Texas basketball teams make up lost games due to weather

Teams scrambled across Texas last week to make up lost games due to recent inclement weather, with some schools playing up to four games.

Yes, the calendar says February, but if you looked at some of the number of games that a handful of schools played last week, you would think it was December and the middle of the tournament season.

The extra games placed quite a strain on teams as the contests were held just one week before the end of the regular season. Instead of having the spacing of two or three days between contests to prepare for an opponent, teams found themselves playing games on back-to-back nights, which only intensified matters as teams jockeyed for playoff positioning.

Hit hardest were schools in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, north Texas and northeast Texas, where ice, sleet and snow were the order of the day and practically the order of a full week.

The top five teams in the state from Class 5A all had to navigate through three games each while North Crowley (Fort Worth) battled past four opponents. At least all of these teams had success, whereas No. 12 South Grand Prairie suffered through a trio of defeats.

MaxPreps' Texas boys basketball Freeman Rankings

The good news is that all games have been made up and the regular season is winding to a close. That can't come soon enough for teams that have been weather-weary.

GALVESTON BALL AGAIN GETS THE MEASURE OF LAMARQUE
After playing their first district meeting at the 2,500-seat Phillips Field House, Ball (Galveston) and La Marque moved their second game to the larger Hofheinz Pavilion on the campus of the University of Houston. It was a good move as some 5,000 showed up to watch the renewal of the Clash of the Causeway, which was again won by Galveston Ball, 61-51.

Class 4A No. 3 Ball improved to 28-3, 9-1 while No. 9 La Marque dropped to 26-4, 8-3. Ball had come off an upset loss to Pearland Dawson earlier in the week while La Marque had suffered a district loss the previous week against Friendswood, taking only a bit of luster off the heated rivalry.

Terran Petteway led Ball with 25 points, 14 of them coming in the second half. In the process, Ball claimed its fourth consecutive district championship, with the last three coming in Class 5A before the school moved down a classification this year. The Cougars had their streak of four consecutive district titles ended.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN PORT NECHES-GROVES?
Port Neches-Groves topped Vidor, 64-42, to reach the postseason for the first time since 1989. PN-G coach Patrick Abel played at the school and never reached the playoffs, graduating one season before the Indians qualified in 1989. Abel is in his 18th year as a coach at PN-G, the last 11 as head coach.

WHERE HAVE YOU REALLY BEEN, NEDERLAND AND ATHENS?
Another team out of 20-4A, Nederland, won its first outright district championship since 1955 by beating league perennial power Beaumont Ozen, 51-49.

Going down to 17-3A, Athens topped Tyler Chapel Hill, 55-54, to secure the school's first varsity boys district championship since the 1955-56 season. The Hornets have reached the playoffs for three consecutive seasons under coach Tracy Carter. When Carter came to Athens in 2008, the team had not posted a record better than .500 since 2000 and had not reached the playoffs since 2002. Going back further, the team had only qualified for the playoffs three times in 46 years.

THE BEAT GOES ON FOR PALO DURO OF AMARILLO
Meanwhile, Palo Duro (Amarillo) played a recent game where a wind-chill factor of minus-25 degrees was whirling outside. Inside, the Dons were wrapping up their ninth consecutive district championship by beating Plainview, 60-43. Palo Duro has won 101 of 102 district games in the nine years under coach Jeff Evans.

Even though four teams now reach the playoffs, Evans said his team takes great pride in continuing its district title run in Class 4A. The Dons have not been ranked in the TABC/Tex Preps Basketball state rankings this year, but still tote a lofty 23-6 mark heading into the final week of the regular season.

THE BEAT COMES TO AN END FOR FORT WORTH DUNBAR
Another Class 4A team that has been a juggernaut — Fort Worth Dunbar — quietly lost an opportunity for a 36th consecutive playoff appearance when Fort Worth Southwest beat Fort Worth Carter-Riverside to seal the fourth and final playoff position out of District 6-4A.

Dunbar improved to 7-18, 6-8 by knocking off Fort Worth South Hills, 90-70, but will be sitting home this year. This marks the first time since 1975 that the Flying Wildcats have not advanced to the post-season. The streak started when Robert Hughes Sr. led the team to the 9-4A title in 1975-76. Current coach and son Robert Hughes Jr. said despite the streak being broken that his team has never quit and works as hard as any team he has coached.

COPPELL COACH REACHES 500TH VICTORY
Congratulations to Coppell boys coach Brad Chasteen, who claimed career victory No. 500 as the Cowboys beat Keller Central, 74-63. Chasteen has coached for 23 years, including 15 at Coppell.

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