Before Chiney Ogwumike could seriously train her thoughts to joining older sister Nneka next year on the women’s basketball roster at Stanford University, she had one last piece of unfinished business to cap her Texas high school basketball career at Cy-Fair (Cypress): earning a second Class 5A state championship.
Chiney Ogwumike stretched her game to the limit Saturday.
File photo by Jim Redman
When the dust cleared on the floor of the Frank Erwin Center at the University of Texas at Austin, that wish was more than granted as Ogwumike netted 31 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Lady Bobcats (36-1) to a resounding 65-41 thumping of area rival
Hightower (Missouri City) (35-3).
The younger Ogwumike can now look forward to the wars of the Pac 10 Conference with her sister, Nneka, who also won a state title during her high school days at Cy-Fair. Chiney was also huge in a semifinal win over Cedar Hill with 24 points and 25 rebounds.
So dominant was Cy-Fair’s effort that the 25-point margin of victory was the second largest in a Class 5A state championship game trailing only Mansfield's 69-43 whipping of Plano in 2000.
While the Class 5A state title tussle revolved around a pair of teams from the Houston area, the Class 4A championship focused on two talented teams from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex as Mansfield Timberview (Arlington) got the better of Frisco Wakeland, 55-39.
Timberview brought wave after talented wave at Wakeland in the presence of Division I college signees Keena Mays (Kansas), Maegan Conwright (Kentucky) and Camille Redmon (Kansas State). Timberview finished the season at 37-2 while Wakeland ended at 30-7.
Conwright led the way with 16 points and six rebounds in the title game, while Mays filled out the stat sheet with nine points, 10 boards and five assists.
The games in the lower classifications proved more competitive with some familiar names and some unfamiliar ones making noise.
The first of many
Youth prevailed in Class 3A as freshman Imani Wright knocked down a three-point shot in overtime before canning two free throws to help Liberty-Eylau (Texarkana) hold off Wylie (Abilene), 70-68.
Liberty-Eylau picked up its first state basketball championship and finished the year 31-8. Wright was named the game’s MVP after scoring 23 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. She had plenty of help as teammates Bianca Stevenson had 20 points and 12 boards while Skylar Robertson had 18 points.
Don’t be surprised if these two teams become regulars in Austin the next few years as Wylie sophomore sensation Peyton Little led all scorers with 27 points.
Brock is a tournament regular with the Class 2A school near Weatherford having now won five state championships in the last 10 years after topping Wall, 38-33. In finishing 37-2 and on a 25-game winning streak, Brock called on Kenisha Harris and Kamy Cole, both of whom finished with 15 points in giving the school its second consecutive state title.
The win was particularly sweet for Cole, who has sisters who have been part of previous state-winning Brock teams. Better yet, Cole picked up her third gold medal in three different sports in the last 10 months. She won the Class 2A 1,600 meter gold at the state track and field meet last spring and another gold at the state cross country meet in the fall.
Wall finished at 35-4 and was paced by the 10 points from Karli Kellermeier.
Youth continued to be the dominating theme down in Class A Division I as sophomore Hayley Fowler had a monster game with 35 points and 13 rebounds to pace Smyer to a 49-41 win over Ben Wheeler Martin’s Mill. Fowler had earlier notched 25 points in the semifinal win over Louise. Smyer, which finished 36-3, is yet another team that could return to Austin as they ended up on a 17-game winning streak and play three sophomores and a freshman. The state championship was the school’s first state title in any sport.
Emily Williams had 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Martin’s Mill, 33-5.
In Class A Division II, talented and athletic Neches barreled over McLean, 61-32. Roddricka Patton had 15 points and eight steals in the decisive win for Neches, which fell in last year’s title game. The Lady Tigers finished the season 37-2 and in addition to Roddricka Patton rode the seven points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals of Dianna Patton.
McLean was making its first state appearance since 1951 and capped a very successful 29-5 season.
R.V. Baugus is the publisher and editor of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and www.texprepsbasketball.com
