Dragons, Lady Dragons in Region XIV Tourney

Published or Revised January 02, 2017

Fans of Dragons basketball will head to the University of Texas at Tyler later this week when both PJC's men's and women's programs take part in the 2009 Region XIV Championship Tournament. The Dragons — 23-5 on the season, 14-5 in conference and North Zone champions — look for a return trip to the NJCAA National Championship Tournament when they begin play Saturday, March 7, at 6 p.m. against either Trinity Valley or Panola. The Dragons, Region XIV champions last year, finished in eight place at the 2008 national tournament. "Coming into the season, our first goal was to win the North Zone; second, win the regional tournament; and lastly, win the national tournament," said Dragons Head Coach Ross Hodge. "But more importantly, you want to be playing your best basketball going into the post season. "I think our regional tournament is going to be very difficult, and whoever wins it is going to have to play three good games in a row, maybe four. It will probably come down to very small margins of error." Close post-season games are not new. The Dragons clinched the Region XIV title last year with a 1-point win over Navarro, 50-49. Hodges' Dragons return to post-season play with just one veteran of last year's regional tournament. "We are going to need a huge team effort from all our guys and need everyone to be at their best," he said. "Raymond Sims is the only guy back from last year's regional championship, so we will look to him for leadership. "Kenny Gabriel, an Auburn signee, is our leading scorer and rebounder. Shannon Shorter, a North Texas signee, will be looked upon to provide toughness and and leadership. But, as always, we will look forward to playing team basketball." Part of that team, as usual, will be PJC fans, Hodge added. "Last year we had an unbelievable crowd base, and hopefully we will have that again this year," he said. "The tournament is a neat and fun time for our guys, and we can't wait to get down to Tyler." The Lady Dragons will return to the Region XIV Tournament for the first time since 2006, when they fell to Lon Morris in the quarterfinals. "I am just really excited that Paris is back in the regional tournament," said Lady Dragons Heach Coach Kris Wood. "Our season has been very successful in my opinion. We have competed very well in all of our games and are really close to being a great team." While Wood recognizes the difficult task ahead, he also knows his team well. "I think this weekend and our run through the tournament will be successful if we handle the pressure of these games and play at our highest intensity level," he said. "I look for our sophomores Brittney Bennett and Jasmine Flugence to be even better in the tournament than they have this season. If freshmen Taylor Ammons, Randi White and Necia Smith play well, we could see Paris in the finals on Monday night." The Lady Dragons cinched the eighth and final slot for the tournament with a 13-17 record, 5-13 in conference play. They begin their tournament play Friday, March 6, at 1 p.m. against No. 1 Trinity Valley.