As the high school basketball season winds down early this week, it is tempting to look ahead at the playoffs and all the intriguing scenarios and possible matchups.
Derico Dandridge, De Soto
File photo by Keith Owens
Much of the 2009-10 season has been spent discussing Houston Yates and their victory margins, Dallas Madison taking a grip on the No. 1 state ranking in Class 3A and never relinquishing it, as well as the overall wealth of talent on display at Class 5A No. 1 Houston Bellaire.
But there is one team out there in the Class 5A ranks that might be tempted to say, "Excuse me. Remember us?"
It is hard not to remember the De Soto Eagles, last year’s Class 5A state champion, even if it seems like coach Chris Dyer’s team has flown under the radar for most of this year. De Soto had another grueling District 11-5A contest over the weekend on the road at the Lion’s Den but prevailed with a gritty 61-58 win over Tyler John Tyler to improve to 30-3, 9-0.
Superb freshman Matt Jones was the hero of the hour when he banked in a 3-pointer with one second showing on the clock for the victory. Yes, there are some teams with some gaudier statistics, but it would be a huge mistake for anyone to overlook De Soto with the second season about to get underway.
Shocker of the Week
When you talk winning streaks, you don’t talk much better than the one fashioned through the years in district play by Amarillo Palo Duro. The Dons have not only been a District 3-4A power over the years, but a statewide power as well. The one team through the years that has battled Palo Duro the best in district has been Canyon Randall.
The two got after it again last week, and a Palo Duro district winning streak that had reached 88 games and spanned over eight years was ended by the Raiders, 50-42. Palo Duro still stands 19-6, 10-1 after the loss, while Leslie Broadhurst’s club improved to 16-9, 7-3.
A side note of interest is that Randall was the last team to beat Palo Duro in district. The Raiders hope it doesn’t take another eight years to repeat the feat.
Coaching milestones
A couple of coaching milestones in the girls ranks recently took place as both coaches notched their 500th career wins.
At Pflugerville, Nancy Walling hit the 500 mark with a 79-50 win over Austin Akins that moved her record to 500-237. Walling has coached for 23 years with the past 21 of those coming at Pflugerville.
At Lubbock Coronado, Shirlene Hughes recorded her milestone win to go to 500-155 with a 73-44 victory over Amarillo. Coach Hughes has coached the past 17 years at Coronado and before that spent three seasons at Friona.
Battles amongst the state Top 25
A number of boys contests this past week pitted teams ranked in the TABC/Tex Preps Basketball state rankings. Based on rankings, the following would be considered upsets or at least mild upsets.
In District 25-5A, Austin Bowie’s Bulldogs came in at No. 17 and toppled No. 7 Austin Westlake, 49-40.
From District 19-3A, No. 15 Mexia edged No. 8 Waco La Vega, 60-57, leaving both teams at 6-3 in district. Interestingly, this came after earlier in the week, when La Vega had decisioned No. 14 Lorena, 59-55, in wild-and-woolly 19-3A.
From Class A Division I, No. 13 Clarendon topped No. 12 Wellington, 50-43, leaving both teams finished in the regular season at 7-1 in district. The two hooked up again over the weekend to settle the playoff seeding and Wellington got its revenge to go in as the district’s No. 1 seed.
Congratulations to Elgin
The Elgin girls go into the state playoffs with a pedestrian 15-17 record, but don’t think this is a team feeling blah about going into the postseason.
The 2009-10 playoffs mark the first postseason action for Elgin in 17 years. The last time the Lady Wildcats sniffed the playoffs was in 1993 and an 83-33 loss to Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
After winning the District 21-3A title that year, the team took a lengthy nosedive despite successes of other sports at the school. The boys team, in fact, has had three consecutive playoff appearances.
But fortunes turned for the team when Jackie Bowman came to the school in 2005. That first year Bowman had only 14 players … in the school’s basketball program. That number increased to 35 this year, including 15 players on varsity.
R.V. Baugus is editor and publisher of Tex Preps Basketball magazine and www.texprepsbasketball.com.
