Region 2
The surprise team, College Park, knocked off Cy Falls with the M&M duo, Nicole Morgan (20) and Megan Shafer(25) almost outscoring Cy Falls by themselves in an 88-49 victory. College Park will play Cedar Park in the next round and although there is no such thing as a sure bet, I guarantee PARK will win.
Defending state champion Cy Fair beat Tomball 75-48. Cassie People led all scorers with 26 points while Chiney Ogwumike scored 17 and Aarika Reyna added in 16. Cy Fair will now face Westfield, who defeated Georgetown, in another battle of out with the old, Gevenia Carter, in with the new, Cassie Peoples, point guards and also involve two kids I coached in the summer. I had the pleasure of coaching Reyna and Carter this summer and I am sorry the season will end for one of them.
Region 3 Quarterfinals
When a state is fortunate enough, scratch that. When a city is fortunate enough to have the top 2 players in the country and those players are dominant posts, teams who face them in the early rounds fall into a certain category when they are looking for a win, slim and none and slim has left town. Okay I stole that from a friend on Texashoops.com, but it still fits the storyline.
Cinco Ranch vs Westside was a must see game for me and it turned out to be one of the better match ups I have watched all season. Demi Clinch was averaging 30 points a game over the last 3 games, Donna Dike led the city in rebounds, yes, the same city with Bone and Griner . Cinco started off strong, leading 18-11 after the first quarter, Clinch scoring 7 of those 18. Second quarter, Dikes 8 points kept Westside from getting blown out and the half ended 32-22 Cinco. Clinch has to sit most of the third and Cinco struggled, scoring only 5 points for the period, while Dike was on fire with 10 and an Ariel Jones 3 closed the gap, 37-35 Cinco after three quarters. Demi comes out hot the last quarter hitting an easy bucket, then getting fouled on another score and after making the free throw, it was 44-37. A 3 by Megan Allen , follows Dikes “and one”, 44 -43 Cinco. Clinch launched a 30 footer that I thought would break Westsides back but a Dike score, plus a 3 by Rachel Cumbo kept it interesting, 50-49, Cinco ahead. Kelli Ros and Clinch nailed jumpers, then Ros made a free throw before Jones dropped another 3 for Westside, Cinco advances 59-53. Donna Dikes ended her brilliant career with 28 points and 23 rebounds. Demi Clinch 25 scored 25 for Cinco.
As stated earlier, the M&M gang from College Park almost outscored Cy Falls, well Brittney Griner from Nimitz did just that, scoring 33 point in a 69-30 blowout over Stratford. Jessica Diamond chipped in 19 while Rodneisha Mylum led Stratford scorers with 9. This sets the stage for a third straight playoff meeting for Nimitz against Cinco Ranch. The only thing different is they are in the third round so with all of these thirds coming up, maybe the third time will actually be a charm for Nimitz.
Dulles has the other dominant post, Kelsey Bone, however they used a more balanced attack, five players scoring 9 or more points, cruising to a 75-42 victory over Baytown Lee. Dulles was led by Jasmin Henderson who scored 17 points, followed by Sarah Behrens 14 and Bones 10, Bone played a little more than a quarter. Dulles will now have to face North Shore is led by Lauren Flores. Dulles beat them earlier this season 62-55 and in that game Bone scored 28 points, Flores led North Shore with 23. Dulles is trying to advance to regionals for the third straight year.
North Shore was going against one of my top teams for next year, Clear Springs. The first half was close, 26-20, North Shore on top. The second half was another story as Springs was outscored 40-25. Flores and fantastic freshman Courtney Williams both scored 12, while 3 point specialist Ari Preston added 11. Springs was led by Mileka Loydrakes 17 points and Aaliyah Browns 10.
Katy Taylor vs Bellaire. On paper, this game was over before it started, problem is no one told Taylor. In a defensive battle, Taylor was up 6-0 when Ashley Pfaff hit a jumper at the 4 minute mark, then a 3 pointer by Lindsey Fenati made it 9-0 before an Annette Davis basket and free throw ended not only Bellaires scoring drought, but the quarter with Taylor up 9-3. In the second quarter, back to back threes by freshmen Raven Burns and Bianca Winslow tied the score at 12. Fenati and Winslow traded buckets and Bellaire went on a 10-2 run the last four minutes of the quarter to lead 24-16 at the half.
Amanda Jungwirth outscores Bellaire in the third quarter with 8 points, Zoe Rogers and Taylor Mc Gilbra account for Bellaires seven total points and Katy Taylor closes out thethird with a 6-1 run, trailing 31-29. A Mc Gilbra steal for a bucket, a Davis block for a bucket in transition, a Rogers steal for a breakaway, she was fouled and made one of two gave Bellaire the win 39-37. Jungwirth had 14 for Taylor, McGilbra 16 for Bellaire.
Elsik beat Eisenhower 67-60, Destini Texada dropped 14 for Elsik while Dinecia Armstrong led the way for Ike with 14. Clarissa Moore closed out here career with 13.
