The Cooldown - Week 28
DFW - Week 28
The women’s season is over! Duncanville brought an eleventh state championship trophy back to the City of Champions. The Duncanville men will get a shot to make it two titles in as many weeks for the Panthers. This edition of The Cooldown will recap Duncanville’s weekend in San Antonio and preview the state tournament for the men! Frisco Liberty also won its first state title in school history in 5A! Congratulations to the Lady Redhawks!
Duncanville Wins 11thState Title
The Duncanville women run San Antonio. That’s right, the Pantherettes are back on top! Deja Kelly capped an incredible high school career by bringing a championship back to the City of Champions. She also got some hardware of her own, winning MVP of the UIL 6A State Championship Game.
Duncanville defeated defending champion Converse Judson 45-36 in the semifinal before facing undefeated Cy Creek in the championship game. Duncanville rolled to a 63-47 win and Kelly dropped 23 points. Kelly was also named the Gatorade Texas Girls Basketball Player of the Year over the weekend. All of that on top of being named a McDonald’s All-American earlier in the season and it was a dream senior campaign for Kelly.
State Preview
There are eight teams representing DFW at the Final Four in San Antonio this weekend. Duncanville and Wylie will represent the metroplex in 6A. Lancaster and Mansfield Timberview both made it to the Final Four in 5A. Faith Family and Argyle will each be competing for the 4A Title. Madison hopes to win the 3A Championship while Slidell looks to repeat as 1A champions. Let’s take a look at the semifinal schedule.
6A Semifinal: Friday @ 7
#1 Duncanville vs #22 San Antonio Brandeis
Duncanville will face the Region IV representative in the semifinal. Brandeis has a sparkling 33-3 record against Duncanville’s 29-5 record. Duncanville is the more battle tested team having to come out of a loaded Region I playoff gauntlet. Having to play in two close games against Richardson in district play pays off this time of year as well. Brandeis beat No. 20 Los Fresnos 64-52 and No. 25 Converse Judson 75-68 in the Region IV tournament to advance to state. Duncanville had to go through Arlington Bowie and No. 17 Odessa Permian in the Region I tournament and beat both comfortably.
6A Semifinal: Friday @ 8:30
#2 Dickinson vs Wylie
The Wylie Pirates will face the best team they have seen all season on Friday in Dickinson. The Gators deploy Houston signee Tramon Mark and have a guy in Marcus Williams who is a triple-double threat night in and night out. Deuce Guidry adds more firepower to an exceptional offense. There’s a reason Dickinson is the No. 2 team in the state and the Gators have a real shot to win the 6A Championship this weekend. Dickinson beat No. 14 Morton Ranch 83-69 and Houston Bellaire 70-61 to advance to the Final Four. Wylie defeated Round Rock Westwood 43-29 and No. 3 Killeen Ellison 50-42 to punch its ticket to San Antonio. Wylie is the Cinderella story of the tournament as the only unranked team to make it to the Final Four in 6A. We’ll find out on Friday if the Pirates can keep the magic going!
5A Semifinal: Thursday @ 7
#5 San Antonio Wagner vs #16 Mansfield Timberview
Wagner is familiar with the Final Four. They’re also familiar with San Antonio. Mansfield Timberview will have its hands full with this team. Wagner cruised past Laredo Martin 58-47 and defeated No. 25 Harlan 64-48 to advance to the Final Four. Wagner was always the favorite to represent Region IV at the Final Four. Timberview had a tougher road. The Wolves defeated No. 17 Rider 50-41 and No. 15 Burleson Centennial 64-62 to advance to the Final Four. Timberview is certainly more battle tested, but will it be enough against Wagner? We’ll find out on Thursday.
5A Semifinal: Thursday @ 8:30
#1 Lancaster vs #2 Fort Bend Hightower
This is the game that I am looking forward to the most. TCU signee Mike Miles will lead the No. 1 ranked team against Sophomore star Bryce Griggs and the No. 2 Hurricanes. Hightower might be the more tested team in this one. The Hurricanes defeated Lake Creek 82-63 and No. 3 Shadow Creek 71-62 to advance to the Final Four. Lancaster defeated Highland Park 62-34 and No. 8 Kimball 90-69 to advance to San Antonio. Both of these teams are electric and should put on a show.
Other DFW Games:
4A Semifinal: Friday @ 1:30
#8 Argyle vs #20 Stafford
4A Semifinal: Friday @ 3
#1 Houston Yates vs #3 Faith Family
This one should be good as well. Faith Family has had a great season but run in to a team that routinely scores 100 points in games that only last 32 minutes. This should be a good one!
3A Semifinal: Thursday @ 1:30
#1 Madison vs #4 Coldspring
1A Semifinal: Thursday @ 10 a.m.
#5 Slidell vs #8 Jayton
There are plenty of good semifinal games between Thursday and Friday. The championship games will be played on Saturday. If at all possible, I highly recommend getting down to San Antonio this weekend for some good basketball! There will be plenty of talent and representation from DFW schools. Watching Dickinson and Fort Bend Hightower play will be a treat as well.
Playoffs Look Ahead
We are in the final week of the season. The remaining teams are the best-of-the-best. We’ll crown new champions in just a few days, and I will have one last edition of The Cooldown next Monday to recap all of this weekend’s action. With that said, let’s pick one player, one team and one storyline to watch this weekend.
One Team: Duncanville
Will the No. 1 team in the state live up to the hype? Duncanville will have a chance to defend its title and bring back a second state championship trophy in as many weeks to the City of Champions. Deja Kelly and the Pantherettes went out on top. We’ll find out if Micah Peavy and the Duncanville men can do the same.
One Player: Mike Miles
The Lancaster standout will need to play his best game to put his team in the State Championship Game. Bryce Griggs may only be a sophomore, but he is no joke, and neither is Fort Bend Hightower. There is a possibility Lancaster doesn’t make it to the State Championship Game. Miles will need to be the best player of the floor in this one. Lancaster is facing the best team it will have seen all season. The Tigers looked good against No. 8 Kimball and will need to play just as well (maybe even a little better) in the semifinal.
One Storyline: Can DFW Teams Repeat?
Duncanville, Mansfield Timberview, Faith Family, Madison, and Slidell will all be looking to repeat as state champions. There’s a DFW team trying to repeat in every classification except for 2A, where Shelbyville will also be looking to repeat as a state champion. That’s a pretty impressive list. A potential matchup with No. 2 Dickinson looms for Duncanville. Timberview has the toughest road and will have to get past No. 5 Wagner and the winner of No. 1 Lancaster and No. 2 Hightower. Faith Family has to beat a red-hot Yates team and could potentially face No. 8 Argyle in the championship game. Madison will face Coldspring before potentially facing No. 3 Cole. No. 1 LaPoyner might stand between Slidell and repeating as champions. All of these teams have a good chance to repeat. We’ll find out this weekend.