The Cooldown: Week 24
The Cooldown: Week 24
It’s state championship weekend for the women and regional tournament weekend for the men! The men still have the regional quarterfinals to play on Monday and Tuesday night, but there will be a lot of good hoops between DFW and San Antonio this weekend. Congratulations go to South Grand Prairie, Duncanville, Frisco Liberty, Mansfield Timberview and Dallas Lincoln on advancing to the Final Four in San Antonio! The metroplex will once again be well represented at the highest stage of high school women’s basketball in Texas. Let’s recap some games before we dive into a brief preview of state championship weekend for the women.
Duncanville eliminates DeSoto
Duncanville and DeSoto were always on a collision course for a rubber match with a trip to San Antonio on the line. The District 11-6A rivals split the two district meetings with the total margin of victory between the two games being just six points. The Pantherettes more than doubled that margin of victory with a 46-39 win to eliminate DeSoto and advance to the 6A semifinal.
Mariah Clayton paced Duncanville with 13 points while Chloe Mann scored 10 points and Kaylinn Kemp added nine points. Duncanville (33-4) will face Humble Summer Creek (35-3) in the 6A semifinal on Friday night at 7 p.m. from the Alamodome. The winner of South Grand Prairie and San Antonio Brennan waits in the title game.
South Grand Prairie eliminates Boswell
Speaking of South Grand Prairie, the Lady Warriors are no stranger to San Antonio. South Grand Prairie might want to make San Antonio an alternate residence as it makes its third trip to the Final Four in the last four seasons. Advancing to another Final Four without star senior Adhel Tac is certainly impressive, but making it a larger storyline takes away from just how talented the rest of this South Grand Prairie roster is.
South Grand Prairie eliminated Boswell 59-44 to punch its ticket to San Antonio. The game was never really in doubt as the Lady Warriors rolled to a 15 point win. Erica Carr scored 13 points to lead South Grand Prairie, while Taylor Barnes and Taliyah Parker each added 12 points. Anyla Herbert chipped in nine points, nearly giving South Grand Prairie a fourth player in double figures. The Lady Warriors will lean on Barnes and Parker this weekend to deliver South Grand Prairie’s first state championship. Despite all the trips to San Antonio, South Grand Prairie hasn’t been able to finish the mission in the Final Four. SGP faces San Antonio Brennan before potentially facing either Duncanville or Humble Summer Creek in the title game.
5A Final Four
Mansfield Timberview barely got by Amarillo 55-52 in overtime, but the Lady Wolves would not be denied a trip to San Antonio. Mansfield Timebrview eliminated Argyle 55-35 in the Region I Final to advance to the Final Four. The Lady Wolves (39-1) take on Cedar Park (27-11) on Thursday night at approximately 8:30 p.m. with a spot in the state title game on the line.
Frisco Liberty cruised through the regional tournament with a 69-52 win over McKinney North and a 53-26 win over Princeton, thanks to two big performances from Jacy Abii. The Lady Redhawks (32-7) take on Richmond Randle (30-8) on Thursday night at approximately 7 p.m. with the winner of Mansfield Timberview and Cedar Park waiting in the state title game. The 5A state championship game will tip-off at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Faith Family eliminates Dunbar
On the men’s side in 4A, Faith Family Academy is once again the team to beat. The Eagles topped 100 points in both playoff wins last week, eliminating Aubrey 107-53 and Fort Worth Dunbar 105-64. This senior laden group looks poised for another trip to San Antonio, though the regional tournament will provide a different level of competition. Dallas Carter and Fort Worth Eastern Hills figure to face off in the regional semifinal, with the winner emerging to likely take on Faith Family in the Region II Final. Beating the winner of Carter and Eastern Hills, should those two teams win in the regional quarterfinal round, won’t be easy, but Faith Family is more than capable of doing so.
Dorian Onwuchekwa scored 22 points against Dunbar, and Isaac Williams chipped in 20 points. Both seniors, Onwuchekwa and Williams might need repeat performances this week to take Faith Family back to San Antonio. Carter is led by seniors Chance Puryear and Kole Williams, who combined for 27 points in an area round win over Canton. Eastern Hills is young, the entire roster is made up of juniors and seniors, but the Highlanders are led by talented sophomore Alex Barther II, who scored 33 points in an area round win over Van Alstyne. No matter which teams play in the 4A Region II Final on Saturday, the game should be highly entertaining.
Player of the Week
My Player of the Week is Jesuit’s Michael Grant! Through the first week of the men’s playoffs, Jesuit has been more of the more surprising teams in the state. The Rangers eliminated South Grand Prairie and routed McKinney to advance to the regional quarterfinal. Grant led Jesuit in scoring in both games, dropping 16 points against South Grand Prairie and scoring 27 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the win over McKinney! The road forward for Jesuit is not easy with Lewisville and potentially the winner of North Crowley and Keller on deck this week, so Grant will need to maintain his level of play on both ends of the floor.