by Wick Temple
Coach Jimmie Jones’ Texarkana Bulldogs face some of the toughest Junior College basketball competition in the nation on the 18, 19 and 20 in the Tyler JC Tournament in Apache Gym, Tyler.
Kilgore, Tyler, Paris, Wharton, Del Mar, Texarkana, Lon Morris and other highly regarded quintets will be fighting it out in the three-day tourney. Kilgore is rated first in the nation—picked by the National Junior College Committee to repeat their national championship title. Tyler is ranked eighth in the nation.
However, the Bulldogs downed Kilgore, and the Rangers also lost to Lon Morris in Jacksonville. Paris defeated Tyler in Tyler, making things even tighter and giving more of a championship air to the tourney in Tyler next week.
The Bulldogs have improved rapidly and are actually better than their 1-2 record indicates. They have lost to Kilgore and Tyler while defeating Kilgore at Tiger Gym in Texarkana. The Hounds will also get a taste of what Texas Junior College Conference play will be like, watching Paris and Lon Morris in the tournament.
In their first three games, the Bulldogs started three sophomores and two freshmen on the starting lineup. Harold Honea, 6′ 4″ center from Hope, Ark., looks like the most promising freshman prospect. Jerry King, 6′ 1″ freshman from Texas High in Texarkana, has been starting at a forward post and is progressing rapidly.
Guards DeWayne Hardage and Jim Pack have been fairly consistent in outside play, hitting well on long shots and driving well. Hardage and Pack are both sophomores, as is Wayne Combs, the forward from Fouke, Ark.
Combs’ driving shots have given the Canines a needed boost in early games.
After the tournament, the Bulldogs lay off until after the Christmas holidays. They meet East Texas Baptist College at Tiger Gym on Jan. 7 in the first tilt of 1957. They then go into other non-conference play with Ft. Smith and the U. of Ark. frosh, playing a home-and-home series with each.
The tournament at Tyler gets under way Tuesday. Finals will be Thursday.
The Bulldog schedule for the remainder of the ’56-’57 season:
- Jan. 7—ETBC—here
- Jan. 12—Ft. Smith—here
- Jan. 14—Ark. Frosh—there
- Jan. 15—Ft. Smith—there
- Jan. 20—Panola—there
- Jan. 22—Tyler—there
- Jan. 26—Paris—there
- Jan. 28—Lon Morris—here
- Jan. 30—So. State at Hope
- Jan. 31—Le Tourneau—there
- Feb. 2—U. of Ark. Frosh—here
- Feb. 6—Panola—here
- Feb. 8—Beebe—there
- Feb. 9—Beebe—there
- Feb. 11—Paris—here
- Feb. 12—ETBC—there
- Feb. 16—Lon Morris—there
- Feb. 18—Le Tourneau—here
- Feb. 22—Beebe—here
- Feb. 23—Beebe—here
Denotes Conference Games