The Cooldown: Week 22
Last week was perhaps the most action-filled week of the season so far, even without the boys playing on Friday. Boys wrapped up district play last week while the girls advanced through two rounds of the playoffs – which means we’ve got plenty to discuss.
For the boys, district titles were won and playoff brackets were finalized. For the girls, the regional title and state title picture has been narrowed down. The UIL introduced D-I and D-II playoffs this year for basketball, like we already have in football. This means 12 state champions instead of six, and six rounds of playoffs instead of seven. With the playoffs ending a week earlier now, that mean we’re a third of the way through the girls playoffs after two rounds.
Let’s recap, reset the girls playoff picture and name players-of-the-week.
Fulshear advances to round three with a pair of double digit wins
I wrote a few weeks ago that Fulshear could make a deep tournament run after a big win against Alief Taylor. Fast forward a few weeks and both teams are still alive, but each will face a ranked opponent in round three: Fulshear gets a date with No. 9 Hightower, while Alief Taylor will face No. 17 Clear Brook.
Fulshear got here by virtue of a 47-35 win against Katy Tompkins and a 59-47 win against Stratford. The Lady Chargers got a huge game from Ruke Ogbevire, who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a team-high 31 minutes. Pfeiffer Greene also finished in double figures with 13 points, while Kinzie Searcy added 10 points. Sophia Semmler also stuffed the stat sheet with six points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
The task in round three will be a big one. Hightower has been great all season, so Fulshear will likely need to count on Ogbevire for a big game. The Lady Chargers run a good offense, with Semmler playing an effective point-forward role similar to Draymond Green at times. With enough offensive execution, Fulshear has the talent to potentially pull an upset.
Cy Springs, area's best, steamrolls to round three with a tough road ahead
Cy Springs has been the best team in the area all season, led by McDonald’s All-American Ayla McDowell. It’s no surprise that the Panthers won their first two playoff games by a combined score of 156-63.
The area round game against College Park was a massive splattering. The Panthers won 73-28, with McDowell pouring in 28 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. Jemini Mitchell added 14 points and three assists, while Melanie Hodges also finished in double figures with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
I don’t normally feature games on this blog that weren’t particularly close, and these games were never going to be super competitive simply because of how good Cy Springs is. But I wanted to have the opportunity to write about the challenge ahead for the Panthers as they try to capture an elusive state title, and how that pursuit is different from the past few seasons.
This year, the UIL added divisions to basketball, which creates an extra state champion for each class and effectively splits the playoff field in half. The Panthers won’t have to face Duncanville, for example, but they did draw three of the four teams in the top five other teams in the state rankings – No. 1 Converse Judson (Region IV), No. 2 Boswell (Region I) and No. 4 Lancaster (Region II). Cy Springs is No. 3 in the state.
Next up is unranked DeSoto, but the road to state beyond round three potentially features Lancaster, Boswell and Judson in succession. So, even though the split divisions and an extra state champion in each classification creates a greater opportunity to win a championship for the top teams, Cy Springs still wound up with a brutal draw. But, to be the best, you have to beat the best.
Katy Taylor races into round three
Winning two playoff games in this state isn’t supposed to be that easy – especially for a team not ranked in the year-end regular season top 25 in a metro area as big as Houston – but don’t tell that to Katy Taylor.
The Lady Mustangs opened their playoff run with a 76-63 win against Alief Hastings before racing past Bellaire 84-40 in round two. As the score indicates, Taylor put on an offensive masterclass. Three Mustangs finished in double figures, led by Kara Hart’s 24-point performance on an efficient 10-of-12 from the field. Hart also tallied nine rebounds.
In addition to her outstanding game, freshman Addison Middleton poured in 20 points and was 4-of-6 from three. Kolbi Cairns chipped in 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Casey Scherpereel added 10 points.
Though the Mustangs have cruised into round three, the going is about to get tougher. Next up is a date with No. 8 Dawson. If Taylor can win that game, the winner of Cy Falls and Summer Creek (both unranked) awaits in the regional finals.
Players of the Week
Cy Creek won a district championship last week in dramatic fashion. At 12-1, the Cougars needed a win against Cy Falls (11-2) to clinch the district championship rather than sharing it. My boys player-of-the-week, Ke’Bari Lewis, came up big with 18 points in a 50-49 win. For his clutch performance to bring a district championship back to CC, Lewis is my player-of-the-week!
My girls player-of-the-week has already been mentioned in this blog, and she’s my pick for POTW for helping guide Katy Taylor into the third round with great defense and rebounding and efficient shooting. After dropping 25 points on Bellaire, Kara Hart is my girls player-of-the-week!
Statewide Rankings
With playoffs underway for the girls, the statewide rankings are no longer updated. With playoffs starting for the boys, let’s take one last look at the TABC statewide rankings to see how each team stacks up entering the postseason.
Here’s how the Houston area stacks up in the 6A statewide rankings: (4) Shadow Creek, (7) Atascocita, (10) Katy Jordan, (13) Seven Lakes, (16) C.E. King, (17) Cy Creek, (23) Grand Oaks, (24) Cy Springs and (25) Travis.
Class 5A features (2) Fort Bend Marshall, (22) Barbers Hill and (23) Friendswood. The class 4A rankings include (3) Stafford, (6) Booker T. Washington, (7) Yates, (8) Wheatley, (9) La Marque and (14) Huffman Hargrave. Hitchcock is the lone team ranked in class 3A at No. 3.