Vaughn Jones was a pleasure to watch play basketball. Way back in 1950. He was good, among the state’s best high school players. He played for the Natchez Catholic High Greenies, always a friendly competitor admired by even his opponents.

The Greenies’ big tournament those days was called the CHSAA tourney, and that year the Green Wave stood tall at the end, having defeated Notre Dame High in the meet that was held right here in Natchez. They won the all-schools Sub-Regional as well before losing in the Regional semifinals. Vaughn Jones rebounded like mad, I recall.

In a July 16, 1950, column I had fun rating Jones alongside CHS greats Charlie and Clarence Weeks, Pee Wee Garrity, Jody Perrault, Frank Joseph Petkovsek, Cubie Raphael and others who had starred for CHS years before. One thing for sure – all of them were smoothness personified.

I remember that Vaughn was a leader alright enough, but he was a quiet leader, certainly not a boastful one. He had a knack for rallying his teammates in do-or-die situations. And winning. Called leadership.

Whatever else it was about the all-time Cathedral basketball star, he was a unifer on a team that boasted several outstanding players. For sure, as the team leader, he was the sparkplug of that first Mississippi Catholic High Conference championship team.

…HURRIED HASH: &uot;Headed North on U.S. Highway 65,&uot; my wife Lorene and I like to say when we head to Branson, Mo., and that’s the route we’ll be taking in a few days. It’s true – we like the good, clean fun provided in Branson, so we usually go there a time or two each entertainment season…We also like to visit the &uot;Hungry Fisherman&uot; north out of Branson near Springfield, where former Natchezian and great guy Gary &uot;Peanut&uot; Boyd holds sway as owner and perfect host along with his charming Natchez wife Debbie. Folks with Natchez roots are simply special to us back home…Be back her Just Talkin’ in about three weeks.

…IF YOU THOUGHT football was important and baseball wasn’t to Ole Miss and Mississippi State, think again. Rebel and Bulldog diamond teams in fact have this &uot;football&uot; thing going in baseball: get after ’em men!

And probably the highlight each season is the Mayor’s Trophy game played in the spring at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium. This year’s Rebel-Bulldog game has been played and the Dawgs rocked the then 16th-ranked Rebs 15-6. Ole Miss was perched atop the SEC West, so you know how big the win was for State…Then came last weekend’s three-game Ole Miss setto with the 2nd-ranked LSU Tigers, and what a series it was! The rubber game went to the Tigers on Sunday, and first place in the SEC West and overall. The two teams beat each other in the first two outings; LSU won 15-2 on Friday and the Rebels socked the Tigers 23-10 Saturday…When Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco was winning as a player with Tiger veteran head coach Skip Bertman, he learned some tricks of the trade but collected only one win in last weekend’s crucial series in Tigertown with first place in the SEC West on the line. Applying pressure is one thing Bianco learned under College World Series veteran Bertman, but he couldn’t apply his own brand last week.

Estes is a longtime sports columnist for The Democrat.