Dallas Lincoln and LeBryan Nash get rolling in district

LeBryan Nash and Lincoln (Dallas) are coming as good as advertised now that district play has started.

Nash, the do-everything senior who has committed to Oklahoma State, has helped guide the Tigers to an out-of-the-chute 21-1 record and 3-0 district mark. The Tigers' most recent district win came as the state's No. 3 Class 4A team edged No. 14 Dallas Woodrow Wilson, 64-62. Nash canned 25 points in the win while Woodrow's Curtis Davis was the high scorer with 26. The Wildcats fell to 16-5, 2-1.

Lincoln's only loss came to state Class 4A No. 2 Dallas Kimball during the Coca-Cola Dallas Independent School District Classic and was another two-point affair with the Knights prevailing, 81-79. Nash had 34 points in that game with support from Keaton Miles, who netted 17.

And before that game, it took a buzzer-beating half-court heave for Lincoln to escape Class 5A No. 3 DeSoto by one point.

If the close games sound harrowing, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Woodrow Wilson should easily provide the stoutest competition for Lincoln in district play, with many of the other contests likely to be blowouts. The tight games should prepare Lincoln well for the postseason when Nash and company set their eyes on the biggest prize, the state championship.

ULTIMATE DISTRICT MATCHUP
Class 4A also offers the most tantalizing district pairing with La Marque and Ball (Galveston). The Cougars currently stand No. 1 in the state with a 22-1 record while Ball is No. 5 at 23-2. The schools are only a few short miles apart and the most recent University Interscholastic League realignment moved Ball down from Class 5A where they had resided for years. La Marque is paced by University of Texas commit Julien Lewis.

AUSTRALIAN TEAM HOPS ACROSS TEXAS
One team that has been showing up in boxscores over the past week involved a club known as Newington College. The team is a prep school based in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Newington went up against one of the state's best in Class 3A No. 4 Burkburnett, but came up short of the 72-62 final. Burkburnett grabbed a 41-35 halftime lead and 58-46 after three periods, but Newington stayed poised and never allowed the Bulldogs to fully pull away. Newington's Nick Kay had a game-high 25 points.

JACKSONVILLE 2, KILGORE 0, AND IT ISN'T BASEBALL?
A couple of old East Texas rivals got into it (turns out literally) when Jacksonville and Kilgore hooked up in a District 14-4A skirmish (again another literal word). Jacksonville would show up in the scorebook as a 2-0 winner despite trailing 29-26 at halftime. Let us sort out the confusion.

As the teams were leaving the court for their locker rooms at the intermission, words and punches were exchanged by both teams. A late foul called against Kilgore had apparently drawn the ire of the team in an otherwise cleanly played game.

Fans from both schools rushed the court and while coaches from both sides restrained players as quickly as possible, three players were tossed from each team. Kilgore decided not to return to the court after halftime and after a delay of some 30 minutes, a call was placed by game officials to the University Interscholastic League to get a ruling, which stipulated that play must begin immediately. Kilgore had already dismissed its players from the building and thus the Indians were awarded the 2-0 forfeit.

COACHING KUDOS
Jay (San Antonio) girls coach Mike Floyd attained his 600th career win as the Mustangs topped San Antonio Brandeis, 66-50. Floyd stands at 600-292 and in typical fashion was low-key about the milestone, electing instead to praise the players who helped him reach the mark. Floyd is in his 28th year at Jay.

Carroll (Southlake) girls coach Teri Morrison notched her 500th career win recently when her team knocked off Coppell, 50-39. Morrison had coached at Mesquite Poteet and Hewitt Midway before moving along to coach the Lady Dragons.

Cole (San Antonio) boys coach Herb More also gained career win No. 500, defeating Wimberley, 62-46, in the Sinton Tournament. More is 467-171 in 20 seasons at Cole, otherwise known as the home of Shaquille O'Neal.

While not a career-win milestone, it is also worth noting a recent coaching matchup as the Lady Bronchos of Odessa and Harry Masch topped the Lady Tigers of Dripping Springs, 33-31, in overtime at the Hill Country Hoop Fest. The first-year coach at Dripping Springs is Scott Masch, Harry's son. Dad has been at Odessa for 21 years and has coached 44 seasons overall, while son is in his 14th year.

SUTTON EXCELS FOR SAN ANGELO CENTRAL
San Angelo Central has not been known over the years as a basketball powerhouse, but one player for the Bobcats who continues to excel is junior Reggie Sutton, who recently scored 46 points to help his team to a 99-95 quadruple-overtime win over Cibolo Steele at a tournament in Kerrville. Sutton knocked down 10 3-pointers as part of his onslaught and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

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