lie'Quan Byrd	5
Hunter Powdrill	2
Jerrel Chumley	2
Zach Royce	2

See the updated tournament bracket here.

Sabine, at 17-3 on the year, will face Gladewater again Tuesday, Dec. 30th in regular season play.

White Oak, 6-9 on the year, will host the Dan Noll Christmas Classic beginning Saturday, Dec. 27th. Besides White Oak, other teams participating will be Atlanta, Spring Hill, Chapel Hill (MP), Daingerfield, West Rusk, Trinity and Troup.

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3A Pleasant Grove Falls To White Oak In 3rd Round Last Man Standing Tournament Play

In a tournament heavy with nail biting finishes, the match between the White Oak Roughnecks and the Hawks of Pleasant Grove didn't disappoint.

White Oak led for most of the game, but watched a 40-28 halftime lead evaporate as the Hawks rallied in the second half, outscoring the Roughnecks by twenty points.

But the White Oak squad refused to lose, with Roughnecks Conner Sharp dropping a key three pointer and Taylor Goll hitting 2 clutch free throws late in the fourth quarter, giving White Oak the win by two points, 67-65.

White Oaks Jackson McCurdy led all scorers with 25 points. Hawks guard Damien Watts followed closely with 20 points.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
White Oak	20	20	10	17		67
Pleasant Grove	15	13	17	20		65

Box Scores

White Oak	Pts	Pleasant Grove	Pts
Jackson McCurdy	25	Damien Watts	20
Trevor Wait	14	Michael Wacha	13
Taylor Goll	9	Deante Reid	8
Blake Ware	6	Logan Ashby	7
Connor Sharp	6	Neronte Threatt	6
Joseph Young	5	Antonio Graves	6
Carr	2	CJ Broades	5

See the updated bracket here.

White Oak, with bracket wins over West Rusk and Pleasant Grove, will advance to the tournament championship round against a district rival, state ranked #5 Sabine, Saturday at 8:00pm.

Pleasant Grove falls to the third place match, and will face another 3A team, Gladewater Saturday at 6:30pm.

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Sabine Drops Gladewater In Last Man Standing Third Round

In a rematch from pool play, Sabine bested the Gladewater Bears 39-37, advancing to the championship match.

Sabine led comfortably at the half, but had to fight off a second half surge by the Bears, winning a heart-stopper at the buzzer. The Card's Noah Jackson rebounded a missed shot under the basket and layed in a touch shot off the backboard as time expired, breaking 37-37 tie.

Jackson led the Cardinal scoring, nailing 3 three pointers on the way to a game total of 12 points.

Gladewater's go-to man was DeMarcus Daniels, who led the Bear's with 12 points.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Sabine	15	7	7	10		39
Gladewater	5	6	11	15		37

Box Scores

Sabine	Pts	Gladewater	Pts
Jackson	17	Daniels	12
Woodrell	7	Dougan	7
Kirk	7	Miller	6
Kenna	5	Morgan	4
Byrd	3	Leach	4
		Boone	2
		Davis	2

Sabine, 5-0 in the tournament, 16-3 on the year, advances to face White Oak in the 8:00pm Championship match.

Gladewater, 2-3 in tournament play, will face Pleasant Grove in the third place match at 6:30pm.

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Daingerfield Finishes The Job, Beats Cisco In 2A Championship

Daingerfield's Tyler Boyd threw for two touchdowns, and rushed for another this afternoon as the Tigers defeated Cisco 26-8 in the state 2A DivII championship.

Perhaps anticipating that Cisco had over prepared for the ground threat that RB Koko Smith brings to the field, Daingerfield Coach Barry Bowman leaned on the arm of QB Tyler Boyd for the win.

After a scoreless first quarter, Boyd threw two touchdown strikes in the second, both to WR Chris Jones, and ran a third in himself, giving Daingerfield a 19-0 halftime lead.

Boyd was 11 of 15 on the day, racking up 220 and two touchdowns. Jones had 134 yards on five catches.

The next score came from Koko Smith, who had 95 yards and one touchdown in the game. He scored on a 3 yard run in the fourth quarter, widening the margin 26-0.

Cisco's only trip into the end zone came on a drive mounted in the last two minutes of the game, and was capped off by a short run over the middle by RB Robert Medina. The Lobo's RB Vegas Hastings then ran the 2 point conversion in, finishing the scoring at 26-8.

Medina had 51 yards on 9 carries, and Hastings tallied up 10n carries for 49 yards.

Lobo QB Josh Bridges went 4 for 10 , passing for 81 yards.

Daingerfield wins it's fourth state championship, while Cisco loss in the finals is it's third in three years.

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Gladewater Hands Big Sandy Second Round Loss In Last Man Standing Tourney

After loosing both of their pool play matches Thursday, the Gladewater Bears are 2-0 in bracket play, and in the hunt for the tournament title.

Gladewater's 25 point first quarter, outscoring Big Sandy by 10, was too much for Coach Tobin Reid's 20-1A1 Wildcats to overcome Friday. In the win, Denzell Boone led the Bears with 13.

The teams played evenly the last three quarters of the game, with Big Sandy's Howe leading all scorers with 20, followed by teammate Montgomery with 14.

In first round bracket play, Gladewater defeated Rusk. Big Sandy was idle.

Scoring by Quarter

Gladewater	25	18	14	10	67
Big Sandy	15	18	12	12	57

Box Scores

Gladewater	Pts	Big Sandy	Pts
Boone	13	Howe	20
Dougan	12	Montgomery	14
Smith	11	Chack	10
Daniels	10	Payne	6
Leach	10	Garcia	5
Morgan	9	Horne	2
Miller	2

Gladewater takes on tournament host Sabine at 10:00am Saturday in the Sabine High gym.

