Voche Martin
TYLER – Two members of the Paris Junior College women’s basketball team won mention on the Region XIV all-conference team.Voche’ Martin, a 6-3 forward from DeSoto, was named to the all-conference team, and Kelsei Ewings, a 5-3 sophomore from West Point, Miss., got honorable mention.
“Both are definitely deserving. Both are among the top players in the league,” Paris head coach Sean LeBeauf said Sunday. “We didn’t have the year we would have wanted to have. Otherwise, they would have gotten more votes, I’m sure.”
Kelsei Ewings
Shlonte’ Allen of Trinity Valley and Audrisa Harrison of Blinn were named the co-Most Valuable Players in Region XIV; Khadijah Carter of Jacksonville was named Freshman of the Year; and Jeff Jenkins of Blinn was named Coach of the Year.
The voting is conducted among the women’s head coaches in the league, who were restricted from voting for their own players.
Trinity Valley landed four players on both the 10-woman All-Region team and the 15-woman All-Conference team. Trinity Valley’s fifth starter made honorable mention.
“Unfortunately, the coaches are not very good in judging that. Trinity Valley had a great season, but Voche’ outscored all three of their (Trinity Valley) 6-3 and 6-4 players by herself. Unfortunately, the coaches just look at wins and losses, and that has no bearing on whether a kid can play,” LeBeauf said.
Both Martin and Ewings have signed to play for Division I teams next season – Martin for Southern Mississippi, and Ewings for Central Arkansas.
Most Valuable Players:
Freshman of the Year:
Coach of the Year: Jeff Jenkins, Blinn
All-Region Team:
Honorable Mention All-Conference:
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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