Fire Ravages Glenbrook Gymnasium

Courtesy of The Press-Herald

Construction crews thought they were prepared in the event of a fire while working at Glenbrook's H.O. West Gymnasium; however, insulation from the 1970's and wind were more than they bargained for, according to Minden Fire Chief Kip Mourad.

"It's been determined that the cause of the fire was an accident," Mourad said. "It was caused from contractors cutting outside metal using a grinder.

"They had a water hose but they probably didn't know about the paper backed insulation from the 70's," Mourad continued. "They tried to put it out but the wind was blowing and it was just too much."

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Centreville duo heading separate ways bittersweet
Southern Sports & Travel

The Centreville baseball program is coming off a dominant two year stretch that included back to back Class AA State Championships and a remarkable 56-14 record and it goes without saying that a critical component of any championship team is the cohesiveness and bonding that takes place.

For the Centreville Tigers one special bond has been prevalent for much longer than varsity athletics, a close knit relationship that harkens back to childhood.
Centreville seniors Hunter Devall and Cliff Hurst have been playing baseball together since tee-ball and minus a two year separation during their freshman and sophomore seasons the second cousins have parted ways on the baseball diamond after graduating last month.   

Growing up less than a mile from each other in a large closely tied family in Clinton, Louisiana the two will now embark on different paths. The much heralded southpaw Devall will continue playing baseball. Devall signed with perennial national power and arguably the nation’s best college baseball program, LSU.

Conversely Hurst, who was just named the MAIS Most Valuable Player in baseball, will pursue his first love at the University of Southern Mississippi as a walk on with the Golden Eagles football team.
Devall and Hurst realized the time for parting ways on the diamond was inevitable but they also have a deep appreciation and admiration for one another.
“It’s been great to be able to play with Cliff for so long,” said Devall.  “We started t-ball and finished as seniors with a few trophies in hand. Cliff is a tough competitor and we seemed to feed off each other. In little league we would split innings pitched in every game. I would throw three and then he would throw the next three. In high school we split games instead of innings. Cliff and I are cousins and always had a ton of family support which made it all even better. Summer baseball was a way of life for us. You could find us doing one of two things.... fishing a pond or on the road somewhere playing the game. I could not begin to tell you the amount of time we have spent together practicing and playing, Now that we have graduated we will be going in different directions, actually different states. It has been a great ride with a lot of good memories that we will always look back on. Cliff is a good athlete and I know he will excel at Southern Miss. I wish him the best. I will be cheering him on and know he will be doing the same for me.”

For Hurst there would be no question as to whether he would be heavily involved in athletics. “Cliff’s first word as a baby was ball,” said Bonnie Hurst.

