Jamal Jones, a 6-8 guard who helped propel Lee College to the championship of the Region 14 post-season basketball tournament, has been named Most Valuable Player of the men’s 2012-2013 regional basketball tournament, whiile San Jacinto’s Mohammad Lee is the All-Region MVP.
Coach of the Year voted on by the league’s men’s coaches is Brian Alberecht of Kilgore.
Named with Jones to the all-tournament team were Trahson Burrell and Deng Deng of Lee College, Toney Foster and Harrison Hawkins of Navarro College, Danny Lawhorn of San Jacinto, and Lonnie McClanahan of Kilgore.
Named with Lee to the All-region First Team were Daniel Skinner of Jacksonville, McClanahan and Quinton Upshur of Kilgore, Princeton Onwas of Navarro, and Jones.
Anthony Adams of Paris was named to the All-Region Second Team along with Anthony Odunsi and Ta’Jon Welcome of Tyler, Zach Lofton of San Jacinto, TyAllen of Lamar State, and Jaylen Daniel of Angelina.
On the All-Region Third Team are Toney Foster of Navarro, Octavius Ellis of Trinity alley, Denny Lawhorn of San Jacinto, DeAndre Harris of Tyler, and Kieran Woods of Lamar State.
Jones averaged 21.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in Lee’s victories over Blinn, Jacksonville, Kilgore and Navarro.
Lee College went into the Region XIV tournament fifth seeded with a 20-10 record and needing to go 4-for-4 in order to advance to the junior college national championships March 18-23 in Hutchinson, Kan.
Behind Jones, Lee did just that – starting with a three-point victory over No. 12 seed Blinn on opening day that proved to be the Rebels’ toughest test of them all.
Jones scored 22 points in Lee’s 76-73 win over Blinn, 25 points in a 101-96 victory over Jacksonville, 9 points in an 88-73 over regular-season champ Kilgore, and 28 points in a 92-77 triumph over Navarro in the finals.
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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