TexPrepsBasketball Rewind: Lincoln handles Kimball in Dallas

Last week's non-district action included a couple of games featuring state-ranked teams. Most notable was Class 4A No. 4 Lincoln (Dallas) disposing of Class 4A No. 2 Dallas Kimball, 81-65. Earlier in the week Lincoln pasted Fort Worth Dunbar, 87-46. Leonard Bishop's Tigers are on an early-season roll and with Oklahoma State commit LeBryan leading the way look for this team to stay near the top of the 4A pecking order along with Gulf Coast rivals Galveston Ball and La Marque.

In Class 5A, it was No. 12 Kingwood topping No. 20 Houston Langham Creek, 54-42. Coach Royce Huseman's Mustangs appear to be on solid footing again after by their standards a couple of average years.

Bill Goffney's New Waverly (New Waverly, Texas) Bulldogs have been a terror in Class 2A in recent years, but the team was toppled for its first home loss in three years and covering 29 games when the Sports Association of Texas for Christian Homeschoolers (SATCH) took a 71-68 decision.

District action tip-off

Don't look now, but District 1-5A out of El Paso actually started district action last week. It is an interesting juggle for schools who start district play early and then have some breaks between those games to participate in tournaments. The El Paso region has been strong in recent years and a couple of anticipated opening district games included Montwood (El Paso) topping Franklin on the boys side, 44-38, while Coronado's girls posted a 45-41 win.

Another Streak Goes On

It's time to talk about Yates (Houston, Texas). Yeah, those guys, the ones who have fostered a love/hate relationship amongst basketball fans due to the Lions' margin of victory in their wins. And there have been wins. Many of them.

Yates is off to a rocking start to the season and after blasting Houston Chavez, 97-65, Houston Kashmere, 115-50, and Houston North Forest, 105-78, now stands at 4-0 and have won 63 consecutive games.

Yates had 87 points after three quarters against Chavez when opposing Coach Kevin Pullum elected to slow the game down in the fourth quarter to keep Yates from hitting the century mark.

La Marque On The Mark

The previously mentioned Cougars of La Marque had a huge win last week in beating Class 5A No. 2 Fort Bend Travis, 91-81. La Marque has also already toppled Fort Bend Bush (defending Class 5A state champions) and No. 14 Fort Bend Elkins.

University of Texas commit Julien Lewis had a monster game for the winners in scoring 41 points, the second time in four games he has hit the 40-point mark. Lewis accomplished his most recent feat despite sitting on the bench for five minutes in the second quarter.

Fantasy of Lights

One of the earlier basketball tournaments that takes place every year in Texas is the Wichita Falls Fantasy of Lights Tournament. The tournament includes three divisions and brings in a number of top teams from across the state from every classification.

Some of this year's participants included state-ranked teams in Garland Lakeview, Lubbock Estacado, and moving further down in classification Bangs, Nazareth, Leggett and Dodd City.

In boys' championship play, Coach Tony Wagner's Estacado (Lubbock) Matadors out of Class 3A gave Class 5A Garland Lakeview all it wanted and more in the Division I title tilt before falling, 89-82. Wagner was quick to praise tournament coordinators after the game for putting on a stellar tournament and rolling out the red carpet for all participating teams. See all tournament championship results at the end of the column.

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, tournament action heats up in earnest around the state this coming weekend, and we will be back with more tournament championship results for you than you will find anywhere else.

Coaching Milestone Wins

Congratulations to the following coaches on milestone wins: Paul Driver, who got career win No. 600 as Woden's Lady Eagles beat Grapeland, 52-42; John Grammer, who earned win No. 500 as Victoria East topped Corpus Christi Incarnate Word; and Andy Snider, who hit the 400 mark as the Class A Division II Neches Lady Tigers took out Palestine Westwood, 59-36.

Tournament Championship Results

Border Olympics Tournament
(Boys) United (Laredo) 49, San Antonio Lanier 47
(Girls) Alexander (Laredo) 65, Laredo United South 54

Fantasy of Lights Tournament
(Boys Division I) Lakeview Centennial (Garland) 89, Lubbock Estacado 82
(Boys Division II) A. Maceo Smith (Dallas) 56, Dallas Roosevelt 41
(Boys Division III) Dodd City 51, Dallas Lakewood Presbyterian 34
(Girls Division I) Wichita Falls 52, Wichita Falls Rider 34
(Girls Division II/3A) Iowa Park 46, Burkburnett 33
(Girls Division II/2A) Bangs 68, Slaton 38
(Girls Division III) Muenster 57, Wellington 49

Keillor Thanksgiving Classic
(Boys) Harlingen South 46, Harlingen 44
(Girls) Carroll (Corpus Christi) 45, Harlingen South 37

Mission Thanksgiving Classic
(Boys) Edinburg North (Edinburg) 56, San Antonio Fox Tech 45

R.V. Baugus is the publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and texprepsbasketball.com