Teams like Fort Worth Arlington Heights enjoy surprising starts in high school basketball across state.
In the spirit of the holiday season, we present to you some notorious party crashers, those original miscast outfits who slithered into the festivities and have now comfortably made themselves at home and can mix and mingle with the best of them.
It’s something that happens every year and there is no getting away from it. This year we present to you as Exhibit A none other than Fort Worth Arlington Heights, a school in the FWISD throughout the years more known for their prowess on a baseball diamond than a basketball court. But midway into December here sit the Yellowjacket boys with a gaudy 17-0 record and a new TABC/Tex Preps Basketball state ranking that went from nowhere to No. 6 in the state.
Picked to finish fourth by the District 7-4A coaches, coach Gary Collier’s team lurked under the radar after going 21-11/12-6 last year. Guard play has been huge for Heights, and now perennial favorite Fort Worth Dunbar is the one doing the chasing this year.
Arlington Heights is not the only newbie making noise just prior to district play. In Class 3A, Paris (9-1) and Rockdale (10-1) have also bolted out of the gate and are new to the state rankings at No. 16 and No. 18, respectively.
Expect more crashers to make their presence known before the new year rolls around. In the meantime, a wealth of holiday tournaments are still on tap leading into 2010, many of them storied and tradition-rich. But before we get to those, here is a recap of tournament championship results from games played on Saturday.
BOYS
Abernathy Shootout: Abernathy 34, Whitesboro 31
Darius Johnson, Istrouma
File photo by Michael Henderson
Bagg Invitational: Prestonwood Christian Academy 57, Bryan 46
Baytown Christian Academy Tournament: BVCHEA 52, Mount Carmel 42
Borden County Invitational: Lubbock Christian 79, Anson 57
Brownsville ISD Tournament: Brownsville Hanna 88, Brownsville Lopez 49
Catclaw Classic: Lubbock Trinity Christian 62, Tuscola Jim Ned 42
Cathedral Tournament: El Paso Bowie 51, El Paso Socorro 36
Centerville Tournament: Centerville 61, Buffalo 29
Clifton Tournament: Fort Worth Zion 84, China Spring 42
Dayton Tournament: La Marque 55, Conroe Oak Ridge 39
Fairfield Tournament: Melissa 71, Waco 58
Fayetteville Tournament: Mumford 85, Fayetteville 65
Fort Davis Mile High Classic: Fort Davis 50, Balmorhea 43
Frost Tournament: Waco Vanguard 34, Frost 24
Granbury ISD Tournament: Fort Worth Arlington Heights d. Killeen
Grandfalls-Royalty Tournament: Rankin 44, Grandfalls-Royalty 27
Great East Texas Shootout: Crandall 48, Brownsboro 46
Greenbelt Classic: Wheeler 60, Texline 56
Gregory-Portland Tournament: Lubbock Estacado 53, San Antonio Lanier 48
Gunslinger Shootout: Paris 64, Hope (AR) 44
Happy State Bank North Plains Invitational: Dalhart 63, Stinnett West Texas 16
Iowa Park/City View Tournament: Bowie 69, Iowa Park 46
Lee College Classic: Gold: Peabody 54, Deer Park 36; Silver: Westgate 74, Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill 69; Bronze: Crosby 59, Baytown Goose Creek Memorial 30
Leroy Romines Hoopfest: Dallas Pinkston 58, Fort Worth Trimble Tech 5
Meadow Tournament: Meadow 58, Ropesville Ropes 29
Miles Tournament: Eula 52, Winters 24
Monahans Sandhills Tournament: Big Spring 63, Monahans 40
Mountain View Tournament: El Paso Austin 63, El Paso Eastwood 48
New Deal Mean Green Classic: Idalou 67, Floydada 54
