Stories from Thursday, March 6, 2014

MARQUEZ, TEX. - Susan Ann Hale-Jones, age 55, of Marquez, Texas was born on November 10, 1958 in Moline, Illinois and was raised in Trumann. She was a systems analyst for Compuware Corp. She and her husband, John, moved to their place near Marquez about 13 years ago. They had lived in Aledo, Texas near Ft. Worth...

Oh what a difference a few days and 100 miles can make. Seventeen days after they had routed visiting Izard County by 24 points near the end of the regular season, the Cougars repaid the Bay Yellowjackets by stunning the defending Class 1A state champions, knocking them out of the Class 1A Region 2 Tournament by the count of 62-60 in double overtime Feb. 26 at the Cougars' Den in Brockwell...

A weak second half performance after a solid first half kept the Bay Lady Yellowjackets from a trip to the state tournament. The Lady 'Jackets earned a 30-all tie against the Viola Lady Longhorns going into the locker room at the half, but a nine point second half allowed Viola to punch a state ticket with a 54-39 victory on Feb. 27 in the 1A Region 2 Tournament at Izard County Consolidated High School in Brockwell...

Jay and Lexi Perry both had big nights for Marked Tree as the Lady Indians posted a 62-45 win over Walnut Ridge to advance to the 2A North Regional semi-finals this past Thursday in Pangburn. The Lady Bobcats opened the contest with back to back scores to go up 4-0 early in the first quarter. ...

EPC jumped out to an 11-0 and never looked back as they went on to down Salem 60-46 in the 2A North Regional basketball tournament last Thursday in Pangburn. Byron Scales was hot early for Warriors scoring the first six points of the game with a basket inside, a one handed dunk and a basket off an offensive rebound to make it 6-0. ...

Marked Tree got 35 points from Jay Perry but just couldn't get enough stops on defense as Cedar Ridge handed the Lady Indians a 65-58 loss in the semi-finals of the 2A North Regional tournament being held in Pangburn. Jay Perry opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the right wing before Cedar Ridge got a conventional three-point play followed by a three-ball to go up 6-3. ...

The Warriors had no answer for Cedar Ridge Timberwolves this past Friday in the 2A North Regional tournament in Pangburn. The Timberwolves jumped out to a 15-0 lead and cruised to a 58-25 win. Byron Scales got the Warriors on the board with 2:42 left in the quarter to make it 15-2 Cedar Ridge. Paul Pilgrim's free throw made it 18-3. Byron Scales and Aaron Scales hit back to back baskets in the final minute to make it 21-7 after one quarter of play...

Jay-Ryan Woods, former Trumann Wildcat standout and current Ecclesia College Royal, gained his first pitching win at the college level. The Royals beat SW Christian 7-3 at Tyson Sports Complex in Fayetteville. The Ecclesia College Royals relied on Jay-Ryan Woods to eat up innings en route to the win. Jay-Ryan allowed three runs, only one earned, three hits and one walk while striking out three over seven innings of work...

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will invade the Convocation Center in Jonesboro on March 9. Dolph Ziggler will be among many of the current WWE superstars appearing in Jonesboro. I had the opportunity to do a phone interview with Ziggler recently. We talked a little wrestling but also talked about his life outside of the ring...