Apaches News
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 - [Men's Basketball]
By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer, Tyler Morning Telegraph

The Tyler Junior College Apaches avenged their loss to Bossier Parish and had a blast doing it on Sophomore Night.
 
The Apaches made 13 3-pointers, and dished out 29 assists, in a 102-77 victory in their home basketball finale Wednesday at Wagstaff Gymnasium.
  
Bossier defeated the Apaches 92-80 on Jan. 9, which has turned out to be the Cavaliers' only conference win.

"Clearly, you could tell it had bothered our kids for a long period of time that we had lost over there," TJC head coach Mike Marquis said. "This was our chance to get one back and on Sophomore Night, we're so proud of that group. They are going to graduate and be able to transfer and play immediately."

The Apaches (17-9, 10-8 Region XIV North) never trailed after 7-6, and scored a whopping 56 points in the first half.

"I was really glad the way we started, because we really attacked inside-out and got a lot of fouls on them and forced them into playing a lot of zone," Marquis said.

"I was excited to see us play with so much enthusiasm and energy. You can see that we're kind of starting to get healthy … Unfortunately, we've got a tough game coming up with Angelina, and then whoever you play in the (regional) tournament is going to be great. But maybe this is the right time for us to come together."

The smaller Cavaliers (6-19, 1-17 North) were mostly helpless against TJC, which had five players score in double figures.

Malcolm Moore, a 6-6 freshman forward, had a team-high 20 points and made 9 of 11 free throws. Sophomore guard Labree Sledge snapped out of a shooting slump with five 3-pointers and 19 points. He also dished out 10 assists for a double-double.

Freshman point guard Mitch Marquis, mainly a distributor, was fed the ball several times and had four 3-pointers, 16 points and six assists.

Byron Maxson (13 points, six assists) and RJ Samuels (11 points, six rebounds) both scored double figures; Kyle Ford had a team-high 10 rebounds, and Johnathan Edwards had eight rebounds in their final home game. Brad Gay, another sophomore, chipped in with nine points.

The Apaches put the game away midway through the second half with a 14-2 run, which gave TJC a 24-point cushion (76-52). The lead reached 31 (90-59) with 7:36 remaining.

-- -- --

Tyler 102, Bossier Parish 77

BOSSIER PARISH (6-19, 1-17) -- Gavin Mitchell 7-15 7-8 26, Decorey Jones 5-8 0-0 13, Ja'Coby Marshall 1-2 0-0 2, Jasaan Roberson 5-12 6-6 17, Adrian Caldwell 1-7 1-2 3, Donnie Brown 0-6 2-2 2, Kentarius Shaw 0-1 0-0 0, Christian Larry 7-13 0-0 14, Jeremy Malone 0-3 0-0 0, Dominic Dennis 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals

26-68 16-18 77.

TYLER (17-9, 10-8) --

Kyle Ford 2-9 0-0 5, Mitch Marquis 4-7 4-4 16, Brad Gay 4-11 0-0 9, RJ Samuels 4-7 3-5 11, Labree Sledge 6-11 2-2 19, Johnathan Edwards 2-4 0-0 4, Byron Maxson 6-11 0-0 13, Kader Tapsoba 2-4 1-2 5, Malcolm Moore 5-7 9-11 20.

Totals

35-71 19-24 102.

Halftime -- Tyler 56-41. 3-Point Goals -- Bossier Parish 9-32 (Mitchell 5-12, Jones 3-6, Marshall 0-1, Roberson 1-4, Caldwell 0-3, Brown 0-5, Shaw 0-1), Tyler 13-32 (Ford 1-7, Marquis 4-7, Gay 1-4, Samuels 0-1, Sledge 5-10, Maxson 1-2, Moore 1-1). Rebounds -- Bossier Parish 34 (Larry 8), Tyler 44 (Ford 10). Assists -- Tyler 29 (Sledge 10). Est. Att. -- 600.

NEXT UP --

Bossier Parish at Trinity Valley, 4 p.m. Saturday; Tyler at Angelina, 4 p.m. Saturday (regular-season finale).