Elsik gets to face Bellaire to see who goes to regionals.
Hightower beat Baytown Sterling 67-45 behind sophomores Raven Lanes 19 points. Diamond Ford, Breanna Barnett and Jasmine Brewer each added 10. Chacara Gibson led Sterling with 16 points while Deshelle Isaac added 14.
Clear Lake jumped out to a 9-5 first quarter lead before Taryn Gregory and Ashley Bettis started taking over, not only scoring, but dishing “DIMES” out as well, in a come from behind 33-30 Channelview victory. Gregory finished with 16, Bettis added 10. Aleja Hall was high scorer for Clear Lake. Channelview will now face Hightower in another game involving two other kids I coached in the summer, Gregory and Ford.
Regional Elite Eight
Region 2
College Park defeated Cedar Park, Mo Smalls scored 14, Allie Messimer added 10. They meet Naaman Forest in Waco Texas, Friday night. Waco is home to the Baylor Bears, one of the top WBB programs in the country.
Cy Fair defeats Westfield in a heartbreaker, 46-45. On a sad note, Cassie Peoples, one of the top players in the class of 2011 broke her leg with under 2 minutes left in the game. Chiney Ogwumike was dominant on both ends, scoring 23 points, while adding 23 rebounds, which led Cy Fair. I guess 23 was magical in more than one was as Chiney hit an off balance shot, while hanging in the air, ala Jordan, which was the winning basket. Carter was high scorer for Westfield with 17, Simone Hopes added 10.
Region 3
Hightower advances with a 52-47 victory over Channelview. Channelview had an amazing run in the playoffs and to do what they did, with only seven players was remarkable. Ashley Bettis led the way for Channelview with 17, Nikki Mc Norton had 15 while Taryn Gregory has a double, double, 10 points and 10 assists. Diamond Ford led all scorers dropping 18 for Hightower.
Bellaire beat Elsik 56-37 and makes it back to the final 4 for the first time since 2004. They will face Hightower Friday night. Diamond Ford had flu like symptoms when they lost to Bellaire and didn’t score in the 60-53 loss. Azaela Hall led the way for Hightower with 18 while Bridgette James scored 16. It would be interesting if this comes down to Bellaire vs Dulles, sort of a reunion I guess, but if it happens, that’s next weeks story.
Nimitz beats Cinco Ranch 62-41. Griner scores 34 while Parker adds 16 for Nimitz. This ends a great run by Cinco Ranch which was led by Clinch and Ros who scored 19 and 12 respectively.
Dulles against North Shore is something that just shouldn’t happen. Fate, also called the way the brackets are setup, had these teams playing each other to see who would make it to the area final four. This game had it all. Freshman Courtney Williams was on fire scoring 6 in the first quarter as North Shore led 17-13. The second quarter opened with Kelsey Bone scoring two quick buckets, Tyrani Henderson nails a 3, assisted by big sister Jasmine, who scored twice, as Dulles outscored North Shore 23-11 and a 36-28 halftime lead. Third quarter, big sis Jasmine and Bone combine for 6 unanswered points, before North Shore makes a mini run led by Lauren Flores, to cut the lead back down to 8. Amber Arceneaux scoring and rebounding kept Dulles in control, 45-32 after three. Fourth quarter was all Flores as she dipped and doodled, drove and passed, nailing jumpers and free throws pulls her team within three, 57-54 with a little over 2 and a half minutes. Dulles outscored North Shore 11-5 those last 2 minutes with Bone, Arceneaux and Hershira Boone “Shorty” Rogers doing the damage in a 68-59 win. This marks the end of an era as Lauren Flores leaves as the all time leading scorer and one of the best guard to come out of the city. Flores led the way for the Mustangs with 23, Preston had 15 and Williams 13. Dulles was led by Bone and Arceneaux with 19 each. Jasmine Henderson added 11.
This sets the stage for Bone vs Griner, the rematch, the remix, round 2 or whatever you want to call it. Many feel the winner will advance to state, I am one of them but I wouldn’t be upset if Hightower won, got a player on that team or even Bellaire, I have known most of those kids since middle school. Being realistic, the bigs are going, just which big I don’t know.
Dulles won the first game, 64-63. Griner outscored Bone 24-18 but that is how their offense is designed. She is the go to girl and anytime you have a dominant post, that is what you should do. Henderson was ice for Dulles, scoring 24 but so was freshman Jasmine Clark who hit 3 of the biggest threes in her life that game. Griner was in foul trouble and Nimitz was on the verge of being blown. Lets not forget Amber Arceneaux did not play that game, so in my opinion this is what will happen. Griner, Parker, 15 first time around and Jessica Diamond will probably score as much as Bone, J Henderson and Arceneaux score. This is where the intangible assets come in, the role players will decide this game. This is not Bone vs Griner folks, yes it is!
Next week
Regional championship wrap up
Top 2011 and 2012 players in the area
Middle school watch list