By R.V. Baugus, www.texprepsbasketball.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
The boys’ high school regular season ends on Tuesday, so it’s not too early to look at some of the playoff favorites as well as back at a wacky and upsetting week of prep hoops.
We’ll start in Class 4A, where Cinderella Carrollton Newman Smith rode from unloved at the beginning of the year to No. 1 in the state in the TABC/Tex Preps Basketball magazine rankings. Unfortunately, the clock hit midnight over the weekend when the Trojans were knocked off by district foe Dallas Highland Park, itself a respectable No. 18 in the state.
The Scots were a top 10 team early on, but coach Dave Piehler said he believed the ranking to be too high for his young team. Highland Park suffered some early losses but the team is now rounding into form, evidenced in particular by the 52-45 win over Newman Smith. Daniel Edwards had 17 points and 16 rebounds in the big win.
Though unranked, Pflugerville Hendrickson has created all kinds of havoc in District 25-4A. One week after stunning then No. 1 Austin Lake Travis (which incidentally elevated Newman Smith to the top), the Hawks took aim on state No. 6 Killeen and came away with another huge upset.
In Class 3A, No. 3 Argyle was beaten by unheralded Prosper, while No. 4 Stafford was smitten by Needville.
Moving down to Class 2A, Dimmitt closed the old Kenneth Cleveland Gymnasium with a one-point win over No. 5 Floydada, which was 25-1 going into the contest.
Looking back at the entire season, only Cayuga in Class A Division I started as No. 1 and has held the position throughout the year. More interesting is that the Wildcats got a very late start to the season due to a lengthy football playoff run.
With several marquee matchups on tap for Tuesday, it is quite possible that some more upsets are looming on the horizon.
Looking Ahead
Upsets aside, now is a good time in advance of the postseason to look at some of the teams expected to make a lot of noise and possible trips to Austin for the state tournament.
In Class 5A, Houston Strake Jesuit stands at 31-0 and the state’s only unbeaten team. Still, most believe the road to a title will go through No. 3 Duncanville, which is closing the season on a strong run. One team to keep an eye on is North Crowley, last year’s Class 5A state champions. The Panthers graduated the talented Willie Warren to Oklahoma and some saw perhaps a slight decline, but Tony McGilveary and company are at No. 4 and with a 28-5 mark.
In Class 4A, the field is wide open. Houston Yates is No. 3 and 27-1 and has been putting up some sick numbers. The preseason No. 1 team in the state has come through a tough HISD district and is like Duncanville – a team with a strong finishing kick.
Newman Smith and Lake Travis have both held the top spot and will be formidable out of Region II and Region IV, respectively. Whitehouse with Jacob Holmen and No. 2 Dallas Carter with a bevy of scorers also will vie for what shapes up to be an exciting Region II bracket.
After a run in December through the Dallas ISD Tournament, Dallas Madison vaulted to the top of Class 3A and has been on a blistering pace since. The Trojans behind cousins Desmond and Timothy Flentroy loom as the favorites.
Ponder held the top spot in Class 2A for much of the year before suffering its first loss a couple of weeks ago to district rival Krum. The Lions are defending champions and a strong No. 2 behind talented and athletic New Waverly. Gladewater Sabine has been under the radar but is No. 3 and dangerous.
Cayuga remains the top team in Division I while Vega comes out of West Texas as No. 1 in Division II.
Going Overtime … And Beyond
Lufkin and The Woodlands just enjoyed playing each other so much in a District 14-5A clash last week that they played, and played, and played. When it was over, the teams had gone to a fifth overtime before host Lufkin eked out an 83-82 win. The tired teams return to the court for one more regular season game with both holding 5-4 district records.
R.V. Baugus is the Publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and www.texprepsbasketball.com.
