2021 Houston Summer Slam 6th Grade Division (2027)

KENNEDY PRICE

I'm just feel tickled pink sometimes, hey based on ancestry.com DNA it's possible yet not likely visually but yesterday I talked about watching Zay Green's younger sisters, last week it was Ny'Kyiah Jeffrey's mom and aunt so today, let me open up the 6th-grade division talking about Just Play's Kennedy Price's older sister Lauren who helped get the ball rolling at Atascocita, who I started calling "The Taz" and it was simply because I also used "The Price Is Right" so let me break down some of those I knew, I appreciate the rosters because I ain't got time to ask questions but anyway

FRANKIE FRANCIS

Frankie Francis (Just Play 2027) already has a dynamic first step and watching her set the defender up to take off the dribble, with either hand, has her ahead of the curve because she can also finish, after contact and she has a nice pull-up jumper, so what else, she sees the floor

Kennedy Price (Just Play 2027) the price will continue to be right as she played in pain yet was efficient and she too has a deceptive first step to get by the defender, she creates her shot under pressure and she can finish or hit the jumper yet watching her play the passing lane was a definite treat for me

Shiloh Grays (HLRR 2027) long and athletic, that the base I use and for those who pay attention, I say it over and over for a variety of reasons yet she plays the passing lane, she has good timing to block, alter and deflect shots and she rebounds on both ends as she will be over the magic number of 6'0

Aniyah Gardner (HLRR 2027) also long and athletic, yet she attacks the rim strongly, she has good body control and finished after the lick, this is good, really good at this stage but she also showed she could "man up" in a hunnid, on-ball defense full court, as well as handle the ball in the open court

Brittany Moore (Louisiana United 2027) speedy point guards seemed to be a pre-requisite for the organization as they had many yet she's already showing major signs of doing damage in high school. She can handle the ball going coast to coast full speed yet stays under control and she can hit teammates on the money without breaking stride

2027 Kennedy Price showing the Price is still right

Kennedy Price was one of the talented young players I was looking forward to catching at my Next Up 50 Individual Showcase a few weeks ago however she had a conflict and couldn't attend. I had been so impressed with her videos that I had to catch her live and I finally had a chance to see her in person. Let me back things, her dad, Carlos Price is one of my dearest friends, I met him over a decade ago when his older daughter Lauren was starring at Atascocita and since Kennedy only turned 10 years old a few weeks ago, yes she could have fallen into the 2028 group, I actually knew her before she was born

Kennedy impressed me off the top when I walked up and saw her going through some drills with another friend, Chuck McCowan who has coached, worked out, and trained a list of Who's Who from the area and the younger Price was absorbing everything he was telling her. Her ballhandling at this stage, her passing, she's throwing the no-look on the money and she's creating her shot so to the novice, what I'm seeing are things I look for in players, the way she does things instinctively, the way she reacts and she's long and athletic, I speak of that often 

With all of the energy, she puts out, I'm envisioning her on the defensive end, and just watching her mannerisms I'm certain she'll be playing that passing lane and going coast to coast but again, she just turned 10 however what I'm seeing now, I'll be using what I said about her older sister, with a remix,  The Price Is Still Right!

2019 R-3 6A Sweet 16

I love this picture for a variety of reasons and one of the main ones is that Taylor Thomas (Ridgepoint) sandwiched between the Truong twins (Jersey Village) have been at this for quite some time and showed they were definitely next level players. The twins have already signed with Gonzaga while Thomas is one of the top remaining UNSIGNED players in Texas and both, well all, have helped lead their squads to the Sweet 16 and hopefully beyond

Ridgepoint vs Cypress Creek- should be a definite guard battle as Thomas and super soph more Raven Adams are fired up and ready against Cy Creek's sophomore back-court of Rori Harmon and Kyndall Hunter. This could be interesting

Katy vs Heights-Katy and their big three of UNSIGNED combo Cassidy Howard, Savannah May and Allana Thompson go against Heights featuring scoring machine Gracelyn Alvarez, the sophomore opened up her HS career dropping 40 as a freshman and if she's on, this could go either way WHOA Katy won a nail-biter 48-47, what did I just say

Clear Springs vs Dobie- I'm going with Clear Springs because of the heat they always bring on defense but Jasmine Hartman (Bellaire) (Oklahoma) is one of the top point guards to come of the area and she has Dobie going back to yesteryear

Alief Elsik vs Summer Creek- I', not just going with Summer Creek because we have the same initials, well actually I am but UNSIGNED 6'2 post Erinescia Ford has been on a double doubling tear for the Rams so who knows

Jersey Village vs Westside- this is next weeks game, JV has already moved on and I just don't see Westside not being there, but I called this one last week

