02/22/23

The Cooldown: Week 22

Playoffs have officially tipped off for the boys while the girls are about halfway through the playoffs at this point. With just three weeks left in the season, every game is must-win. Here’s a recap of last weeks’ action and our players-of-the-week.

Klein boys take down rival Klein Cain

The final playoff spot in district 15-6A was up for grabs last week and Klein came out on top, beating Klein Cain 50-40.

Klein secured the final playoff spot at 9-5 in district while Cain finished at 7-7. Flip the results of this game and it would have been a tie at 8-6 each, but no need for dramatics because the Bearkats got the job done in what was truly a team effort.

Aaron Martin finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Caleb Evans chipped in nine points and Isaiah Brooks and Brennan Webb totaled eight apiece. They’ll take on a perennially solid Cy Falls squad in round one.

Katy girls keep it rolling

After one of the best regular seasons in school history, Katy is through to a place it hasn’t seen often: round three.

A convincing 54-38 win against Jersey Village has the Lady Tigers through to the regional quarterfinals for just the fifth time in school history, where it will face a tough Hightower squad. But the Lady Tigers have a solid team of their own, led by an even-keeled offensive attack without many weaknesses.

Nyla Wold led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 13 points, and she was closely followed by Ashlynn Alexander (12), Ella Robinson (11), Lyric Barr (9) and Brianna Nelson (9). That balanced offensive attack is a big reason why Katy has been so good this year and it will need to keep it going to make a deep playoff run and take the program to places it has never been before.

Update: Katy won its round three game against Hightower, 50-47 and is through to the regional semifinals.

Memorial girls make history

Speaking of teams that aren’t often playing in the regional quarterfinals, enter Memorial.

The Lady Mustangs have made it to this round just once before. They are currently tied for the most wins in program history and a win against Tompkins in round three would break that record.

Memorial’s offensive hub starts around guard Riley McCloskey. An assist aficionado, McCloskey enables her teammates to score in bunches, and can do so herself as well. McCloskey finished with 15 points in 63-54 win against Seven Lakes while Abigail Tomaski had 18 and Draden Moss finished with 14. Tompkins is also an offense-minded team and should make for a great third round showdown.

Update: Memorial defeated Tompkins 62-55 and has advanced to round four for the first time in program history! This is officially the best girls hoops team in school history.

Player of the Week

With such a short week for the boys – and with no girls POTW in the last week of the season because they wrap up a week earlier – we’re sticking to just a girls POTW this week.

My girls’ player-of-the-week is Ayla McDowell! The sophomore led Cy Springs to big wins in round two and round three. She chipped in 24 points in a 64-31 win against Oak Ridge in round two and added 27 points in a 55-50 win against Langham Creek in round three.

Playoff Overview

The boys have just started, but let’s take a look at where the girls stand through three rounds of play. And then there were six…

There are two Houston area teams left alive in Region II. Cy Springs will take on DeSoto while Cy Ranch gets Cedar Hill. Cy Springs is No. 22 in the state while DeSoto ranks fifth. Both Cedar Hill and Cy Ranch entered the playoffs unranked, though each spent time in the top 25 throughout the season.

In Region III, the final matchups will be Katy versus Pearland while Memorial will take on Summer Creek. Katy entered the playoffs ranked No. 14 in the state while Pearland is No. 4. Summer Creek is No. 9 in the state and Memorial entered the playoffs unranked.

The winners of those games will advance to face each other for the right to go to San Antonio to play for a state title.