The first round of the Clash of the Causeway went to
Ball (Galveston), an 81-76 winner over Class 4A No. 1
La Marque.
One of the most anticipated district games in the state this year lived up to its hype when Class 4A No. 5 Ball knocked off rival La Marque before more than 2,500 fans at Phillips Field House.
Ball had played at the 5A level for a number of years before last February's UIL realignment brought the Tornadoes down to District 24-4A, guaranteeing two annual district contests against the Cougars.
Ball senior
Terran Petteway led the way with 23 points and 11 rebounds and sparked an early outburst for the Tornadoes with help from
Mike Evans, who scored 20. In all, Ball would go on to shoot 53 percent while limiting La Marque to 33 percent.
La Marque kept gunning from outside and hoisted 33 3-pointers, of which 11 found the bottom of the net. University of Texas signee
Julien Lewis paced the Cougars with 28 points, just off his average of 29.2.
Round No. 2 takes place on Feb. 11 with a site still being discussed to handle what should again be an overflow crowd. Ball stands at 24-2, 5-0 while La Marque is 23-2, 5-1.
UNIFORMS MAKE THE TEAMFans of the
Porter (Brownsville) boys probably did a double-take recently when the Cowboys took the court for a District 32-5A outing against
San Benito.
Coach Luis Garza had his team dress in junior varsity jerseys because of their poor play a week earlier. The tactic paid off as the Cowboys overcame a deficit to grab a 59-41 win over the Greyhounds.
The move came after Porter lost a 52-48 game to Brownsville Pace and was the first thing that came to Garza's mind after the game. This time Porter stormed out on a 16-2 run during the third quarter to take command of the game.
Garza included himself in the dress-down as the normally nattily attired coach was dressed in sweats for the game.
SCORING OUTBURSTS FOR THE GIRLSHouston Worthing senior
Jenzel Nash led her team to an 84-38 district win over Houston Washington with a monster 64-point game. The final stat line for Nash included 12 rebounds, nine assists and nine steals in a remarkable individual performance.
The 64-point outburst actually is not foreign territory for Nash, who dropped 59 on Houston Scarborough earlier this season. Nash's scoring average rose from 36 to 40.2 after the Washington game.
Meanwhile, North Carolina State commit
Erica Donovan scored 41 and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead San Antonio Jay to a 78-71 overtime win over San Antonio Stevens. The teams are District 27-5A rivals but the game marked the fourth time they had played this season with Jay winning all four.
While Donovan was putting up points in bunches, so was Stevens'
Alexis Govan. The Western Kentucky signee scored 38 and led her team to a halftime lead that evaporated in the third quarter.
ROAD WARRIORSTexas Leadership Charter Academy (San Angelo) competes in District 12 in Class A Division I. The Lady Eagles fell to 5-13, 1-3 following a 74-26 district loss to Winters, but that is not the story.
Actually, 5-13 should probably be considered a good record considering the team does not have a home gymnasium to play its games. The team is in its first year of UIL competition but does not have a facility yet with the necessary seating capacity.
This means that games such as the one with Winters in which TLCA was designated the home team often take place at strange and unusual sites. For this contest the team traveled to Bronte, a 45-minute bus trip.
The team expects to have a home court ready for next year, but in the interim will press forward. Tuesday's district contest against Goldthwaite, at least, will be held in San Angelo at the Junell Center.
A HEAVE FROM MIDCOURT?The game between the Class 4A No. 1 Canyon girls and No. 21 Amarillo Palo Duro was delayed at the start because of — well, there really is no good way to describe it — someone who became ill and left a reminder near midcourt.
It turns out it was an unidentified Palo Duro player and perhaps was an omen for the night, as Canyon rolled to a 63-35 win.
Canyon coaching legend Joe Lombard has been at his school for 26 years and coached 33 overall while Palo Duro coach A.J. Johnson is in his 19th season as a head coach. Both admitted this was a first for them to witness and hopefully a last.
COACHING MILESTONESPflugerville boys coach Mike Murphy picked up career win No. 500 as his Panthers knocked off Round Rock, 59-47. Murphy is 500-332 in 27 years and interestingly enough his son Brent is in his third year as an assistant at Round Rock.
Reagan (San Antonio) girls coach Terry Barton notched win No. 300 with a 65-41 win over San Antonio Johnson. Barton is 300-215 in 17 years, including 117-50 in five years at Reagan.
R.V. Baugus is the publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and texprepsbasketball.com.