Big Sandy and Central Heights will square off 9:00am Saturday on the West Rusk High School court.

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Sabine Tops Carlisle and Central Heights In Last Man Standing Bracket Play

The Cardinals doubled the Indians, and squeaked by the Central Heights Blue Devils in the Thursday's bracket play.

See the bracket here.

Sabine 67, Carlisle 33
Lie'Quan Byrd scored 11 points for Sabine, including 3 three point buckets.
The Cardinals bench got in some playing time as Sabine sat it's starters down the second half.

Scoring by Quarter

Sabine	16	23	16	12	67
Carlisle	8	3	10	12	33

Box Scores

Sabine	Pts	Carlisle	Pts
Lie'Quan Byrd	11	Stokes	11
Hunter Powdrill	10	Dansby	11
Noah Jackson	10	Jahn	8
Jacob Kenna	9	Stewart	3
Zach Royce	7
Jerrel Chumley	7
Chance Haskins	5
Colton Kirk	4
Josh Montana	3
Tyler Woodrell	1

Carlisle plays Rusk Saturday at 12:00am


Sabine 39, Central Heights 35
In an evenly matched defensive struggle, the Cardinals defeated the 19-2A Blue Devils in the tourney's second round Friday.

Noah Jackson hit 4 three pointers, and ended with 16 points to lead Sabine in the win. His last three point shot, with just over a minute to play, clinched the game for his team.

Central Height's Stone had 15 points, including 3 treys, to lead all Blue Devil players.

Scoring by Quarter

Sabine	8	12	13	6	39
Central Heights	9	13	8	5	35

Box Scores

Sabine	Pts	Central Heights	Pts
Jackson	16	Stone	15
Byrd	12	Hiebert	12
Kirk	7	Fornea	2
Kenna	5	Clifton	2
		Little	2
		Edwards	2

Sabine (15-3) is headed for a rematch with 18-3A Gladewater Saturday at 10:00am at the Sabine High School gym.

Central Heights (8-3) meets 1A Big Sandy Saturday at 9:00am in the West Rusk High gym.

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Carthage Wins 3A Div II Title, Downs Celina In 49-37 Shootout

Dwight Smith rambled for 267 yards and 5 touchdowns, leading the Carthage Bulldogs to their first State Title.

In the last high school football game ever to be played in Texas Stadium, Carthage brought home the 2008 Class 3A Division II State Championship tonight, following the same pattern they've used all year: Give the ball to Dwight.

Celina came into the game 12-3, with a record 8 state titles in their trophy case, and looking for their 9th.

Carthage, at 13-2, and never having won a title, had the firepower it took to deny them.

Celina took the first possession, but punted after Carthage LB Kendall Thompson sacked Celina QB Cody Worrell for a 12 yard loss on third down.

Carthage got the ball on their 23, but went three and out, losing 8 yards on the series.

Celina's announced game plan was to run a grinding, clock burning offense designed to keep the Bulldog offense off the field, and their next drive proved it was a workable plan.

The Bobcats took over on their own 32, 8:00 remaining in the 1st quarter. On a 14 play drive that burned 7 minutes of game time, they marched the ball down to the Carthage 20. They were stopped there by a hard-nosed Bulldog defense, and had to settle for a field goal.

Celina's Alex Juarez booted 31 yard field goal, and the Bobcats led 3-0 with 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Carthage then worked a little ball control of their own. After the kickoff, the took over on their 36. Calling on RB Dwight Smith five times, they drove 63 yards to score the first touchdown of the game. Smith punched in from three yards out, and Carthage owned a 7-3 lead with just under 11:00 minutes left in the half.

Celina's next possession resulted in an interception when Carthage LB Kyle Deaton stepped in front of a Worrell pass with 8:44 minutes left in the half.

Carthage went three plays, and was left short of the first down. Carthage Head Coach Scott Surratt decided to gamble, calling on Smith again. Smith took a pitchout, slipped a tackle, and turned on the jets down the left sideline for a 50 yard touchdown run. The point after was good, and Carthage led 14-3, with 7:00 yet to play before the half.

With less than two quarters played, Smith had racked up eight carries, 89 yards and two touchdowns.

But Celina, with a school history of 100 playoff games, wasn't about to fold their tents and go home.

They took their next drive down field, and capped it with a 4 yard run into the end zone. A controversial fumble call on the scoring run went Celina's way, and the score stood at 14-9. Going for broke, Celina QB Garrett Stephenson hit RB Charley Waldrep on the 2 point conversion pass, the game tightened up to 14-11, Cartage leading with 3:00 left in the half.

The next Bulldog drive ended when RB Smith fumbled on the Celina 31, and the Bobcats quickly covered it up. They still had 2:00 minutes of first half to work with.

The Bobcats used every bit of the remaining time, grinding out 10 plays for 64 yards to end up with a 4th down on Carthage's 5 yard line, with 4 seconds left in the half. On the next play, QB Cody Worrell, forced out of the pocket, found RB Troy McCartney in the end zone, and a 5 yard touchdown pass gave Celina the lead back. The point after was good, and the half ended with Carthage trailing 18-14.

Dwight Smith had 112 yards rushing in the first half, scoring twice.

Celina RB Troy McCartney paced him well, with 110 rushing yards, scoring on a run and a reception.

Smith would strike again midway through the third quarter. Finding a huge opening on the left side, he cruised 25 yards for a touchdown, giving Carthage back the lead. After the PAT, the score was Carthage 21, Celina 18.

Celina answered back on their next drive, marching 68 yards on seven consecutive rushing plays. McCartney found paydirt for his third time, banging in from 4 yards out. The kick was true, and Celina led 25-21 with about 6:00 minutes left.

