Sports

Although National Signing Day came and went on Feb. 3, that does not mean that athletes cannot continue to sign letters of intent to play their respective sports in college. After having seven Tigers sign on Signing Day, Daingerfield High School has had seven more athletes sign, as well.

The Texas University Interscholastic League has announced the Reclassification and Realignment for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Daingerfield Tigers and Hughes Springs Mustangs will meet some new opponents due to the change. Both area teams will be in Class 3A, with Hughes Springs in Division I, and Daingerfield in Division II.

The Mustangs will be competing in District 8-AAA, Division I in football. Their district opponents will include Gladewater Sabine, Jefferson, New Boston, Redwater, and White Oak. This will give the Mustangs an entirely new district lineup from previous years.

The Daingerfield Tigers will also have an entirely new lineup of district opponents this coming season, although some foes will not be completely unknown to the Tigers. Joining the Tigers in 7-AAA, Division II will be DeKalb, New Diana, Hooks, Paul Pewitt, Ore City, and Queen City. With six districts opponents, the Tigers will only see an opportunity for four non-district matches.

The Hughes Springs High School boys and girls powerlifting teams competed at the North Lamar meet on Saturday, Jan. 30.

In the girls’ competition, the Lady Mustangs took home three individual places. Jalena Denmark placed fourth, Andrea Folsom placed third, and Kailey Farmer placed second. Abbye McKinney also competed for Hughes Springs.

In the boys’ competition, Hughes Springs brought home first and second, with AJ Garcia placing first and Noah Palmertree placing second. JJ Jones and Coton Tigert also competed for the Mustangs.

The teams’ next competition will be Feb. 20 in Maud.

By Rick Colegrove

Success breeds success, just like practice makes perfect. These phrases and others like it have been used for years to describe winning programs or attitudes. This year the phrase to describe Hughes Springs Lady Mustang softball might be “strength through adversity” or “pride in preparation.”

The Lady Mustangs are coming off a year when they went to the Regional semifinals, losing a heartbreaker of a series to Pilot Point. That series ended a season for Hughes Springs that really isn’t seen as all that much in terms of softball. But another phrase comes to mind: “Times, they are a changing.” After posting a 24-5 record on the year, this year’s team returns loaded, and ready to push past the regional semifinals all the way to the state tournament in Austin in early June.

National Signing Day, Feb. 3, was the first day that senior athletes could sign Letters of Intent to play ball at the college level. Daingerfield High School had seven football players sign, with more coming later.

In the Board Room at the Daingerfield-Lone Star ISD Administration building filled with coaches, family members, and media, seven members of the 2015 District Runner-Up Tiger football team gathered to make their college intentions known. Four more Tiger teammates are slated to sign letters of intent on Tuesday, Feb. 9, giving the Tigers a total of 11 members of the Class of 2016 to go on to play college level football.

The Hughes Springs Mustangs played two game against district opponents last week, winning in Linden and at home against Paul Pewitt. This brings the Mustangs to a 4-5 record in district play.

On Feb. 2, The Mustangs traveled to Linden-Kildare, where the Mustangs pulled out the win, despite being down at halftime, 22 to 25. The Mustangs came back after the intermission and put away the Tigers, with the game ending in favor of the Mustangs, 64 to 58. Austin King was the catalyst for the Mustangs, scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Jaren Jones added 11 points with his eight rebounds, while Malik Chism and Alex Bruce both added eight points for the Mustangs. Chism also add eight assists. Lucky Chism and Kody Burns rounded out the scoring for Hughes Springs, adding seven points each.

Students from Killyon’s School of Isshin Ryu attended the Warrior’s Way Martial Arts Tournament in Dekalb on Jan. 23. This was the school’s first tournament of 2016. Students competed in sparring, weapons, and kata events. Student’s from the Killyon School brought home 12 first place medals, seven second place medals, and 12 third place medals. Students who participated included, back row, from left: Brandi Watkins, Lisa O’Dell, Gannon Smith, Trenton Hurley, Kassity Connor, Celeste O’Dell, Jerimy Johnson, and Teresa Henderson. Also competing, on the front row form left: Miguel Gonzalez, Ian O’Dell, Shane Burnamen, Eli Heard, and Scott O’Dell. Not pictured were Tyson Hughes and Makayla Watkins. The students are taught by Sensei Paula Killyon.

By: J. Leslie Riseden Homecoming 2016 was a multi-faceted celebration in Avinger on Jan. 29. To kick things off, Avinger ISD superintendent Jackie Smith welcomed all past alumni of Avinger High School to a reception in their honor. During halftime at the girls’ basketball game, Principal Tim Phy introduced members of the 1996 State Champion boys’ basketball team. Coach Ken Lloyd, who led the team that year, presented each player with a medal, then received a special plaque himself from Principal Phy commemorating his leadership. After the boys’ basketball game, all graduates from years ending in six were hosted at a special reception.

The Daingerfield Tigers athletic program will be looking for a new director, following the announcement that current Athletic Director Aric Sardinea will be leaving for a position in the Alief School District near Houston. Sardinea grew up in Markum, and is familiar with the Alief district. He will be taking a position as Head Coach at Alief-Elsik High School. “Going closer to home was a part of my decision. This was the first time my parents were not able to come see me play, so yeah, it was a part of it. I know the history of Alief, so that helped as well,“ Sardinea said. “The kids are real similar to ours here, and I’ll get to coach at the highest level of high school football in Texas. Every coach dreams of getting the chance to coach at the 6A level,” Sardinea added. The move has does not indicate that Sardinea has been unhappy in Daingerfield.

The Daingerfield Lady Tigers opened up the second round of district play Friday, Jan. 22, when the Hughes Springs Lady Mustangs came to town. The Lady Tigers would fall, 56 to 28 in the cross-town matchup. The Mustangs raced out to an early lead, leading 12 to 5 at the end of the first quarter. Although the Lady Tigers would outscore Hughes Springs in the second, entering halftime down by only four, 23 to 19. The second half would be all Mustangs, however, as the Hughes Springs squad would put double their score by the end of the game, out shooting the hometown Tigers 21 to 5 in the final quarter. Makayla Robinson was the leading scorer for the Tigers, putting up six points. Three Tigers would follow her lead and contribute five points each. Those three were Nekoda Coleman, Destiny Hurndon, and Meme Black. The Tigers scoring was rounded out by Tamerra Jackson and Dee Hall, who both added four points for the Lady Tigers.