I want to thank the Orangefield basketball team for the ride to the State Championship game. Getting near the end of my professional rope it’s still as exciting as ever to cover one of my teams as they journey through the playoffs. This one was a little more special because it was my alma mater. Watching the boys warm up on the biggest stage and looking at the sea of Orange in the stands, it was definitely emotional. It was a long way from when I played for sure. One of our coaches once said, “Our goal is to keep them under 100 and we score more than 20.” These guys were not intimidated by anyone. It could’ve been the Spurs coming out of the tunnel and they would’ve said, “Let’s go.” So thanks again fellas. And thanks to Angie for keeping me pointed in the right direction. She’s had to spend many anniversaries with me in a gym or field. Wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.
So we had an extra long football season because of the Mustangs. And we had an extra long season in basketball with Orangefield and Bridge City. And I see no reason why one of our baseball/softball teams won’t have us on a long road trip in late May or early June. The new D1/D2 format has been a good thing for our area for sure.
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Now that the basketball season is over, the biggest question hasn’t been answered. Who had the best boys team in Orange County? We’ll never know and the debate will go on. I think it’s close enough between the Bobcats and Cardinals we would have to play a best of three to find out. I asked two coaches familiar with both. One said BC and the other said Orangefield.
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One more basketball story. In the semi-finals against London, Orangefield’s Jaden Scales broke the school’s all-time scoring record that was set by Austin Farias in 2004. Austin’s wife, Rachel Briggs Farias, tells a story that she was teaching Scales in elementary school when he told her he was going to break her husbands record. What an accomplishment.
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The primary election has come and gone. Aren’t you glad?! The dirty politics was embarrassing. And I’ve been around advertising for a long time and I’ve never seen a bigger waste of money than the daily pound of mailouts that people put straight in the trash. But the worst I saw came from Don Huffines. He sent me a text that read, “Before he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk endorsed me.” He could’ve been my uncle, I wouldn’t have voted for him.
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Shoutouts to former LCM Coach Darin Harley. Coach picked up his 500th win while coaching Troup to the playoffs. Troup is a 3A school a little south of Tyler.
Also congrats to Nate Byerly who has been named the new football coach at Hemphill. Nate has been around the area for a while but now gets the best of both worlds as he’ll get to fish at Toledo Bend when he’s not at work.
Chase Adams (WOS grad) has a cool new job. He’s been hired as an associate director of scouting at Texas Tech University. His boss is another Mustang, James Blanchard. Good luck Chase!
And speaking of cool, the Orangefield Bobcats have made a slight change to their 2026 football schedule. Their game against Woodville is now going to be played at Umphrey Stadium at Lamar University.
Congrats to Kaleb Menard who is the first Bobcat to win the Wille Ray Smith Defensive Player of the Year Award. Running back Beaux Daville was the first Bobcat to win the award and that was in 1998.
LCM is still looking for its first winner. Vidor has the mark of having one player, Montana Quirante, win both awards in the same year. WOS has the most and the only school to sweep the two awards with two different players, Jack Dallas on offense and Steven Tims on defense.
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The Lamar State College Orange bass club has been scrapped. It saw some early success thanks to some pretty good fishermen but had lost its momentum and I imagine sponsorships followed it. It’s not a cheap sport. President Wendy Elmore said they hope to revamp it sometime in the future.
The Bassmaster Classic had an incredible story, but was it good for business? Dylan Nutt, a college angler who qualified through BASS Nation, dominated the tournament of seasoned pro’s and won the event the day after his twin brother, Carter, teamed up with another member of the North Alabama U. Bass team to win the College Exhibition Classic. What a story, right? It’s only the second time (Bryan Kerchal, 1994) an Elite didn’t win the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing.
It was not a big win for one of Nutt’s major sponsors. As you know the fisherman cover themselves and anything else they own with the logo’s of their sponsors. Many are places we’ve never heard of so when we’re watching Bassmaster Live, we look them up to see what they’re all about. Well, the website of Nutt’s hat sponsor was down, causing them to miss what I would guess would’ve been the biggest day of sales in their history. Tough break.
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March Madness is underway and yes I have a bracket. It never works out like I thought it would after I pick my teams. But my Final Four is basically chalk with Duke, Michigan, Florida, and Purdue. Of course I would love to see Houston win. And St. John’s and Arkansas are the scary teams that could wreck some brackets. Haven’t picked my women’s bracket yet.
Until next time….
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-Gary Stelly-
gstelly66@gmail.com
Volume 2 No. 3
The Juice is a column where Gary Stelly discusses things that’s happened in the area and mixes it with 40 years of being involved in the Orange County community. (If we think of a better way to explain it we’ll change it) You can also check out his podcast by clicking on the Behind the Mic banner on the KOGT.com front page.
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