That combined with both his and Hunter’s ties to a Mississippi High School coaching legend paved the path to a life of sports. Both are nephews to coaching legend Bill Hurst who has been at the pinnacle of football success at Centreville Academy football for decades.
From his first homerun as an 8 year old playing at the Haynes Little League Park in Clinton, Louisiana to his last in a 4-0 win over Marshall Academy in the state championship game Hurst has excelled. “It didn’t take long for folks to figure out not to park too close to the fence at Cliff’s little league games,” said Bonnie Hurst. “Several windshields were victims early on.”
From his early days of little league through his high school career Hurst belted 103 homeruns.
Although hitting .386 and belting out 10 homeruns his senior season Hurst was also stellar on the mound for Centreville. The right-hander mounted a 10-2 record accompanied by a 1.09 ERA.
Remarkably Hurst, who was named the MAIS MVP, received very little attention from recruiters which underscores today’s nature of college athletics to many. In many instances families aren’t savvy in the evolving system of recruiting that requires bringing talent to recruiters as opposed to recruiters finding the talent.
Fortunately for Hurst his love of football has motivated him since the 8^th grade, his first year of varsity football. A starter at tailback and linebacker his freshman year was coupled with punting and kicking duties that he fulfilled throughout his five years of varsity football at Centreville. What came with the hard work on the gridiron were two state championship rings and a talent in the kicking game.
Hurst began turning heads while attending the Ray Guy Pro-Kicker.com camps regularly and was often ranked among the best punters in the nation. That talent is what the 6’ & 215 lb Hurst is relying on to fulfill his dream of playing college football in the fall.
Hurst too understands the brevity of his time at Centreville and the thought of not sharing the same uniform with his cousin. "Hunter and I have had a good time growing up together and playing ball,” said Hurst. “We’ve created a lot of memories that we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives. I have always dreamed of him and I being able to continue to play ball together at the next level, but it didn't work out. I wish him the best at LSU. All good things must come to an end, but at the same time it isn't an end, but a new beginning. As far as my career at Centreville, I've made a lot of friends and was able to accomplish more than many dream of, thanks to family, friends, coaches and the good Lord. From my 1st State Championship as an eighth grader playing tight-end and punting in football, to being the winning pitcher in my 4th State Championship in baseball my senior year, I've been fortunate to create many memories with some of the greatest guys anyone could ever hope to have as teammates."
Since making the All-District squad as an 8^th grader Hunter Devall has been devouring opposing batters. Devall recorded 15 strikeouts against Bowling Green that season and the southpaw has been nothing short of phenomenal on the mound ever since.
Except for a two year stretch in which he transferred to Zachary High School Devall has attended school alongside Hurst since Pre-K. Both were pulled up from the Tiger’s junior varsity baseball team during their 8^th grade seasons and helped Centreville earn a playoff spot where they would ultimately advance to the South State Championship series.
Devall’s dream of playing college athletics took a different path than his cousin Cliff’s. The recruiting of Devall started in his junior year at Centreville and culminated with him signing with LSU prior to his senior season. The pressure associated with signing with a national power in college baseball can be immense but Devall showed little evidence of it affecting his talent of pitching.

The southpaw produced a 7-1 mark with 3 saves to his credit and was hands down the most dominant pitcher in the MAIS this season. In the back to back state title seasons Devall’s resume spoke for itself. Those two seasons saw Devall go 17-2 with 280 strikeouts and 7 saves and a dominating ERA of 0.88 and the lefty hit .312 at the plate for the Tigers his senior year.
In Devall’s past four seasons of baseball that included summer and fall baseball tournaments in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana he suffered just two losses.
Devall has already started attending classes at LSU and will embark on following in the footsteps of two other MAIS greats that played at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. Former Central Private stand-out and fellow southpaw Lane Mestepey and Louis Coleman who is a current member of the Kansas City Royals by way of Pillow Academy.
Both Hurst and Devall are quick to recognize the huge support from their families and the Centreville community of supporters but the unity shared by members of the Centreville baseball team is also shared amongst the parents who have been faithful in their support and never wavered when it came to providing everything needed to achieve success on the baseball field.
“Cliff SR. and I are so thankful to God for the blessings he has bestowed upon our son,” said Bonnie Hurst. “We are proud of his success not only as an athlete, but also as a student at Centreville Academy. None of what he accomplished could have been possible without so many wonderful people teaching, coaching, supporting, and loving him along the way. He hopes to be successful in his dream to play on a college football team and will be at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg this fall pursuing that dream, and somewhere in the crowd, like so many times before we will be there to cheer him on.”
“Tiger Baseball was a blast,” said Jana Devall, Hunter’s mother. “It was amazing to see this team accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. We (parents) approached Coach Horne and asked what the program needed the most to be successful. What would make it complete and give the Tigers the best opportunity to accomplish their goals for the upcoming seasons. We were expecting the answer to be uniforms, equipment, or something along those lines. His answer was a field house. I thought we had surely bitten off more than we could chew. The school got behind the team while the players and parents raised money like crazy. Six months later before the start of the season (2011), they were in a new field house. That was the start of an awesome two years. The parents and family promised the boys that we would do our part to help, but they had to be totally dedicated in reaching their goal at hand. I really believe that they refused to let anyone down. They played bigger than life and kept their word. Where this team lacked in talent they made up for it in character. Character was always the most important tool. To be the first team in 42 years to win not only a state championship, but back to back, will always be larger than life. We are so thankful that Hunter had the opportunity to play for Centreville Academy and under the instruction of Coach Horne and Coach Mann. What made this program successful was the complete unity of the coaches, players, fans, community, and school. Don't get me wrong, there was a ton of talent on this team, but what was so amazing is how everyone worked together to bring out the best. It was all positive energy. I have never been around anything like it. This was a special group of players, parents, and fans that we will never forget.”