Orangefield Tournament: Port Neches-Groves 48, Orangefield 38
Ozona Tournament: Ozona 61, Midland JV 59 (OT)
Pflugerville Tournament: Pflugerville 72, Killeen Ellison 64
Plains Tournament: Lovington (NM) 61, Plains 40
Port Isabel Tournament: Mercedes 64, Harvest Christian 43
Pride of Texas Tournament: The Woodlands 64, Rosenberg Terry 48
Redwater/Scoreboard Invitational: McLeod 69, DeKalb 43
S&S Tournament: Bells 39, Era 15
Salado Coach Smith Tournament: Austin St. Michael’s 56, Brock 34
Santa Maria Tournament: San Isidro 58, Macadonia 44
Sealy Tournament: Navasota 91, Sealy 66
Sharyland Diamondback Classic: Weslaco 53, Hidalgo 36
Stanton Hooptown Classic: Wall 77, Lenorah Grady 44
Sulphur Bluff Invitational: Bloomburg 63, Yantis 60
Sundown Tournament: Anton 58, Denver City 53
Union Square Bulldog Classic: Burkburnett 66, Dallas Highland Park 65
Van Vleck Tournament: Sweeny 66, Van Vleck 50
Vernon Invitational: Memphis 54, Wichita Falls Heat 37
Water Valley Tournament: Water Valley 64, Eldorado 59
Whitharral Invitational: Olton 54, Welch Dawson 28
YMBL Tournament: Houston Westbury Christian 53, Port Arthur Memorial 40
Zavalla Jingle Bell Jubilee: Elkhart Slocum 38, Diboll 29
GIRLS
Altus (OK) Tournament: Cache (OK) 66, Iowa Park 49
Borden County Invitational: Gail Borden County 37, Forsan 30
Brownsville ISD Tournament: Hidalgo 45, Edinburg 40
Bynum Tournament: Rice 29, Waco Rappoport 28
Cap Herman Invitational: Campbell 46, Pattonville Prairiland 45
Catclaw Classic: Abilene Wylie 55, Wall 46
Celeste Tournament: Ladonia Fannindel 41, Sunnyvale 38
Centerville Tournament: Jewett Leon 57, Buffalo 41
Community Tournament: Burleson 46, Paris North Lamar 45
Fort Davis Mile High Classic: Terlingua Big Bend 28, Fort Davis 22
Fort Elliott Invitational: Wheeler 46, Texline 39
Franklin Tournament: Bryan Rudder 83, Franklin 53
Freeman Parish Invitational: Honey Grove 66, Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill 52
Frost Invitational Tournament: Dawson 26, Frost 14
Grandfalls-Royalty Tournament: Rankin 42, Monahans JV 41
Great East Texas Shootout: Winnsboro 65, Tyler John Tyler 48
Gunslinger Shootout: Arkansas High 76, Clarksville 25
Happy State Bank North Plains Invitational: Gruver 32, Claude 23
Harleton Tournament: Texarkana Pleasant Grove 53, Harleton 37
Meadow Tournament: Garden City 57, Ackerly Sands 26
Miles Tournament: Eula 49, Crane 33
Monahans Sandhills Tournament: Lubbock Trinity 67, El Paso Bowie 42
New Deal Mean Green Classic: Smyer 54, Littlefield 36
Plains Tournament: Plains 48, Sudan JV 41
Pride of Texas Tournament: Austin Westlake 51, Rockport-Fulton 24
Redwater/Scoreboard Invitational: De Queen (AR) 46, Simms Bowie 33
Salado Coach Smith Tournament: Lorena 38, Liberty Hill 35
Snook Tournament: Snook 58, Valley Mills 52 (OT)
Stanton Hooptown Classic: Stanton 44, Coahoma 37
Sundown Tournament: Anton 47, Sundown 31
Tommie Wiseman Tournament: Mission 54, La Feria 38
Vernon Invitational: Vernon Freshmen 43, Eldorado 42
Waskom Invitational: Hughes Springs 60, Waskom 23
Water Valley Tournament: Paint Rock 62, Menard 59
West Kolache Classic: Waco La Vega 38, Waco Connally 30
Whitharral Invitational: Whiteface 48, Whitharral 37
YMBL Tournament: Beaumont Central 63, Killeen Harker Heights 46
Zavalla Jingle Bell Jubilee: Woodville 42, Woden 29
R.V. Baugus is publisher and editor of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and www.texprepsbasketball.com.
