By R.V. Baugus, www.texprepsbasketball.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
Upsetting. Simply upsetting. That describes the most recent week of high school basketball action in Texas. As teams race toward the regular season finish line, a handful of major upsets have scrambled several districts.
The loudest boom sounded at Austin Lake Travis High School, where the state’s Class 4A No. 1-ranked Cavaliers were stunned by a Pflugerville Hendrickson team that entered the contest with a pedestrian 15-14 record. Thanks to a balanced scoring effort that saw three players reach double figures, Hendrickson topped 25-2 Lake Travis, 66-62.
The visitors trailed by one point entering the fourth quarter, ensuring that they were hanging around and in prime position to pull the upset. Sure enough, by outscoring the hosts 24-19 in a frantic fourth period, Hendrickson had the win.
Jordan Harris notched 20 points in the victory while Marquese Dunn added 17 and Jalen Washington hit 14. Jordan Jahr led Lake Travis with 19 points.
In Class 3A, No. 2 Burkburnett traveled to Wichita Falls Hirschi and became another upset victim, 64-59. The host Huskies grabbed the lead on the first possession of the second half and tenaciously clung to it the remainder of the game. Hirschi improved to 17-9, 6-1 while Burk dropped to 23-4, 6-1.
Both teams struggled for points with Hirschi shooting 38.7 percent from the floor while Burkburnett was an uncharacteristic 33 percent.
Jayson Scroggins had a team-high 14 points for Hirschi, while Richard Ross added 11 to go along with 15 rebounds. Darius Thornton was all over the stat sheet with 11 points, five assists and three steals. Burkburnett ace Jay Gould had 13 points, but required 19 shots to reach the total.
Canyon’s streak snapped
Canyon girls coach Joe Lombard and his program have always been an example of what is good about basketball. The Eagles have for years bought into the coach’s mantra of team play and the results have been successful with multiple state championships and a 92-game district winning streak to show for it.
Canyon moved up to Class 4A this year in realignment and into a district with another perennial power from Amarillo Palo Duro. The Dons ended up being the team putting an end to the streak with a 43-39 win on senior night in Canyon.
The start of the game would not foretell the story. Canyon bolted to an 11-2 lead after a quarter and a 24-11 advantage at halftime.
Palo Duro came out aggressive on defense in the second half and turned up more full-court pressure, creating turnovers and holding Canyon to six points in the third frame.
Down only three going into the fourth quarter, Jasmine Patterson and Brianna Taylor scored 12 of the team’s 16 points in the last eight minutes to help bring home the big win.
Duncanville pays back Cedar Hill
A packed house at Duncanville High School saw the Panthers gain some District 7-5A revenge with a 58-46 win over rival Cedar Hill. Duncanville is now 21-8, 9-1 while the Longhorns are 25-3, 8-1 heading into the final three games.
The story of this game came in the second and third quarters when Duncanville outscored Cedar Hill, 36-21, turning a slight three-point halftime lead into a 10-point margin entering the fourth quarter.
The game Longhorns fought back to within four points with just over two minutes left, but Duncanville sprinted home with an 8-0 finish. Roger Franklin led the scoring parade with 22 points while Reger Dowell (a future teammate of Franklin’s at Oklahoma State) added 17.
Milestones
A trio of coaches enjoyed some landmark milestones recently, beginning with the 400th career win for Abilene Wylie coach Russell Perkins. Wylie stormed past Snyder, 66-27, to help Perkins reach the mark. Perkins has coached for 17 years, including stops at Cameron Yoe and Tuscola Jim Ned.
Brad Chasteen of Coppell and Tim Davis of Gladewater Sabine both hit the 300 career win mark.
Chasteen got his win when the Cowboys knocked off Lewisville Hebron, 58-40. Not only was it career win 300, but it moved Coppell into a first place district tie with Flower Mound Marcus.
Davis, meanwhile, bumped his record to 300-109 when Sabine rolled past Diana New Diana, 73-26. Noah Jackson helped his coach’s cause with 31 points as the team improved to 30-3, 11-0.
R.V. Baugus is the Publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and www.texprepsbasketball.com.