Not to be outdone, the Bulldogs took the kickoff and marched down for a touchdown in less than two minutes. Smith finished the drive with a 9 yard touchdown. After the PAT, Carthage again owned the lead 28-25 with just over 4:00 minutes left in the third.

Celina's next drive ended in disaster. RB McCartney fumbled, and Carthage recovered the ball on the Bobcat 33 yard line.

Carthage wasted little time capitalizing on the error. With all eyes on Dwight Smith, the Bulldogs ran a pitchback play from RB Jarvin Robinson to QB Si'Darius Blackshire. Blackshire rambled for 33 yards, giving Cartage a first and goal on the one. On a second down QB keeper, Blackshire scored to give Carthage a little breathing room.

Yet again, Carthage's PAT was good, and they held a 10 point lead, 35-25 at the end of the third quarter.

Celina's next drive burnt some time, but they were forced to punt with 9:00 left in the fourth quarter. Troy McCartney, who also handles punting duties for Celina, nailed a beauty, leaving Carthage with the ball on their own 4 yard line.

The Celina defense lined up smelling a safety, or at least a quick stop in good position. What they got was more of the Dwight Smith shuffle.

On second down, Smith broke free for an 89 yard touchdown run, his fifth on the night, that left Celina stunned. It also left Carthage with a 42-25 lead, and more than a few big grins on the Bulldog sidelines.

But Celina still wasn't done. The mark of all great teams is how they play under pressure, and the Bobcats are indeed a great team.

They turned their next possession into 6 points, with QB Garrett Stephenson wrapping up the drive with a short touchdown pass to Celina's Austin Carey. Celina failed in a conversion attempt, and Carthage still led 42-31 with 5:00 left in the game.

Suddenly, Celina, who had been so good at burning time all night, found the clock working against them.

A predictable onside kick followed and failed, and Carthage had the ball with good field position on their own 35.

What followed was not predictable. Not at all. Rather than running the clock out on the ground, Carthage went aerial, in a big way.

With under 3:00 minutes left in the game, Blackshire found Bulldog TE Trevor Murphy for a 54 touchdown strike. The Carthage kicker continued his streak, and the Bulldogs opened the score back up, leading 49-31, with 2:37 left to play.

The Bobcat motto must be "never say die".

Celina would score once more, driving 54 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. Fittingly, it was Troy McCartney, on a two yard run, who would score Celina's last points. With the score at 49-37, The Bobcats tried another two point conversion that failed with 39 seconds to play.

Carthage was waiting for the ensuing onside kick, and Celina watched the season end as Bulldogs smothered the ball on the Carthage 35.

The Advocate congratulates Carthage on their title win, and the season that got them here. We also congratulate Celina on the game they played, making this last State Title game in Texas Stadium something to remember.

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Last Man Standing Tournament Pool Play Mabank Over Gladewater 74-61

Mabank's Kolton Browning easily outscored all players with 40 points, leading the 15-4A to a win over Gladewater in yesterday's tournament pool play.

Gladewater -- Mabank's record on the year improves to 8-2, with a loss to 11-3A Madison Dallas earlier this month, and losing earlier Thursday to Sabine, 53-58.

DeMarcus Daniels led Gladewater with 24 points, followed by Jason Dougan with 14. Dougan's points came mostly from four three pointers he dropped.

Scoring by Quarter

Mabank	16	22	18	16	74
Gladewater	24	8	11	16	61

Box Scores

Mabank	Pts	Gladewater	Pts
Kolton Browning	40	DeMarcus Daniels	24
Trey Phillips	13	Jason Dougan	14
Tyler Fisher	11	Denzell Boone	10
Unterrios Tolivar	2	Zavean Miller	4
Trevor Peele	2	Terrance Leach	3
		Gragery Morgan	2
	##	DeQuentis Smith	2

Maybank (1-0) in the tournament, next plays Pleasant Grove at 5:30 at the West Rusk gym.

Gladewater opens bracket play at Rusk today at 1:00pm in the Sabine gym.

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Lake Conroe Produces New Junior State Record Largemouth

The 13.07-pound largemouth bass should qualify as the new junior angler state record by 0.01 pound.

ATHENS, Texas-Teenager Kyle Nitschke of Willis caught Budweiser ShareLunker No. 456 from Lake Conroe December 13. Ironically, Nitschke was fishing in the Ignition Bass Tournament with his friend Tyler Goetzman, who caught the former record from Lake Conroe on January 13, 2008.

"We had a limit by 8:40 and started culling," Nitschke said. "We caught 14 keepers. She [the ShareLunker] hit a crankbait in six feet of water about 12:30."

The fish was 21.5 inches in girth and 25 inches in length.

Nitschke and Goetzman won the tournament with a bag of 32.85 pounds of fish.

Lake Conroe has now produced 13 Budweiser ShareLunkers and ranks number four in the number produced, after Lakes Fork, Rayburn and Alan Henry.

For the past several years Lake Conroe has been the site of intensive management of invasive aquatic vegetation by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department using triploid grass carp and chemicals. Local anglers, homeowners and recreational users have cooperated in developing an action plan that is reestablishing native vegetation in the lake.

The Budweiser ShareLunker program is made possible through support from Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Since 1991, Anheuser-Busch, in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, has contributed millions of dollars in funding to support conservation causes and fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation programs in Texas.

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White Oak Falls To Rusk, 64-71

Rusk's Cornellous Lewis lit up the scoreboard for 29 points, followed by fellow Eagle Kalen Skinner for 17, as Rusk defeated White Oak in pool play of the Last Man Standing tournament tonight.

Gladewater -- 18-2A White Oak started with a strong first quarter, outscoring 18-3A Rusk 21-10, and it looked like an upset was in the making. Rusk would have none of it, however. The Eagles fought back, scoring 25 points and surging past the Roughnecks to lead at the half 35-33.

