The Cooldown: Week 23
There are just a few weeks left in the regular season before the playoffs begin. District races are heating up and star players are showing out. February is a crucial month on the high school basketball calendar, as it will determine who makes the playoffs and who doesn’t. This month will narrow the playoff field down to the best teams in the state and set the stage for the State Championships in March. Let’s take a look around the metroplex.
McKinney stays hot with win over Allen
McKinney has looked like one of the best teams in the metroplex this season. That continued last week, capped by a 63-43 win over Allen. Ja’kobe Walter finished with 27 points in the win for the Lions. McKinney’s next game comes on Tuesday against a McKinney Boyd team that lost by seven to Denton Guyer in its last game.
Marcus takes down Hebron in a thriller
Flower Mound Marcus survived a good Hebron team 54-53 on Friday night. The win was crucial for the Marauders to remain in 2nd place in the district. Cale Martens finished with 11 points and Nick Donnelly added 10 in the winning effort. The playoff race in District 6-6 is a tight one and currently Coppell and Marcus are the top two seeds, but the last two playoff spots could go to Lewisville, Plano East, Plano, or Hebron.
L.D. Bell women take down Trinity
The Lady Raiders picked up a big win over a big rival last week to stay in the playoff hunt. L.D. Bell beat Trinity 62-52 to pull into a tie for 2nd place in the district. The Lady Raiders game against Haltom on Friday was rescheduled, and L.D. Bell will have a tough test against North Crowley on Tuesday. Jayden Rhodes paced the Lady Raiders with 19 points while Hallie Rhodes and Madison Gardner finished with 12 points each. If those three can continue the potent scoring attack, L.D. Bell will be a team nobody wants to face in the playoffs.
Denton Ryan defeats Grapevine
We’re not done talking about Billy Bowman Jr’s heroics around here yet! The OU football signee scored 19 points for Denton Ryan in a 65-50-win last Tuesday night, and moved to Norman to start classes at OU on Wednesday morning. Ok..now we’re done.
Player of the Week
My player of the week is L.D. Bell’s Jayden Rhodes! I just mentioned Rhodes’ performance in Bell’s only game last week above. The Lady Raiders beat Trinity, which means just a little bit more than wins over other teams for them, and Rhodes dropped 19 points and was instrumental in L.D. Bell’s win. I’ll have my eyes on this L.D. Bell team over the next few weeks as they seem to be peaking at the right time.
Team of the Week
My team of the week is the Richland Royals! Richland has won 17 of its last 19 games including an overtime thriller over Birdville last week! The Royals trailed by 18 in the 2nd half against Birdville but rallied for a big win in district play. Richland pulled even with Birdville in district play with the win as both have 8-2 records.