The Cooldown- Week 22
Cover Photo courtesy of the Dallas Morning News and Special Contributor Steve Nurenberg.
Crossover week has officially arrived for basketball. The women tip-off the playoffs starting with the bi-district round Monday and Tuesday night while the men wrap up the regular season on Tuesday night. The road to San Antonio begins for the women, while the men have one last game to handle before starting down that path next week. Let’s recap two of the last women’s regular season games of the season before moving on to the men’s side.
Duncanville takes down Cedar Hill
District 11-6A wrapped up its regular season on Friday night, headlined by a showdown between the top two teams in the district. Cedar Hill needed a win to share the district title with Duncanville, but the Pantherettes came away with a decisive 55-34 win to clinch the District 11-6A championship. Duncanville raced out to a 17-7 lead after the first quarter and the game was never really close from there. Samari Holmen led the way for Duncanville with a game-high 21 points, while Aja Smith scored in double-figures with 11 points. Trystan James scored nine points and Kierston Russell added six points for the Pantherettes. Rylan Jones led Cedar Hill with 13 points, while Brooklyn King and Lyntoria Daniel each scored seven points for the Lady Longhorns. Jayama Anyaebgu scored six points for Cedar Hill in the loss. Duncanville takes on Bryan in the bi-district round while Cedar Hill faces Waco Midway in the opening round. Both teams tip-off the playoffs on Monday night.
Denton Braswell defeats Denton Guyer
Another district title race that came down to the final day of the regular season took place in District 5-6A, where Denton Braswell defeated Denton Guyer 41-37 to win the District 5-6A championship. This one was close throughout. Denton Guyer led by a point after the first quarter before a strong second quarter for the Lady Bengals allowed Denton Braswell to take a 24-22 lead to halftime. Denton Guyer needed to make up four points in the final frame to force overtime, but only won the quarter by a point. Delilah Jeffrey led the way for Denton Braswell with 11 points and Amaya McDonald added 10 points. Makayla Vation chipped in nine points and Elayne Gomez scored four points in the win. Audrey Mitchell led Denton Guyer in scoring with 10 points. Baylee Bowman scored nine points and Madison McGhie scored five points while Destanie Green, Amaya Langford and Peyton Underwood all scored four points each. Denton Braswell will open the playoffs against Princeton while Denton Guyer takes on Prosper in the bi-district round.
Allen beats Plano East
Moving it over to the men’s side, Allen clinched a District 6-6A championship with a dominant 84-61 win over defending 6A state champion Plano East. The No. 2 ranked Allen Eagles also routed Prosper Rock Hill 95-43 to improve to 29-1 on the season. The Eagles won’t have a shot to match Plano East’s undefeated championship season from last year, but Allen will be one of the favorites to win it all when the playoffs for the men tip-off next week. In the win over Plano East, Deandre Thomas led the way with 20 points for Allen. Khalil Walker and Antonio Shannon each scored 12 points while Trent Pane added 10 points to give the Eagles four players in double-figures. Antoine Shannon chipped in eight points while Nehemiah Lawrence and Nnamdi Ubawike each scored seven points in the win. DJ Hall led the way for Plano East, scoring a game-high 23 points in the loss. Izan Qazi scored 12 points and Alex Brewington scored 10 points for the Panthers. Allen wraps up the regular season on Tuesday night at home against Plano while Plano East takes on Plano West for its regular season finale on Tuesday night.
Player of the Week
My Player of the Week is Allen’s Simone Richmond! Allen had to go 2-0 last week to get into the playoffs, and the Eagles were able to do just that thanks in large part to Richmond’s play. Allen defeated Plano East 64-55 on Tuesday night and finished the regular season tied with Prosper Rock Hill for the last playoff spot in District 6-6A. Richmond scored 21 points against Plano East to lead the Lady Eagles in scoring. On Friday night, Allen claimed the final playoff spot in District 6-6A with a 31-29 win over Prosper Rock Hill. Richmond once again led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 12 points and also chipped in five rebounds in the win. Allen faces Flower Mound in the bi-district round on Tuesday night.