While both Hunter Devall and Cliff Hurst will not be connected at the hip any longer as they have been for their entire lives one has to imagine that their cell phones will stay busy after LSU baseball and Southern Miss football games as the two trade experiences and reflect on their days at Centreville Academy.
It’s also easy to imagine that both will one day have sons who will probably don the purple and gold of Centreville Academy and share stories of their father’s feats and accomplishments on the field.
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Comments...........
From Anonymous:
"Two great people. I've been around them both since they were 7 and I've never had a reason to give a negative comment about either of them. It has been a pleasure to watch them both even though my school (Silliman) has been on the short end of most games."

Lady Bobcat inks with University of Mobile

Molly Speed, a 5'11 Shooting Guard from Presbyterian Christian has signed a full basketball scholarship with the University of Mobile.

(Above) Zay Speed (brother), Nancy Speed (mother), Molly Speed, and Wilford Speed (father). (Standing) Presbyterian head coach Missy Bilderback and Mobile head coach Billy Evans.

Pitts of Presbyterian signs

Bria Pitts, a 5'9 Guard/Forward from Presbyterian Christian has signed with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College to play basketball.
(Above) Earnest Pitts (father),  Bria Pitts and Bridgette Pitts (mother) 
(Standing) Mississippi Gulf Coast head coach Melaine Stone and Presbyterian head coach Missy Bilderback.

Central Holmes tags new coach

Courtesy of The Star Herald

The Central Holmes Christian School Board of Directors have secured Jonathan Bates to serve as the new head football and baseball coach as well as athletic director for the upcoming school year. Coach Bates brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience at the Junior Varsity and Varsity levels as he previously served as the Head Coach for Junior Varsity football and Varsity Baseball as well as Assistant Varsity football coach during his tenure at Tri-County Academy (1999 - 2010.) Bates is a graduate of Holmes Community College and Mississippi State University respectively with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. While at Holmes, Coach Bates was a member of the HCC Bulldog Baseball team under the direction of Coach Kenny DuPont. At Mississippi State University he worked with the baseball team under legendary former Mississippi State Coach Ron Polk. 

Jackson Academy unveils state of the art scoreboard

Jackson Academy will be one of the first high schools in Mississippi to have a live video, replay-ready, high definition video scoreboard.  Daktronics engineered and manufactured the scoreboard, video display and audio system.
The video portion of the scoreboard measures 13'6" tall and 24'4" wide and it utilizes Daktronic's latest LED technology, their DVX-15HD product, which is HD video with a 15mm LED spacing.

From the Notebook............

With only nine weeks remaining until the 2012 MAIS football season kicks off preparations are being made for what will undoubtedly be the busiest in the four years of coverage provided by Southern Sports & Travel. New features during the season will be available each week coupled with improved game highlights and interviews from coaches and players. The Southern Sports & Travel featured game of the week will be a matchup which garners the most interest regardless of classification, so with that in mind, it’s time to get the oil changed and the tires rotated.

**Each year countless coaches, parents and players text scores from their particular school’s athletic event. Without those critical up to the minute updates the thousands of visitors that choose Southern Sports & Travel would look elsewhere for information. On Friday nights during football season it’s nothing unusual to receive 250 text messages during a three hour span from 7pm till 10pm. That speaks volumes to the great people in the MAIS who understand the huge void that existed for decades with respect to connecting with other fans and schools in the association.

