The Cooldown: Week 19
Last week was a scheduling mess, with most games shoved toward the end of the week. However, I think most people would agree it was worth it, as the Houston area saw more snow than we’ve seen in quite a while.
I hope everyone enjoyed both the winter weather half week and a weekend that was jam packed with great hoops action. Let’s recap the best-of-the-best and name some players of the week.
College Park deals Grand Oaks its first district loss
Time is starting to run out, but College Park kept itself in the district title race by dealing Grand Oaks its first district loss.
Grand Oaks is now 11-1 in 13-6A play, while College Park and Willis are tied for second at 9-3 apiece. The Cavs are a senior-laden team with a few familiar names who have been dominating 13-6A for a few years now. Those guys stepped up big in the 75-67 win against Grand Oaks.
Colorado commit Ian Inman led the way with 26 points, four rebounds and four assists. Aiden Buckmon had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists. Evan Mason, also a senior, was the other Cavalier in double figures with 10 points to go with five rebounds.
At that moment, College Park pulled within a game of Grand Oaks in the district title race. Then, the Grizzlies fell to Willis 80-75 to tie those two for second in the district standings. There is plenty of good hoops in this district, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see any of these teams make a playoff run in February. Grand Oaks still has to play Willis, Conroe and Oak Ridge, all still in the playoff hunt, while College Park ends the season playing the teams with the four worst district records at the moment.
Stratford picks up two huge wins to stay in the playoff race
Stratford won games last week against the two teams immediately above and below it in the district standings, both on the road. Jersey Village, at just 3-6 in district play, was the easy part. Stratford won that game 72-55. But the really impressive game came against Cy-Fair, a 56-53 win that firmly puts Stratford in the playoff race and gives the Spartans a chance at a better seed.
Joaquin Andrews had a great night, leading the way with 20 points. Three other starters finished in double figures as well – Trent Burke had 12 points, while Chris Williams and JD Cheeves finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The second half was huge for the Spartans. After scoring 19 points in the first half, Stratford poured in 19 points in the third quarter and 18 points in the fourth.
Now, Stratford, at 6-3 in 17-6A, has a three-game lead for fourth place in the district on Jersey Village. That’s a wider margin than the one that separates Stratford from first place in the district. Cy Creek and Cy Falls are tied for the district lead at 8-1, while Cy Fair is 7-2. Everyone else is just about eliminated at this point, making the playoff picture very easy to see from a “who’s in” standpoint, but still very murky from a seeding standpoint.
Fulshear girls pull off thrilling win against Alief Taylor
Alief Taylor clocked in at No. 20 in the state in the most recent rankings, but they might be switching places with Fulshear, presumably just outside the top 25, in the newest rankings.
After losing the first go-round by three points, Fulshear was able to beat Alief Taylor by three points – 70-67 this time. With not much top end competition coming from the rest of the district, these two will likely end the season with identical district records and matching results in their two games against each other.
This game was a matchup between two of the top bucket-getters in the area. Nataliyah Gray was the game’s leading scorer, with 37 points and 10 rebounds for Alief Taylor. Ruke Ogbevire stuffed the stat sheet for Fulshear, with 31 points on 13-of-23 from the field, eight rebounds and five assists.
Sophia Semmler and Pfeiffer Greene were also in double digits for the Chargers, with 17 points and 10 points, respectively. Semmler shot 5-of-12 from the field, with every shot attempt coming from 3-point range. Kinzie Searcy tacked on eight points as well, on 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
This game really should have been a top 25 matchup. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both of these teams in the top 25 next week. As the top two teams in this district, they will be on opposite sides of the regional playoff bracket, so each could make a deep playoff run.
Players of the Week
Last week featured a ranked-on-ranked matchup in district 19-6A, Katy ISD, and the lower ranked team came out on top.
No. 15 Seven Lakes took down No. 8 Jordan 60-50 behind a dominant performance from sophomore Isaiah Santos, who scored 22 points. Santos is my boys player-of-the-week!
Her stat line has already been mentioned in this blog, but it would be simply unfair to not give POTW honors to Ruke Ogbevire and her line of 31-8-5 in a win against a state-ranked opponent. Ogbevire is my girls player-of-the-week!
Statewide Rankings
Here’s how the Houston area stacks up in the 6A statewide rankings: (5) Shadow Creek, (10) Atascocita, (11) Katy Jordan, (14) Seven Lakes, (17) Travis, (21) Ridge Point, (22) Bellaire and (24) Grand Oaks.
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, (9) Hightower, (10) Dawson, (15) Grand Oaks, (16) Pearland, (17) Dickinson, (18) Clear Brook and (25) C.E. King.
The class 5A rankings feature (18) Barbers Hill, (21) Spring Woods and (25) Fort Bend Marshall. Wheatley (No. 10) and Willowridge (No. 25) are ranked in class 4A, and Tidehaven (No. 8) and Hitchcock (No. 14) are ranked in class 3A.