The Cooldown- Week 24
The Cooldown- Week 24
There are just two weeks remaining in the 2024-25 Texas high school basketball season. The women will make the trip down to San Antonio for the state championships this weekend, and one of two DFW area 6A teams will have a shot at playing for its first state championship. The winner of Cedar Hill and Plano East on Tuesday night will get that shot this weekend. The men still have two weeks of playoffs remaining, with the regional semifinals set for early this week and the regional finals set for Friday.
Plano East eliminates North Crowley
Starting on the women’s side, Plano East beat North Crowley 49-45 on Friday night to advance to the state semifinal. The Plano East men went undefeated en route to a 6A state title last year, and the women are just two wins away from making it back-to-back state titles for the Plano East basketball programs. Arianna Robinson led the way for Plano East, scoring 28 points, including eight points in the fourth quarter despite battling foul trouble. Robinson went into halftime with three fouls and played most of the fourth quarter with four fouls. Kennedy Borders scored 13 points, Sema Udo scored five points, and Didi Chineke added three points in the win. Jamari Milton and Eden Johnson led the scoring effort for North Crowley with 16 points each. Sandy Cortez added seven points, including a clutch three in the fourth quarter. All that stands between Plano East and a trip to San Antonio is a talented Cedar Hill team coming off a win over Duncanville in the regional final. Robinson told me after the game that she feels confident and that Plano East still has something to prove. A win over Cedar Hill would be another statement win in a postseason that has been full of them for Robinson and the Panthers.
Cedar Hill eliminates Duncanville
It was just two weeks ago that Duncanville beat Cedar Hill to clinch another district championship. Now, it’s the Longhorns left standing thanks to a statement 57-47 win over the Pantherettes to advance to the state semifinal. It’s a tough thing to beat a talented team three times in one season. Duncanville took the two district matchups, but Cedar Hill took round three to keep its state title hopes alive. Rylan Jones led the way for Cedar Hill with a game-high 17 points. Trinity Thomas scored eight points, Brooklyn King chipped in seven points, and Dawn Jones and Lyntoria Daniel scored six points each. Trystan James led Duncanville with 15 points while Samari Holmen added 11 points. Londyn Harper scored nine points and Aja Smith contributed eight points for the Pantherettes. It’s already been a pretty historic season for Cedar Hill, and that goes for Plano East as well. Both have plenty of quality playoff wins, but only one can advance to San Antonio. Cedar Hill takes on Plano East at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center on Tuesday night at 6:30 in what should be a fantastic game.
Denton Guyer eliminates Jesuit
On the men’s side, Denton Guyer advanced to the regional semifinal with a 51-48 win over Jesuit on Friday night. This game was close the entire way with the Wildcats ultimately pulling out the win in the final minute, thanks to a three ball from Mason White. Silas Rodriguez and Darrien Neal led the way for Denton Guyer with 15 points each while this week’s MVP Bobblehead winner, Jordan Lowery, added 12 points. Tyler Copes scored four points, Mason White scored three points, arguably the most important three points of the night, and DJ Majors scored two points for Denton Guyer. Caleb Stegar led Jesuit in scoring with 15 points. Michael Grant scored 12 points and William Alexander chipped in seven points. Cooper Jensen scored six points, Charlie Peters scored four points, and Cade Kirby and Ethan Mahowald each contributed two points to round out the scoring for Jesuit. Denton Guyer takes on Crowley, which eliminated El Paso Eastwood 69-56 on Friday night, in the regional semifinal round. Tipoff is set for Tuesday night at 7 at Keller Central High School.
Player of the Week
My Player of the Week is Flower Mound Marcus guard Jayden Ramnanan! Flower Mound Marcus eliminated the defending 6A state champion Plano East Panthers in the bi-district round and eliminated Arlington Martin in the area round last week. Against Plano East, Ramnanan finished with 25 points, five rebounds and two assists. In the win over Arlington Martin, Ramnanan scored 29 points and added five rebounds and five assists in the win! Flower Mound Marcus faces Mansfield Lake Ridge in the regional semifinal with the winner taking on the winner of Allen and North Crowley in the regional final. All the games are big at this point in the season, and Ramnanan has been performing at the highest level. Flower Mound Marcus will need another productive week out of him if the march to San Antonio is to reach its final stage at the state semifinal.