By R.V. Baugus, Tex Preps Basketball
Special to MaxPreps.com
The first installment of TABC/Tex Preps Basketball state rankings on the boys’ side held up for less than one week.
Blame the McDonald’s Texas Invitational in Pasadena, a mega-tournament featuring 48 boys teams and 32 girls teams, that played out over the weekend in nine locations.
The tournament was blessed to have many of the state’s elite teams participating in a round-robin demolition derby at its best. When the smoke finally cleared it was San Antonio Madison that stood tall with an 83-81 upset over state No. 1 Duncanville.
On the girls’ side, No. 4 College Park of The Woodlands dominated No. 10 Cypress-Fairbanks and Chiney Ogwumike 85-61 to capture the Division I championship.
Madison entered the state rankings at No. 4 and could likely move to the top after beating Duncanville and watching No. 2 Fort Bend Hightower struggle out of the gate with a 2-4 record.
But it wasn’t just Madison and Duncanville that canceled each other out during a frenetic three days of play.
Aforementioned Hightower already has four losses on their team ledger after the tournament. Defending Class 5A state champion North Crowley left town with a pair of defeats. No. 7 DeSoto went 3-3.
Deeper down the rankings, No. 18 McAllen impressed with a 4-1 mark while No. 20 Houston Chavez also went 4-1.
Putting Up Points
Head coach Mike Wacker’s Converse Judson Rockets came out firing at the Del Rio Tournament and won the final over Austin Lanier, 76-42. While 76 is a solid output at the high school level, it was a blip on the radar compared to what Judson did earlier in the tournament. First, the Rockets played angry guest to host Del Rio in a 99-18 thrashing and followed that up with a 109-26 pounding of Laredo Johnson.
In Class A Division II Waelder was up to some old tricks from last year. Coach John Cardenas’ Wildcats were frequent visitors to triple digits in 2007-08 and have already notched a pair of century mark performances this year with a 102-46 decision over Lutheran and a 116-44 dismantling of Victoria Athletics. In that game Corey Wilson went for 25 points as one of six players to hit double figures.
Few burst out of the gate like Hurst L.D. Bell’s Marshall Henderson, a future Utah Ute. Henderson notched 50 in a 102-77 win over Class 4A state runner-up Fort Worth Southwest. Meanwhile, Tyler Kennedy went off for 48 to lead Lubbock Trinity Christian past Odessa, 102-68.
Early Rivalry Games
Monday was the first night for UIL boys games, and aforementioned San Antonio Madison and San Antonio Wagner got after it opening night with the Mavericks holding on to beat No. 17 Wagner, 83-82.
Madison, the two-time defending regional champion, split four games with Wagner last year. Jonathan Landry had 14 to lead Madison
Class 4A No. 1 Dallas Lincoln isn’t making things easy on itself in the early going. The Tigers opened with an 87-76 win over three-time defending state champion South Oak Cliff, but stumbled against Class 3A No. 8 Dallas Madison, 76-74.
In another small brother beats big brother affair, Class 2A No. 1 Ponder topped Class 3A No. 2 Burkburnett, 77-57.
Jump, Jump
Aldine Nimitz star Brittney Griner, all 6-foot-8 of her, set a national record when she blocked 25 shots (not a misprint) in a 69-18 win over Alief Hastings. The Baylor signee broke the record of 23 set by Myeisha Jones of Oakland (Calif.) Claremont in 1997.
Griner had a triple-double with 21 points and 13 boards to go with the block party.
Late Starts
As is the case every winter, a number of lower classification schools did not start play as athletes are still involved in football playoffs.
It is not unusual to see a number of schools stay idle until December. Based on the teams that are ranked in both sports, that should hold true again this year.
R.V. Baugus is editor/publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine (www.texprepsbasketball.com).