Hidden Trails Country Club will be hosting its annual Mixed Pairs Scramble this weekend (July 30 & 31).

Entry fees for a team are $130, including a dinner on Saturday evening, as well as a 'skins' game.

In a 'skins' match, each hole is assigned a different monetary value and the golfer who wins the hole with the best score outright wins the money for that hole.
If two or more golfers tie on a hole, the skins carry over to the next hole. If two or more golfers tie the final hole, a playoff begins until one person wins a hole outright.

The tournament will feature shotgun starts on both days, and will also include tee times at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Hole sponsorships are still available for the event.

For more information and sponsorship inquiries, contact Hidden Trails PGA Pro John Barge at 624-3638.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The final Rib City Shootout of the summer is now underway!


The ladies are taking the courts today to battle for the tournament championship. 34 teams from as far as Tennessee and Illinois made the trek to Dexter to participate in the two-day basketball extravaganza.

The Lady ‘Cats are well represented in the tournament, fielding teams at the seventh grade, eighth grade, JV and varsity levels.

Games will be held in the Bearcat Event Center - on three courts at once, thanks to the size of the facility - T. S. Hill Middle School, and Southwest Elementary School gymnasiums.


Games are scheduled to run from 9:45 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. today (July 28); pool play begins at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow (July 29), with the tournament finals scheduled for a 4:45 p.m. start. A full schedule of the tournament can be found here.

Admission is $5 each day for an all-day pass, and a full concession stand is provided.

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Make sure to check back with the ShowMe Times for full coverage and photo galleries from this summer’s final Rib City Shootout!


Special to the ShowMe Times - courtesy of Baptist Press Sports

BOSTON--U.S. team member Stephanie Cox spent much of her time on the bench at the Women's World Cup in Germany.

The lack of playing time - she played in two of the team's six games, for a total of 67 minutes - was frustrating. But it also served as a reminder to Cox of her responsibility to her teammates, no matter how much she was on the field.

Cox, a defender, began to see "that God has me there for a bigger purpose than for me to excel at my sport, or just wins and losses. It's more about the effect I can have on my teammates. My responsibility is to show them Christ."

Cox said she tried to cheer loudly for her teammates, supporting them and encouraging them in persevering through the competition. In doing so, she hoped they could see her love for them - and Christ's love in her - shining through.

"Eternity's worth more than playing every game," Cox said.

A native of Elk Grove, Calif., Cox grew up in a Christian home and was a member of First Baptist Church there affiliated with the North American Baptist Conference. She made a profession of faith at a young age and took several mission trips with her family as a youth.

As she grew older and became more involved with soccer, Cox often struggled with figuring out how the sport could fit with her life as a Christian. "How could God use my role as a soccer player?" she asked herself.

She often felt during high school as if soccer competed with her relationship with the Lord. Her commitment to the sport often caused her to miss youth group events or other church activities. But when she began her college career at the University of Portland, she discovered something important about the connection between soccer and her faith.

"When I got to college, some other girls on the team were Christians, and I realized you could find a community of Christians wherever you are," said Cox, who plays professionally for the Boston Breakers. "I've been trying to seek after communities on my teams ever since. That's an encouragement to my faith and my relationship with God - because often you can't go to church on Sundays."

During her time in Germany as part of the U.S. team, Cox said she could see ways in which God was moving on her team. She and several Christian teammates often prayed for team unity, and Cox said they felt God bringing them together.

"We were just so grateful that He was writing a bigger story than we could have," Cox said.

They held regular Bible studies, and on one Sunday they gathered to sing worship songs and listen to an online sermon.

The tournament's outcome was heartbreaking for Cox and her teammates, who lost to Japan in the championship game. But Cox said the World Cup experience has given women's soccer more exposure - and given her and other Christian teammates a greater platform to talk about their relationship with Christ.

"So even though we lost, I feel so honored to be a part of a team that so many people were watching and so many people were taking notice of," Cox said. "I almost feel like we won, in a way."

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Tim Ellsworth is editor of Baptist Press Sports and director of news and media relations at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Bearcats are back on the field this week as the final camp of the summer carries on at Charles Bland Stadium. DHS Offensive Line Coach Greg Lummukkua was running the ‘hogs’ through a variety of drills during the group offense section of the evening’s practice.


Zach Lacy (far left) is going to be a key leader on the offensive line this year, and looks to help lead the ‘Cats to another run deep into the post-season.


‘Mother Nature’ won’t be playing nice with the Bearcats during the rest of the week’s camp, with temperatures expected to stay in the upper 90’s through Friday evening.

All DHS athletes will be entering the MSHSAA-sanctioned ‘dead week’ next week, with the football team returning to the field to begin official practices not long after their week off.

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By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Athletic ability runs strong in the men of the Windham family. Wayne Windham played basketball at Mississippi State University. His son Don played football and baseball at Northeast Mississippi Community College. Don’s oldest son, Eric, played baseball at St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley, and was recruited by several schools for his abilities on the football field. Eric’s little brother, Ryan, is currently following in their footsteps.