After the break, the game momentum again shifted to White Oak, and at the end of the third, the Roughnecks led 54-49. But in the end, the battle of the surges would go to Rusk.

They would score 22 in the last quarter, holding the Roughnecks to 11, to pocket the win.

Taylor Goll was the high scorer for White Oak with 16 points.

Scoring by Quarter

Rusk	10	25	14	22	71
White Oak	21	12	21	11	64

Box Scores

Rusk	Pts	White Oak	Pts
Cornellous Lewis	29	Taylor Goll	16
Kalen Skinner	17	Blake Ware	13
Mike Katon	10	Jackson McCurdy	11
J.D. Beard	8	Caleb Carr	11
Demarcco Richards	5	Connor Sharp	6
Taj Cleaver	2	Trevor Wait	5
Tarrance Turner	2	Joe Young	3

Rusk next faces Gladewater, coming off a tournament loss to Sabine, in the first round of bracket play at 1:00pm Friday at the Sabine High School. The winner of that game will go on to battle Big Sandy at 5:30pm.

White Oak will have a bye in the first round of bracket play Friday, and will then play West Rusk at 7:00pm at the West Rusk High School. The winner will face either Mabank or Pleasant Grove.

See the complete bracket at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pmNMSU_lNoVBfxRMfOg87UQ&gid=0

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Sabine Battles Back In Third Quarter To Down Gladewater 65-61

The Sabine Cardinals demonstrated tonight why the TABC has them ranked fifth among Texas 2A basketball squads.

Noah Jackson led the Cards with 25 points, and Tyler Woodrell had a strong game on both ends of the court, scoring 22 and grabbing 10 rebounds, as Sabine downed 3A Gladewater in their second pool game of the 2008 Last Man Standing tournament.

Gladewater - At one point, Gladewater led by 13 points in the first half, taking a 28-23 lead into halftime.

Coach Jason Heffner must have given his Cardinal squad a heart-warming halftime talk, because Sabine roared back in the third quarter, outscoring the Bears 23-13.

The teams played evenly in the fourth quarter, but two free throws by Sabine's Colton Kirk, with 2.3 seconds left, put the win out of reach for Gladewater.

Scoring by Quarter

Sabine	13	10	23	19	65
Gladewater	11	17	13	20	61

Box Scores

Sabine	Pts	Gladewater	Pts
Noah Jackson	25	DeMarcus Daniels	14
Tyler Woodrell	22	Dougan	12
Jacob Kenna	5	Leach	10
Colton Kirk	5	Smith	10
Lie'Quan Byrd	3	Denzell Boone	7
Joshua Montana	2	Corey Davis	4
Zach Royce	2	Morgan	2
Hunter Powdrill	1	Zavean Miller	2

Gladewater next plays the Rusk Eagles, fresh off a hard fought win over White Oak Friday at 1:00pm in the first round of bracket play.

Sabine will put it's 13-3 record on the line against the Carlisle Indians Friday at 2:30pm.

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TABC Ranks Sabine Cardinals 5th In State

The latest Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll, released Wednesday, has the 18-2A Cardinals trailing only Ponder, Shallowater, New Waverley and Whitewright.

Sabine's record of 12-2 reflects losses to two 3A powerhouses, West Orange-Stark and Hardin-Jefferson. H-J is currently ranked 7th statewide in Class 3A.

Sabine had strong showings in both games, losing 45-58 to H-J, and 57-61 to WO-S.

Full TABC rankings follow.

TABC/Tex Preps polls

Boys Basketball

Class 5A
1. SA Madison, 2. Duncanville, 3. Cedar Hill, 4. Kingwood, 5. Strake Jesuit, 6. Plano West, 7. North Crowley, 8. Converse Judson, 9. Mesquite, 10. Hurst Bell, 11. Plugerville, 12. Killeen Ellison, 13. Fort Bend Bush, 14. Dulles, 15. Leander, 16. Houston Bellaire, 17. SA Stevens, 18. SA Clark, 19. Converse Wagner, 20. Bryan

Class 4A
1. Yates, 2. Palo Duro, 3. Lake Travis, 4. Wheatley, 5. Lancaster, 6. Dallas Lincoln, 7. Dallas Carter, 8. Newman Smith, 9. Killeen, 10. Houston Jones, 11. Canyon Randall, 12. Ozen, 13. Highland Park, 14. Roma, 15. Mission Veterans Memorial, 16. Sherman, 17. Friendswood, 18. Boerne Champion, 19. Timberview, 20. Plainview

Class 3A
1. Lubbock Estacado, 2. Burkburnett, 3. Dallas Madison, 4. Argyle, 5. West Oso, 6. SA Sam Houston, 7. Hardin Jefferson, 8. Mexia, 9. Brownfield, 10. Silsbee, 11. Stafford, 12. Sweeney, 13. Sanger, 14. Glen Rose, 15. Lufkin Hudson, 16. Ferris, 17. Navasota, 18. Dallas Roosevelt, 19. Abilene Wylie, 20. Decatur

Class 2A
1. Ponder, 2. Shallowater, 3. New Waverley, 4. Whitewright, 5. Gladewater Sabine, 6. Jarrell, 7. Edgewood, 8. Floydada, 9. Brock, 10. Weimer, 11. Newton, 12. Frankston, 13. Wall, 14. Krum, 15. Godley, 16. Hearne, 17. Jourdanton, 18. Spearman, 19. Melissa, 20. Kountze

Class A Div. I
1. Cayuga, 2. Roscoe, 3. Bremond, 4. Mumford, 5. Plains, 6. Dallardsville Sandy, 7. Gruver, 8. Graford, 9. Wheeler, 10. Mt. Enterprise, 11. Bartlett, 12. Petrolia, 13. Clarendon, 14. Broaddus, 15. Normangee, 16. Archer City, 17. Sudan, 18. Stratford, 19. Detroit, 20. Dawson

Class 1A Div. II
1. Goodrich, 2. Ira, 3. Avinger, 4. Laneville, 5. Slocum, 6. Vega, 7. Paducah, 8. Waelder, 9. Nazareth, 10. Leggett, 11. Lipan, 12. Moulton, 13. Lorenzo, 14. May, 15. Priddy, 16. Calvert, 17. Knippa, 18. Texline, 19. Throckmorton, 20. Eden

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Local Fishing Reports - Dec. 18th, 2008

Bass and crappie are all reported fair to good on the larger lakes. Lake Gilmer reports slow action and little traffic.

