Shelby County Today

June 8, 2016 - The Joaquin Lady Rams and Tenaha Lady Tigers were among four varsity basketball teams which faced off for summer league round-robin play last Tuesday, June 7th.

The first game saw  Shelby County rivals, the Lady Rams and Tigers, face off in Tenaha's Special Events to kick off action for the day. Tenaha gained an early lead and took a 16-12 lead into the second half.

The Lady Rams stormed back to tie things up at 24-24 midway through the final period. A Dayza Lane putback shot gave Joaquin their biggest lead at 28-25 with 5 minutes remaining.

A 2-pointer, and a 3-point bomb, by Bianca Davison,  regained the lead for Tenaha at 32-28, with only seconds remaining. Calicia and Arlicia Roland teamed up for a cross-court, back-door pass with 20 second left in the game to give THS a 34-28 final advantage.

Tenaha next beat the Mount Enterprise Lady Wildcats by a 42-8 margin. Joaquin defeated Broaddus by a 33-point margin. Tenaha beat Broaddus in the final matchup by a 49-point margin, with a 59-10 score.

These teams are slated to meet up again next Tuesday at 5 PM at Tenaha's SEC.

June 2, 2016 - The 2016 UIL Baseball and Softball State Championships are still in full swing. Our local teams however, have been eliminated.

The Center Roughriders entered the playoffs as a District 19 4A representative but where taken out of the tourney by the Hudson Hornets, in two games, at the bi-district level. Hudson later fell to Robinson High School at the Regional Quarterfinals. Robinson is still alive and in the Regional Finals which begin on June 4.

The Joaquin Lady Rams are the Shelby County team which went the farthest this season. The Lady Rams softball team went to the Regional Semifinal round before  falling to the Harleton Lady Wildcats in two games, by 3-2 and 6-0 scores. Harleton later beat the Beckville Lady Bearcats, and they have now moved on to face Windthorst High School in the State Level Playoffs starting this weekend.

The Joaquin Baseball team wasn't far behind as they were narrowly eliminated at the Regional Quarterfinal round of the playoffs by the Lovelady Lions in three games. Lovelady later fell to Maud who will face Joaquin's District 23 rival, the Beckville Bearcats at the Regional Finals starting June 4.

The Shelbyville Lady Dragons made this year's playoffs and fell to the Colmesneil Lady Bulldogs at the Bi-District level in two games. Colmesneil fell to the Slocum Lady Mustangs in the Area round of competition.

The Shelbyville Dragons Baseball team fell early as well. They fell to the West Sabine Tigers in the Bi-District round. The Tigers fell to Centerville in the next round of play.

May 30, 2016 - Last Saturday the 25th Annual Dwight Preston Football Camp staff was spotted at Tenaha Tiger Stadium working hard at teaching young football hopefuls both basic and advanced football skills.

Over a dozen instructors shared their knowledge and experiences with the campsters who ranged in age from 6-14 years of age. Among the instructors and camp staff were: Dwight Preston, Ronald Preston, A’mie Preston, Baron Horton, Colton Thompson, Sakedron Horn, Brandon Horton, Alicia Davis from I-Fit Aerobics, Danburt Collum, Kenneth Cotton, Kendall Hill, and Brady Smith.

By all accounts the staff and kids were having fun and getting a lot of exercise and fellowship out of the event.

May 23, 2016 - Last Friday, the Joaquin Rams varsity baseball team defeated the Lovelady Lions by a 4-3 score to take a 1-0 lead in their UIL State Quarterfinal round playoff series. The game was Game 1 of a best-of-three game format, played at Jasper Bulldog Stadium. Cole Powdrill pitched the full seven innings in the contest. He gave up eight hits, struck out five batters and walked three. Joaquin got a lot of help from their defense, especially third baseman Justin Hooper who threw out six Lions on ground-outs. The Rams infield retired the Lions on three ground balls in the bottom of the first inning, allowing Powdrill to only throw three pitches in the bottom half of the inning. A big double play by middle infielders Klay Adkison, and Brock Lawson, were able to thwart a Lions rally in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The JHS outfield played well. Hunter Harper made a great backhanded running catch, on a long fly ball hit deep in the power ally, which would have led to multiple runs batted in for Lovelady.

Offensively, Joaquin used seven hits, three hit batsmen and two Lions errors to eventually gain the one-point win.

Rams Head Coach Wade Lawson said: "We expect Game 2 to be just as close. Our next game may come down to the seventh inning also, and we may need a Game 3 to decide this series. Powdrill pitched well for us today. We knew when the game got close to the end, it was going to be his game to go the distance."
On Saturday Joaquin dropped Game 2 to Lovelady after trailing 1-0 early, they then maintained a 2-1 lead from the mid-stages of the game until the Lions exploded for six unanswered runs, during the late innings, which gave them a 7-2 win.

In Game 3, again played on Saturday, Joaquin gained an early 2-0 lead but fell to the Lions 9-2. The Lions will now advance to the Regional Semifinal round to face the winner of the Union Grove vs Maud playoff series.

The Joaquin Lady Rams varsity softball team headed to Commerce to face the Harleton Lady Wildcats in a best-of-three-game Regional Semifinal series, last Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Rams fell to Harleton 3-2 in Game 1, and 9-2 in Game 2. Harleton will move on to face the Beckville Lady Bearcats, on May 28, in the Regional Finals, with time and place yet to be determined. 

By Correspondent Sports Writer Ronny Samford