The Cooldown- Week 25
Cover Photo via the Dallas Morning News/ Ronald Cortes
Congratulations to Lake Highlands, Kimball and Faith Family on winning the 6A, 5A and 4A State Championship Games! Also, a big congratulations goes to DeSoto and Mansfield Summit for making the state tournament and representing your communities well in San Antonio! With the basketball state champions crowned, another season of Inside High School Sports has come and gone. There will be one last show to recap the year and show the highlights from the 6A State Championship Game this Saturday night at 6:30 on NBC5! Be sure to tune in and catch the season finale with Pat Doney.
Lake Highlands beats Beaumont United in the 6A State Championship Game
Lake Highlands brought home its first state championship in men’s basketball since the 1960’s with a 55-44 win over Beaumont United in the 6A State Championship Game! Beaumont United has dominated the state tournament at the 5A level over the past several years. That experience wasn’t enough to get it past the most talented team in the state despite its lack of experience in San Antonio.
Tre Johnson was named MVP of the 6A State Championship Game and led the Wildcats with 29 points and eight rebounds. Johnson shot 8-17 from the field and was a perfect 10-10 at the free throw line. Samson Aletan put up a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Jaire Williams added eight points and four rebounds. Quinton Perkins struggled to score the ball, scoring three points but leaving his mark on the game with 10 rebounds and a team high five assits. Jaylen Washington scored four points and Chidi Umeh scored a point.
Washington scored 11 points to help power Lake Highlands past DeSoto in the state semifinal. Johnson scored 13 points, including 11 at the free-throw line, and 12 rebounds, while Perkins scored six points and Aletan scored 10 points. Lake Highlands beat DeSoto 52-44 to advance. Arrington Cooper led DeSoto with 12 points while Jaxson Davis scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds and Russell Foreman Jr. scored five points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Kimball defeats Killeen Ellison in 5A State Championship Game
Kimball beat Killeen Ellison 69-48 in the 5A State Championship Game to add to its extensive trophy collection. The win marked seven state titles for Kimball in program history. That’s rare air and a feeling that never gets old.
Tyler Hankamer was named MVP of the 5A State Championship Game and finished with 17 points and four rebounds on 7-11 from the field. T’Johnn Brown added 14 points and six assists while shooting 6-10 from the field. Barack Holland scored 13 points and RJ Osborne added 12 points. DaCannon Wickware did it all, finishing with nine points and 18 rebounds for Kimball. Jawan Shaw and Tra’von Rhinehart each scored two points. A 24-point second quarter powered Kimball to an 11-point halftime lead and the Knights never looked back en route to another state title.
Kimball’s win over San Antonio Veterans Memorial in the state semifinal was anything but easy. The Knights prevailed 50-47 behind 13 points and nine rebounds from Hankamer and 10 points and four assists from Brown. Wickware added seven points and eight rebounds in the win.
Faith Family beats Houston Washington in 4A State Championship Game
Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy defeated Houston Washington 70-56 to earn its third 4A state title since 2019. A dominating second half powered Faith Family past Houston Washington after the Faith Family advantage stood at just one-point at halftime.
Jadyn Toppin was named MVP of the 4A State Championship Game and led Faith Family with 20 points and seven rebounds on 9-16 shooting. Peyton Gusters finished with a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Doryan Onwuchekwa scored 15 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked two shots in the win. Isaac Williams scored seven points, Kingston Willis scored four points, Jazz Henderson scored three points and Landen Simington scored two points to round out the scoring for Faith Family.
Faith Family cruised past Canyon Randall 67-47 to advance to the 4A State Championship Game. Toppin scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to power Faith Family in the state semifinal. Onwuchekwa scored 19 points and dished out six assists to go with 13 rebounds on 9-18 shooting, doing it all to send Faith Family to the title game.
Player of the Week
My last Player of the Week award to hand out this season goes to Lake Highlands guard Tre Johnson! The junior guard was named MVP of the 6A State Championship Game after scoring 29 points and grabbing eight rebounds! Johnson put up big numbers throughout the playoffs and he came through with a big performance in the last, and most important, game of the season.
Cover Photo of Lake Highlands lifting the trophy courtesy of the Dallas Morning News and contributor Ronald Cortes.