The TPWD reports are all fairly good, indicating cooler water, still showing some color.

Lake Gladewater - No report, as Ranger Richard Ross is on vacation. Any anglers with first hand knowledge of conditions are encouraged to post them in the Comments section.

Lake Gilmer - Ranger Danny Lancaster reports the lake level is full and the water is clear. Crappie and bass have been slow, and fishing pressure has been very light. He was surprised at the sparse turnout over the weekend, and speculated that most anglers might be heading to Lake Fork.

Bob Sandlin - Water stained; 45-49 degrees; 0.35' low. Black bass are fair on wacky rigs, Rat-L-Traps and spinnerbaits. White bass are good on slabs. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs around the Hwy 21 bridge columns a few cranks off the bottom. Catfish are fair to good on nightcrawlers and cut bait.

Caddo - Water off color; 45-49 degrees; 0.57' high. Black bass are fair on jigs, white spinnerbaits and Texas rigged Senkos (with a light weight). Crappie are excellent on red/white or red/green jigs in the pads along deeper creeks. White and yellow bass are good on small spoons and tailspinners.

Caddo - Dennis North, Caddo guide and Director of the Fishers of Men Texas North East Division, had the following report for Caddo on Dec 10th:
Water clear; 48 degrees; Pool level - 169.31" Release 2437 (cfs)
Crappie - Slow. I can’t say who had the two big fish of the day, but they came on the Caddo Lake Dream Signature Series Jigs, made by BNB Crappie Jigs. We will have some at the Longview Boat Show in January.

We only put 9 keepers in the boat, but all of them 10 to 15" long. Crappie were taking jigs in white-orange-white in 10-12' of water under the docks.

Lake Fork - Water lightly stained; 45-50 degrees; 0.63' low. Black bass are fair on slow rolled spinnerbaits, spoons and Texas rigs. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on prepared baits and nightcrawlers.

Lake O' The Pines - Water stained; 45-48 degrees; 0.43' high. Black bass are good on spinnerbaits, crankbaits and black/blue Power Worms. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs in 20 - 25 feet (December 1st thru February 28th anglers keep their first 25 crappie regardless of size). Catfish are good on bloodbait. Bream are slow to fair on cut nightcrawlers.

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Area Players Named To Class 3A All State Team

Gilmer places one on the first team roster, Pittsburg lands two on second team.

The Associated Press Sports Editors named Gilmer offensive lineman Dakota Hagler as a first team member, and gave second team nods to two Pittsburg players, Kicker Saul Martinez and linebacker Greg Attaway.


Hagler, a senior at Gilmer, was credited with 110 pancake blocks, and graded at 95%.

Pittsburg has to be happy with it's two nominees, since both will be returning next year. Martinez is a sophomore, and Attaway is a junior.

Attaway, 6'-0", 195#, is credited with 33 tackles and 108 assists, averaging 14.1 tackles per game.

Martinez, at 5'-10" and 160#, scored 7 field goals this year.

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High School Basketball Wednesday Dec. 17th

Girls opened district play Tuesday, plus a listing of this weeks games and tournaments.

If we missed any, let us know and we'll get them posted.

Boys Basketball
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Big Sandy 46, Harleton 29
Carlisle at Leveretts Chapel
Daingerfield at New Boston
Hallsville 84, Bullard 73
Hughes Springs at Hooks
Malakoff at Sabine
Marshall 57, Jefferson 63
Ore City 57, Redwater 53
Pittsburg 49, Spring Hill 65
Troup 54, Mineola 49

Thursday, December 18, 2008
Atlanta Tournament (bracket)

• Atlanta
• Jefferson
• Liberty-Eylau
  

Hawkins Holiday Hoops Tournament (bracket)

• Hawkins
• Winona
• Overton
  
• Ore City
• Union Grove
• Beckville
• Harmony
• James Bowie
• Mineloa
  

Tatum - Academy Sports Holiday Hoops Showcase (bracket)

• Tatum
• Waskom
• Garrison
• San Augustine
• Henderson
• Dibol
• Texas High
• Pittsburg
• Kilgore
• New Boston
• Palestine
• Hallsville
• Center
• Gilmer
• Arp
• Marshall
• Newton
• Full Armor
• Chapel Hill (Tyler)
• Brookeland
  

Sabine / West Rusk Tournament (bracket)

• Sabine
• West Rusk
• Big Sandy
• Central Heights
• Pleasant Grove
• McLeod Cancelled
  
• Carlisle
• Mabank
• Gladewater
• Rusk
• White Oak
• Tyler Grace Cancelled
  
• Shelbyville Cancelled
  

Grand Saline Tournament (bracket)

• Grand Saline
  
• Brownsboro
• Commerce
• Eustace
  
• Frankston
  
• Fruitvale
  
• LaPoyner
  
• Lovejoy
• Lone Oak
• Scurry-Rosser

Friday, December 19, 2008
New Diana at Spring Hill
Harleton at Leveretts Chapel

Saturday, December 20, 2008
Harleton at Queen City

Monday, December 22, 2008
Redwater at Queen City

Girls Basketball
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Big Sandy 38, Gilmer 56
Carlisle at Leveretts Chapel
Gladewater 64, Mineola 48

Harleton 29, Elysian Fields 34
Shelby Eldridge paced the Wildcats with 18 points and 9 rebounds in the loss.