Ryan is playing basketball at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. The 19 year old son of Don & Vicki Windham is a 2010 graduate of Dexter High School and just finished his freshman season with the Eagles. He was a three-sport athlete at DHS until his senior year, when he decided not to play tennis. Despite not getting a lot of playing time during his freshman season, he is optimistic about his future at the school.

“I didn’t get to play a lot this year, but hopefully that will change this season,” he said. “We have a new coach and a new system, and I think it will be a good system to play in. It’s fast paced, which is what I like and play the best in, and that makes it more fun for me.”

The Eagles struggled last season, ending with an 11-17 (4-10 American Midwest Conference) record, but hopefully with new blood in the system, things will begin to change.

“Jeff Rider was our coach, and he had just finished his fifteenth season at Williams,” Windham added. “Coach Nichols actually played for him. Our new coach is John Austin, who used to be at Central Baptist in Conway.”

One would think that there would be a lot of pressure with such a prolific family history in athletics, but it wasn’t the case.

“There was never really that much pressure on me,” Windham noted. “Everybody always just told me that if I wanted to play, then go play. If not, that’s fine too. The only demand was that I give my best effort if I decided to play.”

Windham began playing basketball at a young age, and even went on to win the Show-Me State Games with one of his teams.

“I started playing AAU ball in fifth grade - we won the Show-Me State tournament,” Windham recalled. “Amos Smith was the coach - he started shooting with me and teaching me a lot, but I’ve played with the same group since third or fourth grade. Guys like Ben Mills, Sawyer Smith, Hunter Bruce and Chance Holden.”

“Amos always taught me left hand,” he added. “He told me that I’d never be the strongest or the fastest, so I’d have to be the smartest. That’s really stuck with me over the years - it’s all about reading the defense and seeing what they’re going to do.”

Moving into junior high and high school, Ryan had a great person to learn from: his older brother Eric, who was a starter on the varsity football, basketball, and baseball teams.


“My brother didn’t teach me a lot directly, but I learned a lot by watching him. We always played one on one growing up, but I still can’t beat him...its just that little brother thing. He always beats up on me in the driveway,” Windham said, laughing. “He was someone I could watch and mimic myself after, especially with ‘the shot’ - he has one of the best shots I’ve ever seen. Even today, when we play together, I still try to make myself shoot like him. He’s hard-nosed and likes to hit people, so I’ve tried to move that into my game as well. I’m not the biggest guy, so I have to make up for it with a little extra physicality sometimes.”

Windham also noted other DHS Alums that he took lessons from during his youth, as well as a former Duke Blue Devil.

“Amos Smith, I took his passing and ball-handling. I used to go across the street to his house; we’d sit in his basement and watch videos of Michael Jordan doing crazy moves with the ball and try to learn how to do them. I also liked watching Matt & Kyle Christian play when I was a kid, as well as Shannon Wright. I loved watching J.J. Redick when he was at Duke. He can hit shots at any time, averaged like 30 points a game. Great free-throw shooter too.”

A three sport athlete for all but his senior year, Windham enjoyed success on the football field and tennis court, as well as the basketball court.

“I liked whichever sport was in season the best, but I really liked football. The teamwork aspect that Coach Pixley pushed, I really got behind that and made it a part of my mentality in all sports,” he said. “We always just had fun in football - I was out there as a sophomore with my brother, and just kept going through and grew up and quit getting knocked around so much.”

Windham also noted the persistence of his high school basketball coach, Rob Nichols, in helping him to get where he is now.

“Coach Nichols always stayed on me about shooting the ball more,” he said. “He made me come in and shoot all the time, and I think it really helped me in getting a college basketball scholarship.”

Williams Baptist wasn’t the only school to recruit Windham: he was also contacted by Bethel University - where fellow Bearcat alum Derek Demaree played basketball - and Northeastern Mississippi Community College.

“I was looking at Bethel, where Derek Demaree went,” Windham recalled. “He talked to their coach about me and got me a tryout; I just didn’t feel that I’d really fit in there.”

“I like the people down there - everyone’s super nice,” Windham said of his school. “The Christian atmosphere is great. We’re in the middle of a corn field - literally - so there isn’t much to do other than go to Jonesboro, which is like 20 miles away. Being down there with Tyler [Tanner] really helps things a lot. It’s a really nice campus. They’ve been renovating a lot of the buildings recently.”

Windham is planning on finishing a business degree at Williams Baptist College, and expects to graduate in May of 2014.


Regardless of what he does in life or when he graduates, Ryan Windham will live up to both of his ‘family traditions‘ - he’s an outstanding collegiate athlete and he always has been, and always will be, a hard working man.

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Make sure to check back with the ShowMe Times for updates on Ryan’s future basketball seasons at Williams Baptist College!