Atascocita vs Clear Falls-if Dede Davis is healthy, the Taz could actually win the region, not sure if she is but the winner goes against Pearland who knocked off unbeaten Beaumont United last night

BRACKETS

SCHEDULE

2019 First round ready for whatever

First round games are generally iffy to a perfect world however I've seen districts swept in the opening round numerous times because the game is played on the court. Last year, #4 Alvin, pulled off a major upset defeating #1Pearland in the opening round, much of that had to do with UNSINGNED Andreea Mancha dropping 7 threes so with the addition of her talented freshman sister Mercedes, they're opening up against Elsik featuring 6'2 Ernescia Ford who is also UNSIGNED yet both have created plenty of buzz. The winner of that game will probably play Summer Creek who made it to Regional Finals last season and have a chance to do just that again however Clear Springs could throw a wrench in them even making it to Regionals

1st Round GAMES

Ridgepoint has one of the states top sophomore guards in Raven Adams as well as one of the top UNSIGNED guards in Texas, Taylor Thomas and they will have to battle defending R-3 champions Cy Creek in the 2nd round and that winner more than likely will face Katy with talented UNSIGNED guard Cassie Howard to see who makes it to Regional semifinals. On the bottom of the bracket, I think Westside and Jersey Village are on a collision course to see who makes it to Merrell Center while Atascocita and Beaumont United have a good shot at playing that game before the R-3 semifinal and none of this means nothing because again, the game is played on the court, and I ain't playing

R-3 6A BRACKET

Final Four Friday is here for 2018

I could've chosen a better picture however months ago after witnessing no apparent favorite however and this is documented with the phrase "double digit teams have a chance to win REGION" as well as "the most wide open REGION I've seen" so your top conference drops two #4 seeds in the Elite 8, that sort of tells you something right? Not exactly because in this roller coaster season of girl's basketball where anything could happen, it has somewhat with three teams, Atascocita, Summer Creek and Cy Creek, making it to the regional semifinals for the first time in history, not the first time that's happened because it was the first time for all 4 were it was initiated and hopefully you caught that

Jersey Village has been in this position with Nina Norman and Coco Reed, both starred at Texas, Norman was the first McDonald's All American from here, played in inaugural girl's game, yeah I've said it before but I say a lot of things that are missed yet come right back at ya to fall into that "I told you so" category so I guess the question is who will win. Jersey Village is capable of getting out of here but so are the other three and although I haven't seen Summer Creek, never count ANY SC out no matter what and that definitely is a fact so  Merrell Center action starts tonight at 6pm

Lot's of firsts for 2018 Regional Semifinals

I know many don't keep up with history and just go with the flow on what they hear and although it irritates me it also enables me to have a platform to go off which always pleases me so I tweeted awhile back after reading about Jersey Village being put on the map this year being totally incorrect because they were once one of the teams you had to go through to get to Austin so I'm assuming since the state tournament is now in San Antonio, they were talking about the map heading that way so okay, I get it now, well actually I don't but one more time

READ

What is true is that Jersey Village is the ONLY team that has made it to the Regional semifinals and they match up against Summer Creek at 6pm on Friday, followed by Atascocita and Cy Creek at 7:30, all of this in Katy at the Merrell Center which means 2 things, Orleans and Katy Mills but another two things it means is I don't recall two teams with two freshmen playing major roles in their teams making it to this stage, Jersey Village with Briana Peguero and Gia Adams who have gone completely off in multiple games, Peguero was HUGE last night , plus Jersey Village has two sets of, you got it, TWINS, seniors Kyla and Jade Collins and juniors Kaylynne and Kayleigh who in the 5th grade I said, you already know

I guess Cy Creek's freshmen duo of Kyndall Hunter and Rori Harmon were in the 5th grade as well when I first saw them play and usually in a couple I can tell, that's minutes, not games but let me say this, both are beyond their years as far as basketball talent and knowledge of the game, their explosiveness and ability to make teammates better is one of the main reasons why they're here but Creek got a big lift from their reserves, otherwise they may have been up the Langham Creek in that overtime thriller. I'm telling you, this was as close to what it used to be as I've seen all season and if you weren't around or knew what you were looking at, there's really no need to respond but the game has definitely changed as a whole and it was refreshing to say the least to see some real action so I can't wait

Cy Ranch takes 3rd in 2017 Texas Invitational Gold

First of all, let me say this, I make my decisions and predictions as well as player evaluations on what I see and it's not that I don't respect what other people see or write, it's more of the fact that I don't care because we all see  different things and I'm usually right or close to it, without any agenda so I'll start off with the defending R3 champ Cy Ranch