Harmony 58, White Oak 47
Hughes Springs 59, Linden Kildare 44
Jefferson 51, Daingerfield 53
Maud at Ore City
Texas High 27, Hallsville 39
Union Grove 15, Sabine 38
Winona 45, New Diana 31

Thursday, December 18, 2008
Grand Saline Tournament

• Grand Saline
• Tatum
• Eustace
• Eustace JV
  

Friday, December 19, 2008
Big Sandy at Longview Christian
Chapel Hill at Jefferson
Daingerfield at Hughes Springs
Elysian Fields at Harmony
Linden-Kildare at Ore City
New Diana at Harleton
Sabine at Winona
Sulphur Springs at Hallsville
White Oak at Union Grove

Monday, December 22, 2008
Gladewater at Sabine

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TPWD Migratory Bird Hunting Update Dec. 17th 2008

Colder weather and rains help to drive more ducks into our area. Dry conditions south of Upshur still a problem.

The numbers of mallards, teal and divers are all on the upswing, and prospects are now fair to good.

Excerpt of the TPWD Report follows:

North Zone Duck: The second split of duck season opened to temperatures resembling early teal season. More mallards arrived in Northeast Texas during the split, and a round of rain during the past week helped recharge shallow sloughs and backwaters. Conditions changed dramatically Monday as a stiff cold front pushed through the region bringing with it rain and sleet. Green-winged teal have been seen on shallow flats on lakes and reservoirs. Mallards have been solid on Lake Wright-Patman, Lake Palestine, Lake Fork, Lake Tawakoni and Cooper Lake. More divers have shown on Toledo Bend, Lake O’the Pines and Lake Fork. Wood ducks have been steady in wooded sloughs. Inland ponds near the coast were fair over the weekend. Mostly teal, gadwalls and shovelers were taken. Water continues to be a problem near Sealy, Brookshire, Nome, China and Winnie. Lack of rain is drying ponds and many landowners are not pumping due to the high costs. Prospects are fair to good.

The full report can be found on the web at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20081217a

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Pleasant Grove Girls Take Harleton Made-Rite Tourney

Convincing wins over Jefferson, McLeod and Atlanta propel the Lady Hawks to the tournament top spot.

McLeod's Lady Longhorns picked up third with a strong win over Harleton, and Arp's Lady Tigers trounced All Saints to win Consolation.

Complete game scores follow. Click here to see to see the bracket.

Thursday
Harleton 66, Leverett's Chapel 6
Pleasant Grove 56, Jefferson 26
Atlanta 48, All Saints 40
McLeod 56, Arp 38

Friday
Atlanta 62, Harleton 49
Pleasant Grove 48, McLeod 44
All Saints 48, Leverett's Chapel 12
Arp 54, Jefferson 31

Saturday
Consolation
Arp 48, All Saints 32

3rd Place
McLeod 54, Harleton 24

Championship
Pleasant Grove 56, Atlanta 50

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Linden-Kildare Tigers Take Redwater Tournament

In a closely fought final match, L-K squeaked past the Redwater Tigers Saturday to win the 2008 Redwater Tournament.

Queen City handled Dekalb for 3rd, and New Diana edged out Hooks to take the consolation spot.

Final scores for all the games follow: Click here to see the bracket.

Thursday
Queen City 54, Redwater JV 22
Hooks 42, Linden-Kildare 76
New Diana 63, Dekalb 65 (OT)
Redwater 58, Queen City JV 13

Friday
Linden-Kildare 59, Queen City 56
Hooks 77, Redwater JV 10
New Diana 62, Queen City JV 8
Redwater 46, Dekalb 44

Saturday
Consolation New Diana 50, Hooks 43
3rd Place Queen City 72, Dekalb 58
1st Place Linden-Kildare 50, Redwater 47

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Harmony Eagles Win Harleton Made-Rite Invitational

Harmony boys win over Hawkins, Timpson and host team, Harleton, to take home the title.

Harmony's Ryan Rendon was named tournament MVP Saturday, as the Eagles completed their trip to victory in the Harleton Made-Rite Tournament.

The road to the championship:
Thursday
Harmony 59
Hawkins 46

Friday
Harmony 64
Timpson 39

Saturday
Harmony 56
Harleton 41

Harleton locked up second place with wins over Leverett's Chapel and Beckville.

See the complete tournament bracket here.

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Hunt Texas Online Connection

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Hunt Texas Online Connection is a free service that provides information on hunting opportunities available for lease on private lands.

TPWD provides the service to make it easier for landowners to manage wildlife populations and to provide information to hunters about hunting opportunities on private lands.

The secure service allows landowners and hunters to communicate anonymously, with the option of providing contact information at their discretion.

Hunters and landowners can register at the Hunt Texas Online Connection site.

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Area Teams Place 23 Players On A.P. Class 2A All State Football Team

The Longview News-Journal has the story.

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2008 Texas State Football Finals Schedules

Class 5A Div I Championship
Allen vs. Fort Bend Hightower, Saturday 7:00pm, Reliant Stadium in Houston

Class 5A Div II Championship
Wylie vs. Katy, Saturday 2:00pm, Reliant Stadium in Houston

Class 4A Div I Championship
Lake Travis vs. Longview, Saturday 2:00pm, Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco

Class 4A Div II Championship
Sulphur Springs vs. Dayton, Saturday 2:00pm, The Alamodome in San Antonio

Class 3A, Div II Championship
Carthage vs. Celina, Friday 8:00pm, Texas Stadium in Irving

Class 2A, Div II Championship
Daingerfield vs. Cisco, Saturday 3:00pm, Waco I.S.D. Stadium

Class 1A, Div II Championship
Cayuga vs. Stratford, Saturday 3:00pm, Shotwell Stadium in Abilene

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Bassmasters Scout The Red River For Upcoming Tournament

Anglers hope for a leg-up on competitors for the mid February tournament.

