Texas high school basketball teams are fully engaged in district play, and this past week on the boys side saw the top squads maintaining their positions and rankings, although Class 3A No. 1 Dallas Madison was given a stern test by Carrollton Ranchview.
The Trojans, last year’s Class 3A state champions, have through the years enjoyed some tough tussles against Ranchview’s Wolves, and the two clubs got after each other again in a District 10-3A slugfest over the weekend, with Madison narrowly prevailing, 75-72, to move to 18-5 on the season. The teams will meet once more next month with the Trojans playing host.
Joseph Young, Yates
File photo by Jim Redman
Otherwise, it was business as usual, which meant a standard Houston Yates district beatdown of an overmatched opponent. This time the MaxPreps No. 1 nationally ranked and undefeated Class 4A Lions administered a 154-39 pounding to Houston Davis in a game that saw Yates jump out to a 26-0 advantage just three minutes into the contest. Yates cleared its bench with 4:24 to go in the first quarter, and after the starters came out to begin the second half, another bench-clearing occurred at the 4:58 mark of the third period with Yates ahead, 100-26. Joe Young led the way with 29 points for the 20-0, 7-0 Lions.
The top game of the week out of Class 4A took place at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center in Fort Worth in a District 7-4A tilt that saw Dunbar’s Flying Wildcats eke past Southwest, 104-103, in overtime. Dunbar has been scrambling all season to resemble Wildcat teams of old, and this could be the signature win on the way to a possible district crown. Dunbar was led by the 34 points of Darius White and moved to 9-11, 6-4, while the Raiders fell to 14-9, 5-5.
Staying in Class 4A, No. 3 La Marque had a struggle before silencing Pearland Dawson, 69-67. The Cougars advanced to 22-2, 7-0 while Dawson slid to 10-15 on the season after, at the beginning of the year, being ranked in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches/Tex Preps Basketball magazine state rankings.
Other Class 4A games of note included Amarillo Palo Duro’s 75-53 thumping of Pampa in District 3-4A play. The Dons advanced to 16-5, 6-0 on the way to winning their 84th consecutive district contest. Michael Patterson led the attack with 19 points.
Brenham’s Cubs continued their winning ways in District 19-4A with a 55-51 decision over Huntsville to go to 19-4, 7-0 while the Hornets dropped to 15-13, 6-1. Terrell Reese notched 16 points in the victory. Moving west, El Paso Chapin withstood El Paso Bowie in a District 1-4A skirmish, 71-68, to go to 13-11, 5-2 while dropping Bowie, No. 22 in the state, to 20-2, 5-2.
Class 5A had the week’s outstanding individual performance as North Crowley’s Kyan Anderson went off for 48 points in a 102-52 blasting of Abilene in District 3-5A play. North Crowley, No. 8 in the state, is now 23-4, 6-0. Anderson’s output was a new school record, breaking the 45-point performance of current Oklahoma standout Willie Warren, who notched his mark in a 2008 region final against Midland Lee.
In District 25-5A, a pair of state-ranked teams got it on with No. 7 Austin Westlake emerging victorious over No. 23 Pflugerville, 84-79.
A Valley clash of rivals took place in District 31-5A, with Edinburg’s Bobcats hammering out a 71-57 decision over Harlingen’s Cardinals to go to 19-6, 7-0, while the losers dropped to 19-7, 6-1. Steve Guerrero had 18 in the win.
Moving down the rankings classification, in Class 3A, No. 11 Lorena humbled No. 19 Waco La Vega, 46-39, to go to 21-6, 2-1 while La Vega fell to 18-4, 2-1. Tyler Underwood was huge in the win with 22 points, including four 3-pointers.
No. 15 San Antonio Sam Houston edged past No. 17 Somerset, 67-63, to go to 11-10 despite playing a rigorous schedule, while Somerset is now 23-2.
In Class 2A, Eastland’s No. 12 Mavericks edged past No. 19 Clyde, 41-28. Eastland is now 18-3, 3-0 while Clyde is 21-2, 2-1 in District 6-2A. Clyde played minus double-digit scorer John Allen Davidson, who tore his ACL the previous week. Eastland’s 6-9 monster Forrest Robinson had 23 points, 10 boards and three blocks in the win.
In the Central Texas region, No. 15 Hearne went to 13-7, 3-0 with a key win over No. 20 Rosebud-Lott (18-3, 2-1), 67-64.
Finally, moving up to the Panhandle region where some excellent lower classification ball is played, saw Wellington’s Skyrockets top Clarendon, 59-44, in a District 3-A Division I contest. No. 13 Wellington is now 15-3, 4-0 while No. 14 Clarendon is 15-5, 3-1. C.J. Nash had 20 for Wellington to lead the way.
In District 1-A Division II action, No. 4 Vega moved to 17-9, 4-0 with a tight 56-53 win over No. 20 Texline (12-7, 3-1). Eric Rohrbach netted 19 points in the win.
R.V. Baugus is editor and publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and www.texprepsbasketball.com.
