Part of the fun of experiencing the high school basketball playoffs is that you can depend on some upsets along the way. For the boys side of the bracket, those upsets came fast, furious and early on the tournament trail.
Let’s start with the Class 5A bracket, where defending state finalist Cedar Hill was eclipsed in the area round by Lewisville, 84-82, a game that left Fighting Farmers coach Henry Thomas absolutely giddy, as he called it one of his program’s best games ever. Many pundits were already looking ahead to a possible Cedar Hill-DeSoto neighborhood state championship, but … now not even De Soto will be at the party after the Eagles tumbled to Temple in the regional quarterfinals, 57-52 in overtime. This came on the heels of a tough 72-69 overtime DeSoto win in the area round against Dallas Skyline.
LeBryan Nash, Dallas Lincoln
File photo by Keith Owens
There were other upsets sprinkled throughout Class 5A, including a true stunner in bi-district when 14-19 Dobie beat 27-3 Memorial (Port Arthur), 71-68 in two overtimes.
Want more? How about 28-5 Berkner (Richardson) falling to 12-17 Rowlett, 53-50? A milder upset was 28-5 Westlake (Austin) losing to 21-14 Churchill (San Antonio), 84-77. Both of the above also occurred in the bi-district round.
From Class 4A, the earliest surprise was 26-8 Killeen losing a bi-district clash to 19-12 Dripping Springs, 70-63. The big early news from Class 3A came in the area round when 28-3 Paris was toppled by 16-13 Carrollton Ranchview, 78-72.
Making history
Nederland’s Bulldogs had not exactly been known as a playoff participant, much less a playoff power, in recent years. Well, OK, let’s skip past recent years and be honest and say in decades.
That all changed this year when Doug English’s squad earned their first district championship since 1956 and won their first playoff game since 1955, a 65-49 win over Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill in bi-district. Nederland went another round with a 64-53 win over Magnolia before falling in the regional quarterfinals, 56-49 to Brenham. The Bulldogs tied for first in district with perennial power Beaumont Ozen, but knocked off the Panthers, 70-64, in two overtimes to garner the top seed.
Coming from (almost) nowhere
The Waxahachie girls are proof that it’s not where you finish in district, it’s where you finish in the state tournament. Waxahachie is competing in the regional semifinals for the second consecutive year, and both years the team has finished fourth in district play. Congratulations are also in order for the Fannindel (Ladonia) girls, who reached the playoffs for the first time since 1996 and won their first playoff game since 1991, a 60-39 decision over Cumby Miller Grove.
TAPPS titlists
Rivals got after it in the TAPPS 5A Boys State Championship when Prestonwood Christian took a 50-45 victory over Trinity Christian Academy-Addison. Prestonwood finished 35-3 and was led by the 17 points of Julius Randle. Caleb Feemster, son of TCA-Addison coach Randy Feemster, had a game-high 20 in the loss.
Other championship scores: 4A—Houston Westbury Christian 78, Houston Second Baptist 59; 3A—Fort Worth Lake Country 73, Bullard Brook Hill 60; 2A—Kingwood Northeast Christian 50, Rockwall Christian 44; 1A—Tyler Street Christian 55, Spring Providence 42.
The remarkable Dallas Bishop Lynch girls picked up their ninth consecutive 5A title and 27th overall with a 56-47 triumph over Fort Worth Nolan. Lynch finished 31-8 and was led by a game-high 20 points from San Francisco signee Alexa Hardick.
Other championship scores: 4A—Houston Westbury Christian 73, Argyle Liberty Christian 68; 3A—Amarillo San Jacinto 53, Carrollton Prince of Peace 41; 2A—Sherman Texoma Christian 61, Shiner St. Paul 51; 1A—Boerne Geneva 69, Plainvies Christian 57.
State tournament schedule
Here is a look at the upcoming schedule for the girls state tournament:
Class 1A Division I Semifinals: Smyer (34-3) vs. Louise (26-6), 8:30 a.m. Thursday; Martins Mill (32-4) vs. Muenster (29-6), 10 a.m. Thursday.
Class 1A Division II Semifinals: Valley (26-5) vs. Neches (35-2), 2 p.m. Friday; McLean (28-4) vs. Leggett (26-9), 7 p.m. Friday.
Class 2A Semifinals: Brock (35-2) vs. Jewett Leon (25-6), 8:30 a.m. Friday; Wall (34-3) vs. Poth (28-5), 10 a.m. Friday.
Class 3A Semifinals: Madisonville (31-5) vs. Texarkana Liberty-Eylau (29-8), 2 p.m. Thursday; Abilene Wylie (30-9) vs. Giddings (30-7), 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Class 4A Semifinals: Del Valle (36-2) vs. Frisco Wakeland (29-6), 7 p.m. Thursday; Mansfield Timberview (35-2) vs. Cibolo Steele (34-4), 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Class 5A Semifinals: Houston Cypress Fairbanks (34-1) vs. Cedar Hill (27-6), 3:30 p.m. Friday; Fort Bend Hightower (34-2) vs. Northside Jay (35-4), 8:30 p.m. Friday.
