By R.V. Baugus, www.texprepsbasketball.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
The previous week of Texas high school basketball action was the busiest of the year as tournaments all over the state primed teams for district play. For Dallas Madison, it was a week to remember.
The Class 3A Trojans, No. 3 in the TABC/Tex Preps Basketball rankings, participated in the Dallas ISD/Coca-Cola Tournament, one of the oldest and most prestigious holiday tournaments in the state.
All coach Damien Mobley’s team did was run through Dallas Skyline, Mesquite Horn, Dallas Lincoln, Dallas Carter and Dallas Kimball for the championship. All schools are either state-ranked or have been under consideration for a state ranking, and all five play in either Class 5A or 4A.
Timothy Flentroy was named the tournament MVP and along with cousin Desmond Flentroy steadied the Trojans throughout the three-day event.
Madison then beat rival Dallas Roosevelt by 31 points. Roosevelt had also been state-ranked earlier in the season.
Several schools in addition to Madison got to hoist tournament championship trophies last week. Here is a look at some boys’ tournament championship results:
American Bank of Texas Holiday Tournament—Sherman 49, Denison 45
Border Olympic Tournament—Laredo Alexander 50, Laredo United 47
Brazosport ISD Holiday Classic—Clute Brazoswood 64, Freeport Brazosport 54
Breckenridge Lions Club Tournament—Throckmorton 31, Fort Worth Country Day 28
Byron Johnston Holiday Classic—Midland Lee 58, Midland 51
Calallen Christmas Classic—Fort Bend Elkins 58, Austin St. Michael’s 57
Canadian Holiday Tournament—Panhandle 53, Beaver (OK) 35
Castleberry Holiday Classic—Saginaw Boswell 95, river Oaks Castleberry 60
Conroe Christmas Classic—Houston Cypress Woods 65, Texas City 51
Dallas ISD/Coca-Cola Tournament—Dallas Madison 63, Dallas Kimball 56
Dan Noll Christmas Classic—White Oak 71, Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill 54
Eddie Nelson Classic—Stafford 94, Columbia 39
FiberMax Caprock Classic (Red Division)—Floydada 54, Spearman 42
FiberMax Caprock Classic (Green Division)—Brownfield 59, El Paso Hanks 57 (OT)
Fort Worth Coca-Cola Classic—Arlington Bowie 57, Killeen 47
Godley Tournament—Fort Worth Nolan 62, Itasca 56
Gulf Coast Classic—Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill 58, Cleveland 50
James Gamble Classic—Port Arthur Memorial 61, Aldine Eisenhower 56 (OT)
Kingwood Holiday Classic—Kingwood 60, Klein Collins 48
Kiwanis Classic—Kerens 69, Italy 55
Leonard Tournament—Whitewright 58, Leonard 55
Littlefield Wildcat Classic—Lubbock Cooper 41, Littlefield 38
Lovelady Tournament—Bryan Rudder 57, Willis 56
Lufkin Holiday Hoopfest (Division I)—Bryan 59, Fort Bend Willowridge 43
Lufkin Holiday Hoopfest (Division II), New Waverly 55, Lufkin Hudson 54
Mesquite Poteet Tournament—Sachse 42, West Mesquite 39
Mineral Wells Holiday Hoopfest—Keller Fossil Ridge 59, Cleburne
M.T. Rice/Mars Snackfood U.S. Tournament—Pflugerville 76, Hewitt Midway 62
NCTC Tournament—Callisburg 51, Gainesville State School 46
Prosper Showcase—Argyle Liberty Christian 60, Prestonwood Christian Academy 47
Sherman Holiday Invitational—Sanger 53, Whitesboro 43
Sinton Rotary Classic—Elgin 68, Gregory-Portland 48
State Farm Insurance Tournament—Dallas Jesuit 78, Mesquite 67
Thorndale Tournament—Mumford 83, Thorndale 80
Wagstaff Holiday Classic (Gold Bracket)—Whitehouse 74, Tyler John Tyler 60
Wagstaff Holiday Classic (Apache Bracket)—Tyler Chapel Hill 64, Tatum 60
Whataburger Tournament (Orange Division)—Houston Wheatley 73, North Crowley 52
Whataburger Tournament (White Division)—El Paso Chapin 78, Austin LBJ 74
Whataburger Tournament (Blue Division)—Ponder 87, Burkburnett 84
Sister Act
In girls action, Coach Monica Rodriguez’s Hidalgo Pirates knocked off coach Maritza Pedraza’s McAllen Memorial Mustangs, 49-42, in a consolation championship game during the recent Josten’s Tournament.
In this case, it was Monica beating sister Maritza’s team. The sisters have faced each other four times with Monica getting the win on each occasion. They last faced each other two years ago at the same tournament.
Hidalgo improved to 20-2 with the win while Memorial fell to a solid 18-7.
Oh, Perfect!
The sisters weren’t the only ones making news out of the Rio Grande Valley.
J.J. Guzman, a senior for San Benito, made his District 32-5A opener one to remember when he canned 12-of-12 from the field and hit all four free throws for 28 points to lead the Greyhounds to a 65-47 win over Brownsville Porter.
Glad to be Home
The Duncanville players can be forgiven if they are squeezing their pillows just a little bit tighter these days. The Panthers recently returned from a the T-Mobile Invitational in Muncie, Ind., marking the third time this year the team has ventured outside of Texas to play.
While the team fell to South Atlanta, Ga., and later to Garfield of Seattle, Wash., look for this team to be a serious contender for a Class 5A state championship. Getting home must have been what the doctor ordered as the Panthers took out Irving MacArthur in a District 7-5A opener.
San Antonio Madison Takes First Loss
Class 5A No. 1 San Antonio Madison suffered its first loss of the season at the aforementioned Dallas ISD/Coca-Cola Tournament to Dallas Carter, 77-73, in overtime.
Jarvis Phillips, who was also Carter’s quarterback, led the way with 21 points while Stephan Baird had 19 for the Mavericks.
Rawls Wins No. 500
Bronte coach Rocky Rawls recently won his 500th game and the number is now up to 508 following a 46-27 win over Robert Lee. The school acknowledged and honored the win last weekend at halftime of the school’s girls’ game against Menard.
Rawls came to Bronte prior to the 1983 and admitted he did not plan to be at the school for 26 years. Not only is Rawls still at Bronte, but twin sophomore sons Dakota and Kerwin are starters on the team.
300 And Counting For James Knowles
Beaumont Kelly boys coach James Knowles hit career win No. 300 when his team topped Lumberton, 62-56, on Dec. 22. Knowles has won three state championships at Kelly and carries a 301-225 record.
Griner at McDonald’s All-Star Invitational
Brittney Griner, the 6-8 senior from Aldine Nimitz and automatic triple-double machine, drew quite a crowd (no, this time we mean fans, not the usual crowd she draws around the basket from the opposition) when her team faced off against 6-4 junior Karla Gilbert and A&M Consolidated at the McDonald’s All-Star Invitational.
Griner came out on top as her team took a 60-44 win. The future Baylor Bear came away with 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots. She also slammed home five dunks (she unofficially now has 30 dunks in 21 games).
Griner has become such a luminary in her senior year that a touring Australian team at the tournament surrounded her to have pictures taken with the dunking American.
R.V. Baugus is the Publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and www.texprepsbasketball.com.
