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Wednesday
March 17, 2010 Since 1922 |
Rebels go west for holidays
By Dave Rogers
That’s the situation for Lee College’s basketball team, which flew to Odessa at mid-day Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving Weekend at the Odessa College tournament.
“Always, when you get a team like this away from home and in the same place, you hope to just continue to build on the chemistry,” Rebel head coach Roy Champagne said. “There’s no distractions, no girlfriends, no parents, no schoolwork. There’s just time to retool some things we want to get emphasized.
“Hopefully, it gets us ready for the three games we have in conference before the break.”
Lee College plays at Kilgore next Wednesday before hosting Tyler Dec. 1 and Trinity Valley Dec. 5, all Region XIV conference games.
But the matter at hand is this weekend’s non-conference games in Odessa.
The Rebels play Murray State of Tishomingo, Okla., at 6 p.m. tonight. They take on Pima College of Tucson, Ariz., at 4 p.m. Friday, and Odessa College Saturday at 6 p.m.
“Odessa is 7-1 and we play them Saturday. That’s the big one,” Champagne said. “We’ve been out here the last five years or so and they’ve come to our place a few times. We’ve kind of developed a big rivalry.
“Pima and Murray, they won’t be near the talent Odessa has. Odessa is going to be more what our conference is about, but we can’t take anybody lightly.”
The Rebels found that out last Saturday when they were upset by Lamar State-Port Arthur.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re
playing hard every game,” Champagne said.
The Rebels pleased their leader Tuesday night, even though they weren’t able to hit a last-second shot and avoid an 80-78 loss to nationally ranked San Jacinto College.
“We do have a good bunch of guys,” Champagne said. “You saw their fight last night: We got down 12, they came together and we started playing hard.
“Teams that don’t have chemistry will start pointing their fingers. They got refocused and found a way to do it together.”
Lee outscored the Ravens 16-2 in the final 6 and a half minutes of the first half to lead 38-36 at the break. They were up by as many as six points in the second half, but couldn’t stop the Ravens’ bigger inside players late.
“I think individually, we still don’t have guys playing to the best of their ability,” Champagne said. “Not that they’re playing bad, but the high school guys haven’t realized what college basketball is yet, and the transfers haven’t realized the intensity of our conference.
“They’re trying to contribute, but as a coach, I’m confident there’s more in them, that their game is going to grow.
“At least I hope so.”
That’s the situation for Lee College’s basketball team, which flew to Odessa at mid-day Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving Weekend at the Odessa College tournament.
“Always, when you get a team like this away from home and in the same place, you hope to just continue to build on the chemistry,” Rebel head coach Roy Champagne said. “There’s no distractions, no girlfriends, no parents, no schoolwork. There’s just time to retool some things we want to get emphasized.
“Hopefully, it gets us ready for the three games we have in conference before the break.”
Lee College plays at Kilgore next Wednesday before hosting Tyler Dec. 1 and Trinity Valley Dec. 5, all Region XIV conference games.
But the matter at hand is this weekend’s non-conference games in Odessa.
The Rebels play Murray State of Tishomingo, Okla., at 6 p.m. tonight. They take on Pima College of Tucson, Ariz., at 4 p.m. Friday, and Odessa College Saturday at 6 p.m.
“Odessa is 7-1 and we play them Saturday. That’s the big one,” Champagne said. “We’ve been out here the last five years or so and they’ve come to our place a few times. We’ve kind of developed a big rivalry.
“Pima and Murray, they won’t be near the talent Odessa has. Odessa is going to be more what our conference is about, but we can’t take anybody lightly.”
The Rebels found that out last Saturday when they were upset by Lamar State-Port Arthur.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re
playing hard every game,” Champagne said.
The Rebels pleased their leader Tuesday night, even though they weren’t able to hit a last-second shot and avoid an 80-78 loss to nationally ranked San Jacinto College.
“We do have a good bunch of guys,” Champagne said. “You saw their fight last night: We got down 12, they came together and we started playing hard.
“Teams that don’t have chemistry will start pointing their fingers. They got refocused and found a way to do it together.”
Lee outscored the Ravens 16-2 in the final 6 and a half minutes of the first half to lead 38-36 at the break. They were up by as many as six points in the second half, but couldn’t stop the Ravens’ bigger inside players late.
“I think individually, we still don’t have guys playing to the best of their ability,” Champagne said. “Not that they’re playing bad, but the high school guys haven’t realized what college basketball is yet, and the transfers haven’t realized the intensity of our conference.
“They’re trying to contribute, but as a coach, I’m confident there’s more in them, that their game is going to grow.
“At least I hope so.”