College Sports

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

CARTHAGE - Tyler Junior College assistant Scott Monarch made a triumphant return to Johnson Gymnasium.

The winningest coach in Panola College men's basketball history, who has brought his version of the fast break to Tyler, sat back and watched the Apaches dismantle the Ponies, 91-77, Wednesday night to give TJC a split of the doubleheader.

Panola won the women's game, 70-68.

TJC and Panola traded 3-pointers and fast-break drives in the opening five minutes before the Apaches went on a 10-0 run to open up a 13-point lead, 28-15.

The Apaches made 15 of their first 25 field goals and Panola never got closer than nine the rest of the game.

TJC's front line of Jimmy Butler, Joseph Fulce and Jamie Vanderbeken combined for 54 points and 26 rebounds, and Karnack's Malcolm Thomas contributed 15 points.

Butler, a 6-6 freshman, led all scorers with 24 points. Fulce, playing in front of his future coach - Marquette's Tom Crean - had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Vanderbeken added 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

"The starters have really done a good job of getting us going, sharing the ball and understanding their roles," said TJC head coach Mike Marquis, whose team improved to 15-1 overall and 9-1 in the conference. "Then the bench usually comes in and doesn't skip a beat. That's made us a good team. In the past, we didn't have this kind of depth. Now we do and it's really been exciting for the players and our fans.

"We're all excited and Scott and I are thrilled with this win in particular. He didn't want to talk a lot about it. I knew emotionally it was going to mean something to him because he's so well respected here. I was pleased for him. He's such an important part of our program."

The game went as advertised, with each team preferring a fast pace. The Ponies, however, had trouble keeping up with the Apaches over the long haul.

Panola made 12 of 35 3-point attempts while TJC was 8-of-25.

"We thought Panola would definitely get up and down and we were really worried about them scoring in transition, which they did a few times," Marquis said. "And I was definitely worried about their 3-point shooting. Overall, I thought we did a good job on the boards and we ran and passed the ball extremely well.

"I'm real thrilled with where our kids are at, but we're not even halfway done yet."

The Apaches will entertain San Jacinto on Saturday. San Jacinto entered play Wednesday one game back of TJC.

After trailing for 27 consecutive minutes, TJC grabbed a 59-58 lead on Chasity Shavers' putback with 6:00 on the clock.

April Murphy's free throw and a deep Shavers 3-pointer pushed the advantage to 63-58 with 4:40 left.

Panola, which lives and dies by the long ball, converted back-to-back 3-point attempts to go back up by one, 64-63, with 3:12 to play.

The teams traded leads four more times - TJC going up for the last time on a Murphy post-up with two minutes left.

Panola standout sophomore Kim Edmonson (25 points) drilled her fifth 3-pointer of the game from the left wing on the next possession, taking advantage of her teammates making extra passes for an open look.

Trailing 69-67, the Apache Ladies missed three field goals in the final 1:13. Finally, Murphy got to the free throw line with 2.5 seconds to play by drawing a foul off an offensive rebound.

The 6-6 sophomore's first free-throw attempt grazed the front rim and went in to make it a one-point game. Her next attempt missed off the right side of the rim. Vedrana Milakovic got the rebound for Panola and made one of two foul shots with just .9 on the clock.

TJC was unable to get off a desperation heave as it fell to 14-6 overall and 4-4 in the conference. Panola, which made 10 treys to TJC's three, pulled even with the Apache Ladies at 4-4.

Panola controlled the first half thanks to an 18-2 run. Edmonson scored eight of the points on two 3-pointers and a driving layup.

The Apache Ladies countered by outscoring Panola, 18-6, and netting nine straight to get within a point (32-31) with 1:55 left in the half.

Edmonson was fouled attempting a 3-pointer on the next possession, and she drained all three free throws to halt TJC's run.

The Apache Ladies hurt themselves by missing four straight free throws, and Panola ended the half with a jumper by Casie Adams to snap a five-minute drought without a field goal and make it 37-31 at the break.

TJC erased an 11-point deficit in the second half.

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Women

Panola 70, Tyler 68

TYLER - Chasity Shavers, 18; Kelly Stewart, 17; Brittany Roberson, 6; Monica Spearman, 6; Jessi Goodman, 0; Jasmine King, 4; Yoshica Spears, 4; Sonja Thompson, 4; Brittany Toran, 0; April Murphy, 9. FG 25-68 FT 15-26.

PANOLA - Kelsey Harris, 4; Melissa White, 8; Valentina Cora, 0; Brittany Chavers, 0; Jasmine Brown, 6; Casie Adams, 5; Kayla Weaver, 2; Lauren Rust, 2; Satara Harrell, 8; Vedrana Milakovic, 10; Kim Edmonson, 25. FG 23-67 FT 14-19.

THREE-POINT GOALS - TJC (3-20): Shavers (2), Stewart; PC (10-28): White (2), Brown (2), Milakovic, Edmonson (5).

HALFTIME SCORE - Panola 37-31.

TURNOVERS - TJC: 12; PC: 14.

RECORDS - Tyler, 14-6 (4-4); Panola, 13-6 (4-4).

NEXT UP - San Jacinto at Tyler, 2 p.m. Saturday; Panola at Blinn, 2 p.m. Saturday.

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Men

Tyler 91, Panola 77

TYLER - Tyler Jefferson, 0; Reggie Nelson, 0; William Kossangue, 5; Alan Branch, 8; Randall Hampton, 5; Jamie Vanderbeken, 10; Malcolm Thomas, 15; Joseph Fulce, 20; Jimmy Butler, 24. FG 35-72 FT 13-15.

PANOLA - Milton Burton, 11; Aamir McCleary, 0; Justin Dennis, 12; Papa Oppong, 15; Christian Jones, 8; Christopher Jones, 11; Brandon Webb, 6; Elijah Cotton, 9; Chris Lewis, 5; Chris Williams, 0. FG 27-76 FT 11-12.

THREE-POINT GOALS - TJC (8-25): Kossangue, Branch (2), Hampton, Vanderbeken (2), Thomas (2); PC (12-35): Burton (3), Dennis (2), Oppong (3), Christian Jones (2), Christopher Jones, Lewis.

HALFTIME SCORE - Tyler 53-38.

TURNOVERS - TJC: 14; PC: 17.

RECORDS - Tyler, 15-1 (9-1); Panola, 12-6 (5-5).

NEXT UP - San Jacinto at Tyler, 4 p.m. Saturday; Panola at Blinn, 4 p.m. Saturday.

EST. ATT. - 400.

TYLER JUNIOR COLLEGE held its media day Wednesday at Mike Carter Field. The Apaches are preseason ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division III by Collegiate Baseball. The Apaches are defending national champions and will begin the 2008 season Friday at home against Texas College.
((Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.))