The Dallas ISD Postseason Classic featured 14 playoff-bound boys basketball teams playing seven games Saturday at the Ellis Davis Fieldhouse. The lineup included the state's No. 1 ranked teams in Class 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A and a bevy of big-time recruits including Lincoln's
LeBryan Nash (Oklahoma State), DeSoto's
Antwan Space (Florida State) and Kimball's
Jordan Williams (North Texas).
It was a great playoff preview, and for
Lakeview Centennial (Garland), that could mean great things lie ahead.
Lakeview, a 5A state finalist a year ago and this year's top-ranked 5A team, was arguably the most impressive team in the lineup. Led by 19 points from guard
Chris Jones, a North Texas signee, Lakeview rolled to a 76-69 victory over
Kimball (Dallas), the No. 1 team in 4A.
Williams scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Kimball (31-3), which had its 25-game win streak snapped. Lakeview (31-1) extended its win streak to 30 with its typically effective pressure defense that led to many of Kimball's 16 turnovers.
Lakeview is ranked No. 12 in the latest
MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 boys basketball rankings and Kimball fell out of the rankings after the loss.
Estacado (Lubbock) entered the rankings at No. 25 after rolling over Lincoln, 69-56, in another Postseason Classic game.
Estacado, the defending 3A champion, is No. 1 in this year's 3A state rankings and Lincoln is No. 2 in 4A. The fourth No. 1 team competing Saturday was 2A
Melissa, which was 32-0 entering its game against Woodrow Wilson.
Wilson (Dallas), a 4A team, used its depth and size to wear down Melissa for a 68-53 victory. Melissa had beaten several 4A and 5A teams earlier in the season.
MaxPreps Texas boys basketball playoff bracketsROCKWALL-HEATH BASEBALL STAR IS CLOSE TO BREAKING STATE HITTING STREAKRockwall-Heath third baseman Jovan Hernandez ended last season with a 41-game hitting streak, and that streak could break a state record on Thursday when his team opens the season with a pair of games in the Waco ISD tournament. A hit in each game would break the record of 42 set in 1990 by Orangefield's Jeff Granger, who later pitched in the major leagues. "It's not something I think about daily," Hernandez says of the record. "I didn't know about it until people started asking me about it. But it would be pretty cool to have a record." Hernandez, a junior, hit .514 with 11 home runs and 64 RBIs last year.
URSULINE SOCCER TEAM WINS STATE TITLE AGAINFort Worth Nolan scored the first goal of the championship game, but then the
Ursuline Academy (Dallas) girls soccer team did what it's expected to do: dominate. Ursuline rallied for a 4-1 victory Saturday to earn its 21st consecutive Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools soccer title.
FRISCO, SOUTHLAKE CARROLL WIN SWIMMING AND DIVING TITLESThe
Carroll (Southlake) boys won the 5A state title with an impressive 255 points, well ahead of second-place The Woodlands (181). The Frisco girls cruised to the 4A title with 276 points, 100 points in front of second-place Magnolia West. Highland Park, which had won 10 straight 4A girls titles, finished sixth.
FLOWER MOUND STAR RUNNING BACK MIGHT WALK ON AT WEST VIRGINIAFlower Mound running back
Hunter Lee, the District 8-5A MVP who is still waiting for a football scholarship offer, visited the West Virginia campus over the weekend. The senior, who rushed for more than 100 yards per game last season and also caught more passes (104) than any other player in the Dallas-area, said he enjoyed the visit but coaches are asking him to be a walk-on. Lee said he is still weighing his options. Former Flower Mound teammate
Paul Millard, the quarterback who threw for more than 400 yards per game last season, is enrolled at West Virginia this semester. Millard was an invited walk-on at West Virginia but was given a scholarship when he arrived.
TOP PERFORMERS* Haley Texada, Frisco Wakeland girls basketball: The senior guard, a Kansas State signee, scored 25 points and had nine steals in an 82-38 win over Kimball in a second-round playoff game.
* Hannah Hughes, Rockwall basketball: The sophomore guard hit 4 of 5 3-pointers and scored 28 points in a 77-30 victory over South Oak Cliff in a second-round playoff game.
MaxPreps Texas girls basketball playoff bracketsNEWS AND VIEWSUrsuline wasn't the only Dallas-area soccer team to win a TAPPS state soccer title over the weekend.
Nolan Catholic (Fort Worth) beat Prestonwood Christian, 3-1, in the Division I boys title game,
Parish Episcopal (Dallas) beat Tomball Concordia Lutheran, 6-0, to win the Division II girls championship, and
Prince of Peace (Carrollton) won its second straight Division III title with a 2-0 win over Pharr Oratory Athenaeum. … The first two rounds of the UIL girls basketball playoffs didn't feature any upsets of local powerhouses. One matchup expected to be tight turned into a rout as
Duncanville crushed Plano East, 48-35. Duncanville is No. 12 in the 5A state rankings and Plano East is No. 22. … Unlike in football, the UIL re-seeds teams that make it to the state basketball tournament in Austin. The two semifinalists with the best overall records are put in separate semifinals. That means for this year's boys tournament, the two top-ranked teams in 5A — Garland Lakeview (31-1) and
Marcus (Flower Mound) (32-1) — cannot meet until the state final because they are the only 5A teams with less than two losses. If the two Dallas-area teams play in the 5A title game, it would be only the fourth time in 30 years that a pair of local boys teams battled each other for the 5A title.
Matt Wixon is the high school sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He can be reached at mwixon@dallasnews.com or on Twitter @mattwixon.