Shreveport/Bossier City, LA... Many 2009 Bassmaster Classic qualifiers are in Shreveport-Bossier City, La., this week, checking out the Red River before the tournament off-limits period goes into effect Dec. 15. After the cutoff, their next look at the water will be the official Classic practice days, Feb. 13-15. Competitors will have a final look at the Classic waters on Feb. 18.

The 2007 Classic champion, Boyd Duckett, is one of the 2009 Classic competitors looking for hints this week at how the Red River will fish on the Classic competition days of Feb. 20-22.

"This is my first trip here. It seems to fish very similarly to the Tombigbee, the river where I live," said Duckett, who is from Demopolis, Ala. "And I’m seeing some really good-looking February stuff."

By that Duckett means he’s found areas he believes will produce when the Classic competition plays out. Duckett is figuring in February that the river level likely will be higher — the river’s very low now, he said — and the bass probably will be in pre-spawn mode.

Duckett, who was the first angler to win a Classic in his home state when he won on Alabama’s Lay Lake in February 2007, said he has been surprised by the quality of the bass he’s found in the Red River. He predicted that the winning weight of the Red River Classic will approach 60 pounds. The record for the heaviest three-day weight (based on a five-fish limit) caught in a Classic is held by Luke Clausen, who boated 56 pounds, 2 ounces, in 2006 on Florida’s Lake Tohopekaliga.

"There are bigger fish here than I realized," Duckett said. "I thought it would be a 13- to 14-pound-a-day tournament. Now I think the leader’s going to have one or two big bites a day that will help them into that 19- or 20-pound-a-day range."

Weather and water temperatures will be key, he said, but cold or no cold, he still expects hefty bags each day.

"The third week in February, that’s early spring in Louisiana. If we get just a little bit warmer weather, and the water temperature gets to 54, 55 degrees, that will run the pre-spawn fish up toward the banks. But even if we get some really cold weather, I’m still betting there will be some anglers who will figure out how to catch those big pre-spawners. But it’ll be an unbelievable tournament if we get some warm weather."

Reprinted from FishingWorld.com.

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Fishers Of Men Texas N.E. Division Announce 2009 Schedules

First tournament scheduled for Martin Creek on Jan. 17th, 2009

Interested anglers can go on line at the Fishers of Men web site and download the Membership and tournament forms.

Forms must be postmarked on or before Jan.09, 2009 NO exceptions after that there is a $25.00 Late Fee, NO Entries will be Accepted the Morning of the tournament.

Fishers of Men Tournament schedules, as announced on FishingWorld.com, follow:

TEAM SERIES:
Membership $35.00, Tournament Entry Fees $150.00

Team Tournaments

Date	Location
Jan 17th	Martin Creek
Feb 14th	Lake O’ the Pines
Apr 18th	Lone Star Lake
May 16th	Lake O’ the Pines
Jun 27th	Big Cypress River
Aug 29th	Lake O The Pines - Open Tournament

LEGACY SERIES: Aduit/Junior Team
Membership. $25.00 per Team, Tournament Entry Fees. $75.00

Legacy Tournaments

Date	Location
May 23rd	Lake O’ the Pines
TBA	Lake O’ the Pines

Mail all Membership, Entry Forums and Fees to Division Director.
Texas North East Division:
Division Director: Dennis North
P.O. Box 1597 - Waskom, Texas 75692
cell 902 930-5460

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Daingerfield Will Face The Cisco Lobos In State Finals

The Lobos defeated Pottsboro 33-26 in semi-final play to advance to the State Class 2A Div II finals.

Both teams will place 14-1 records on the line.

Game time and location have not been announced.

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Daingerfield Blasts Blanco 43-7

The Daingerfield Tigers brought their "A" game to Irving Stadium last night, stunning a strong Blanco team in the Class 2A Div 2 semi-finals.

By the end of the first quarter, Koko Smith had introduced himself to the Blanco squad, and the Tigers were up by 14. They would never look back.

Blanco scored their only touchdown in the second quarter, a seven yard run by Kevin Gray. Daingerfield would score once more before the half, taking a 21-7 lead into the lockers.

Resuming play in the second half, Daingerfield seemed determined to prove they were for real, scoring on their first three possessions of the last half.

The Tigers will now face the winner of the Cisco - Pottsboro matchup, that game to be played today at 6:00 p.m. Both of those teams will place 13-1 records on the line.

Daingerfield now boast a 14-1-0 record on the year, their only loss going to Gilmer, a 3A playoff contender that lost to Carthage last week.

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New Diana Middle School Basketball Update

The following information comes from the NDMS Newsletter.

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Boys Basketball
No Game
The 8th grade Boys are 1-2
The 7th Boys are 3-0
Next Game: Monday, December 15th Away vs. White Oak 5:00
The following game is Thursday January 8th @ Home vs. Sabine 5:00pm

Girls Basketball
The 8th grade girls beat Harmony to go 3-1.
The 7th grade girls lost to Harmony, falling to 1-3.
The next game is scheduled for Monday, December 15th @Home vs. White Oak at 5:00pm
The following game : Thursday January 8th @ Sabine 5:00pm

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High School Basketball Thursday Dec. 11th

Listing of this weekend's tournaments.

