The Cooldown: Week 18
The first half of district play is officially in the books for the boys, while girls hoops is just a few weeks away from the playoffs. After another week of action, the playoff picture is coming into better focus in many districts, though there’s still plenty left to decide. Let’s recap some of last week’s action and name players-of-the-week.
Clear Springs sneaks past Clear Brook
Clear Springs continued its perfect run through district 24-6A last week two wins. The Chargers had no trouble with Clear Lake, but got a good challenge from a road trip to Clear Brook in what was a 50-45 win.
The Chargers had to rally from a deficit that reached 11 points at one point in the second half. A 15-0 run to open the fourth quarter proved to be enough to put the Chargers on top for good. Senior post Izu Emelife came up big with 21 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and 15 rebounds. Madden Hill chipped in 17 points and Rodney Smith had a solid night with seven points and seven rebounds.
Clear Springs will begin the second half of district play with road trips to Brazoswood and Clear Falls, the latter of whom gave the Chargers a good game the first time around. Along with Clear Falls, Clear Creek and Dickinson are in the mix for the district championship, which looks like it’s Clear Springs’ to lose at the moment.
Cy Ranch stays atop 16-6A with a close win against Cy Park
Cy Ranch is in a tight race for the 16-6A championship with Cy Springs and Cy Lakes. After last week’s games, Cy Ranch stands atop the district at 6-1, with Cy Springs and Cy Lakes each at 5-2. Cy Woods and Cy Park round out the playoff picture – each of those squads are 4-3 – which made the tilt between Cy Ranch and Cy Park a big one.
Cy Ranch came out on top in a close game, 48-40. Isaac Saavedra led the way for the Mustangs with 13 points, while K.J. Goodwin chipped in 10 points. Donovan Browne added eight points and Tyler Scheetz had seven. This is a big year for Cy Ranch because of how senior-laden the team is. Of the top scorers in this game, only Goodwin is not a senior – and he’s a freshman.
This game was a low-scoring affair, but it didn’t look like it was going to track that way. Cy Park had 27 points at the half; then, the Mustang defense stifled the Tigers, holding them to eight points in the third quarter and just five points in the fourth quarter. Senior Angelo Reyes led the way for the Tigers with 15 of their 40 points.
Next week, Cy Ranch will face Waller, who it beat by 25 points the first time around, and Cy Lakes, who is the only team the Mustangs have lost to in district play so far. That game will be a big one for determining the order at the top of the district standings.
Cinco Ranch girls come up with huge district wins
Cinco Ranch might’ve locked up the district 19-6A championship last week.
It isn’t mathematically official yet, but the Cougars are 11-1 in district play with four games left, with Katy Taylor (9-3) and Tompkins (8-3) next in line. It would take a massive collapse from Cinco Ranch to lose the district.
While the Cougars are in the driver’s seat, that could’ve easily been different. Cinco Ranch barely won each game last week – 61-56 against Katy Taylor and 58-57 against Jordan.
Aniya Foy came up big for the Cougars in both games. She finished with 24 points, five rebounds and two blocks against Katy Taylor, and followed that up with a 25-point, seven-rebound performance in the one-point win over Jordan.
Also in the win over Taylor, Camille Torrence chipped in 14 points and five rebounds, while Lydia Polk added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Now, Cinco Ranch just needs to take care of business against at Paetow and against Tompkins this week to clinch at least a share of the district championship, provided Katy Taylor win both of its games as well. Even if the Cougars slip up, they finish with winnable games against Mayde Creek and Morton Ranch. With the exception of Tompkins, Cinco Ranch beat the other three by more than 20 points apiece the first time around.
Players of the Week
Cy Springs gets a lot of hype out of Cypress ISD, and for good reason. That perhaps lets Cy Falls, albeit in a neighboring district, to go a little under the radar. At 22-4 and 9-0 in district play, the Eagles have been dominant all season.
And, even though they don’t share a UIL district with ISD-mate Cy Springs, district 17-6A is plenty competitive. Cy Falls played a thriller against Memorial last week, winning 69-66 in overtime to keep the district record perfect. Gisselle Jackson came up huge, scoring nearly half of the Eagles’ points with a whopping 32 points. For those efforts, Jackson is my girls player-of-the-week!
As discussed above, Izu Emelife put up a huge performance with a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double against Clear Brook in an otherwise low-scoring game. His four blocks on the defensive end helped hold the Wolverines to just 45 points. For putting up a huge game on both ends in a big district win, Izu Emelife is my boys player-of-the-week!
Statewide Rankings
Here’s how the Houston area stacks up in the 6A statewide rankings: (5) Shadow Creek, (8) Katy Jordan, (13) Atascocita, (15) Seven Lakes, (17) Travis, (20) Grand Oaks, (23) Ridge Point, and (24) Bellaire.
Class 5A features (2) Fort Bend Marshall, (17) Friendswood, (23) Barbers Hill and (24) Iowa Colony. The class 4A rankings include (4) Stafford, (5) Booker T. Washington, (6) Yates, (8) Wheatley, (9) La Marque and (15) Huffman Hargrave. Hitchcock is the lone team ranked in class 3A at No. 3.
Here’s how the class 6A girls stack up in the statewide rankings: (3) Cy Springs, (11) Hightower, (12) Dawson, (13) Pearland, (16) Grand Oaks, (18) Dickinson, (19) Clear Brook and (20) Alief Taylor.
The class 5A rankings feature (21) Barbers Hill, (23) Fort Bend Marshall and (25) Spring Woods. Wheatley (No. 11) is lone team ranked in class 4A, and Tidehaven (No. 9) and Hitchcock (No. 16) are ranked in class 3A.