**Every summer coaching changes occur and in some instances attempting to connect the dots is a daunting task. This summer has been no different but I can report some changes that have been brought to my attention.

>>Heritage Academy made what most view as two very good hires in Barrett Donahoe and Gary Harris. Donahoe made the move to Columbus from Marshall Academy to head up the Heritage football program and Harris will take over as the boys head basketball coach and the girls fast pitch softball team. Heritage has also hired on former Tunica head coach Jimmy Hicks to take on the position of quarterback coach and passing game coordinator along with junior varsity head coach duties.

>>Mt. Salus announced that former standout Mary Kathryn Govero will be the new girls head basketball coach. Former head coach Rod Morris is now at Park Place Christian.

>>Riverfield Academy made it no secret that they intended on improving their boys basketball program and they did just that in hiring former Kirk Academy coach Mike Reans. Riverfield also hired Jada Adcock as the girls softball coach. Adcock played fast pitch at Northwestern State University.

>>Carroll Academy has two new basketball coaches. Ray McDaniel will take over the boys program while his wife Brandi will head up the girls program. The McDaniel’s were formerly with WCCA.

>>West Memphis Christian head basketball coach Jeff Dalton will do double duty as boys coach and Athletic Director. The Black Knights also introduced Chris Norton as their new head football coach. Norton makes the move to West Memphis from Warren, Arkansas.

>>North Delta School in Batesville has made changes. After head football coach Dan Werner left for Ole Miss North Delta promoted a familiar face to head up the football program, assistant coach Brandon Ciaramitaro. Girls head basketball coach Phil Douglas will coach both the boys and girls squads while former boys coach Brad Wilson assumes the Athletic Director and Principal positions at the school. Also, Jeff Walls will direct the North Delta baseball program. Walls goes to North Delta after coaching at Washington School.

>>Parklane Academy baseball coach Michael Clements resigned last week and new Athletic Director Randy Martin reports that the process of replacing him is underway.

>>Hillcrest Christian baseball coach Shane Kelly resigned two weeks ago to pursue an assistant coaching job with Petal High School. A second round of interviews to fill the position will take place this week.

**Got news? Email aafandaman@yahoo.com or text 985-750-3455.

Bayou Academy excited over renovations

Southern Sports & Travel 

The Bayou Academy basketball program is buzzing with excitement even though the 2012-13 season is five months from starting. For the first time since Bayou's basketball court was surfaced with a rubber synthetic floor in 1990 the Colts basketball teams for the upcoming season will experience a brand new wood floor surrounded by freshly painted walls and a stage area to boot. Of course with a brand new maple wood floor new goals and backboards are a must as well.

The $150,000 renovation project is expected to be completed by mid July and Bayou boys head basketball coach Winn Scott is pleased. "We're really excited, and the kids are excited to play on a wood surface for the first time at Bayou Academy home games," said Scott.

Covington Flooring out of Birmingham has been laying the new 3/4" maple floor that will be screwed in to provide stability.

"It's an exciting time for us and as a Bayou graduate myself it's great to see our school continue to progress," said Scott. 

Before the end of school everything from top to bottom received a fresh coat of paint in preparation for the floor installation.

Design of the finished product

Bayou Academy has an enrollment of 360 and is located in Cleveland, Mississippi and with the upgrade to its' gymnasium there is hope and anticipation of hosting future MAIS basketball post season tournaments.

Prep's Buchanan commits to University of Mississippi

Jackson Prep standout signal caller Ryan Buchanan has committed to play football for the University of Mississippi. The 6'4" senior to be led the Patriots to a 10-3 overall mark this past season and a perfect 6-0 record in District 2-AAA Division I play. Under Buchanan's leadership Prep averaged 32 points per game his junior season.

Buchanan addressed the media today from the Carlisle Room on the Jackson Prep campus. The senior had offers from Alabama and Florida but chose Ole Miss this afternoon.

Jackson Prep opens the 2012 football season on August 17th when they host MRA.