The Advocate will post brackets and results as they become available. Reader input on matchups and results are very much appreciated.
Boys Basketball
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Great East Texas Shoot-Out (bracket)

Gorman McCracken Hoopfest (Spring Hill) Tournament (bracket)

• Spring Hill
• Kilgore
• Gilmer
• White Oak
• Jefferson
• Atlanta
• Hallsville

Fruitvale Tournament

• Scurry-Rosser
• Grand Saline
• Lone Oak
• Big Sandy
• Union Grove
• Union Hill
• Fruitvale
• ETCA

Made-Rite Harleton Tournament (bracket)

• Azleway
• Timpson
• Hawkins
• Harmony
• Beckville
• James Bowie
• Leverett's Chapel
• Harleton

Redwater Tournament

• Redwater
• New Diana
• Queen City
• Queen City JV
• Maud
• Hooks
• Linden-Kildare
• DeKalb

Waskom Tournament (bracket)

• Waskom
• Tenaha
• Hughes Springs
• Loyala
• Karnack
• Elysian Fields

Girls Basketball
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Mineola Tournament

• Mineola
• Sabine

Edgewood Tournament (bracket)

• Edgewood
• Martin Mills
• Lone Oak
• Cayuga
• Wills Point
• Kemp
• Quinlan Ford
• Dallas First Baptist
• Jacksonville
• Dallas Life
• Harmony
  

Fruitvale Tournament

• Como-Pickton
• Cumby
• Lone Oak JV
• Big Sandy
• Como-Pickton JV
• ETCA
• Union Hill (Cancelled)
• Fruitvale

Great East Texas Shoot-Out

• Brownsboro ISD Tournament Web Page
  

Gladewater Tournament

• Gladewater
• Union Grove

Made-Rite Harleton Tournament (bracket)

• Harleton
• Leverett's Chapel
• McLeod
• Arp
• Jefferson
• Pleasant Grove
• All Saints
• Atlanta

Redwater Tournament

• New Diana
• Queen City
• Queen City JV
• DeKalb
• Linden-Kildare
• James Bowie
• Maud

Waskom Tournament (bracket)

• Waskom
• Hughes Springs
• Karnack
  
• Ore City
• Elysian Fields
• West Rusk

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Local Fishing Reports Dec. 11, 2008

Crappie action picking up, Lake Gilmer report added this week.

Gilmer Lake Ranger Danny Lancaster reports that fishing has been light this week, with just a few crappie anglers braving the wind and rains. He expects a good crowd over the weekend.

Lake Gladewater - Lake Ranger Richard Ross is on vacation, so we don't have a report this week. Anyone knowing the lake conditions and how the fishing is, please comment below.

TPWD Reports follow:

Bob Sandlin - Water fairly clear; 45-50 degrees; 0.54' low. Black bass are fair on wacky rigs, Rat-L-Traps and Senkos. White bass are good on slabs and Rooster Tails. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs around the Hwy 21 bridge columns a few cranks off the bottom. Catfish are fair to good on nightcrawlers and cut bait.

Caddo - Water off color; 45-50 degrees; 0.59' high. Black bass are good on jigs, white spinnerbaits and flukes fished around vegetation. Crappie are excellent on red/white or red/green jigs in the pads along deeper creeks. White and yellow bass are good on small spoons and tailspinners.

Lake O' The Pines - Water stained; 45-50 degrees; 0.04' low. Black bass are good on spinnerbaits, crankbaits and black/blue Power Worms. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs in 20 - 25 feet (December 1st thru February 28th anglers keep their first 25 crappie regardless of size). Catfish are good on bloodbait. Bream are slow to fair on cut nightcrawlers.

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TPWD Migratory Bird Hunting Update Dec. 10, 2008

Colder weather is pushing ducks south, and they are starting to appear in good numbers on local lakes and ponds.

The report says numbers are still down, and notes some more rain would help. We received a good dousing yesterday, and that should bring levels up in sloughs, creeks and ponds.

Excerpt of the TPWD Report follows:

North Zone Duck: The second split of duck season begins Dec. 13 and prospects look solid on lakes and reservoirs in Northeast Texas. Hunters there have noticed a significant influx of mallards to go with good numbers of gadwalls, wood ducks and green-winged teal. The region could use another dose of rain since no significant precipitation has fallen since September. Acorns and other forage are good this year with the summer rains, but some sloughs are dry and waiting for water to float duck food. Toledo Bend hunters said they are not seeing the number of birds they usually see, with a noticeable absence of mallards and canvasbacks. Caddo Lake, Lake Palestine, Lake O’the Pines and Lake Wright-Patman look good for the second split. Inland ponds near the coast could use another shot of rain to recharge ponds. Hunting was steady for the first two weeks of the season then slowed to a crawl around Thanksgiving. Best hunts have occurred on crawfish ponds and second-cropped rice fields. Prospects are fair to good.

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High School Basketball Tuesday, Dec. 9th

Listing of today's games

Boys Basketball
Wills Point at Hallsville
Prariland at Linden-Kildare
New Summerfield 41, Harleton 53
Ore City at Troup
Jefferson at Spring Hill
Hughes Springs 47,Saltillo 25
Como-Pickton at Sabine
Carlisle at Joaquin
Elysian Fields at Tenaha
Mineola 37, Hawkins 50
Waskom 53, Union Grove 35
White Oak 69, Arp 65
Hallsville 72, Wills Point 38
West Rusk 55, Winona 39

Girls Basketball
Carlisle at Joaquin
Hallsville at Canton
Big Sandy 58, Union Grove 52
Jefferson at Spring Hill
White Oak 65, Mineola 62
Waskom 54, Leverett's Chapel 12
Bloomburg at Linden-Kildare
New Summerfield 32, Harleton 58
Teneha at Winona
Pleasant Grove at Daingerfield
Redwater 42, New Diana 28
Sabine 67, Chapel Hill (Tyler) 26
Saltillo 51, Hughes Springs 41
Hawkins at Grace Community

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