Their only loss this year has been to back to back state champions Duncanville who is simply looking like they're on course for a three-peat however lets not jump ahead, I'll get a better look next month when I cover Sandra Meadows and Spring Creek just for fun but can the Mustangs be stopped? Well they are explosive, D'Asia Collins is flirting with triple doubles already this season and she definitely has proven she is one of the top PG's in the state and the game does start at the one

Jala Buster was simply a BEAST all tournament and for that, she made, well All Tournament but this team has so many players that can step up and make things happen and you're definitely going to need that down the stretch. Two of their wins against R3 opponents were narrow, 1 against Seven Lakes and 3 against Clear Springs so who knows what will happen in February. I know Westside is still missing their post, I know Langham Creek definitely can create some problems but the biggest problems could come from either  Atascocita or Hightower  who finished 1-2 in the FBISD event

I'll catch Cy Ranch tomorrow at Katy and on Tuesday I'm pulling a double as Klein Oak will be at Jersey Village at 11:30 then I'll catch Ridgepoint at Katy Taylor at 1pm so things will start to shape up really soon and this might be one of the most wide open races to see who heads to Austin, my bad, Vegas, wait that's where my babies team is going, San Antonio, I got it now but the biggest question is DO YOU GET IT :) Action coming at ya

Phenoms talent still coming through pipeline #I10BasketballShowcase

First look at the Texas Elite Phenoms and although this wasn't the top squad I wasn't disappointed in the talent by any means. High school playoff stars Trinity Knight (Cy Fair) and Sarah Petiford (Aldine Davis) helped lead their teams to deep runs and the energy they showed during the season hasn't stopped as both brought plenty of heat on both ends and when you have players like this that never take plays off, you definitely will create some problems for opponents. Sloan Casey (Crosby) and Madisyn Francis (North Shore) took it a step further as both played key roles in helping their teams get to the state semifinals in San Antonio and any combination of that foursome didn't provide a letdown as heat was coming so much even I was sweating

ROBYN ONUARAH

Chardae Jones (Atascocita) is always a hit, she's another one of their guards that simply mad things happen while Eraneshia Carmener  (Silsbee) made so much happen off the top that she'll be on the Tip Sheet coming up later. Speaking of coming up, 6'4 Robyn Onuarah (Beaumont Westbrook) told me she was going to be a star and based on what I saw with her height, wingspan and mindset on the court, the tools are definitely there. Marissa Hart (Pearland) is one of the states top 2018 players, she's around the magic number and has peaked yet and another Westbrook star, UNSIGNED Alexzine Andrepoint, showed she was more than capable of playing at the next level

Area 6A playoff schedule

First round games are generally not interesting in the playoffs due to the  1 vs 4 as well as lopsided districts that meet because of alignments but  with all that being said, over the years, several districts have been swept in the first round and not just in the Houston area.

This year there are actually several games in the first round that have already caught my eye, Westside vs Tompkins in particular as the Wolves lost by 30 back in the SBISD however injuries to the Falcons have seen the team I considered a sleeper to get out of here drop to an R-19 third place finish in Region 3

Over in Region 2, it's Dekaney and everyone else from the area as the Wildcats have won 31 straight since an opening day loss to Clear Springs so it's possible that the Houston area might have two representatives in San Antonio. Here are the opening round games for 6A

Class 6A

Region II

Summer Creek (W16) vs. Montgomery F15

7 p.m. Tuesday, Porter

Dekaney (W15) at The Woodlands (F16)

6 p.m. Monday

Klein Oak (R15) vs. Atascocita (T16)

7 p.m. Tuesday, Spring

Conroe (R16) vs. Klein Collins (T15)

7 p.m. Monday, College Park

Region III

Bellaire (W20) vs. Cinco Ranch (F19)

6 p.m. Tuesday, Katy

Cy-Fair (R17) vs. Aldine Davis (T18)

7 p.m. Tuesday, Campbell Center

Sam Houston/Chavez (F20) at Seven Lakes (W19)

7 p.m. Tuesday

Nimitz (R18) vs. Cypress Falls (T17)

5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Campbell Center

Clear Springs (W24) vs. Kempner (F23)

7 p.m. Monday, Dawson

Channelview (R21) vs. Pearland (T22)

Tuesday, Phillips

Hightower (W23) vs. Friendswood/Clear Lake (F24)

6 p.m. Monday, Manvel

Dawson (R22) vs. Beaumont West Brook/Port Arthur Memorial (T21)

TBA

Memorial (W18) vs. Cypress Ranch (F17)

7 p.m. Monday, Coleman

Katy (R19) vs. Lamar (T20)

7:30 p.m. Monday, Butler

Cypress Woods (W17) vs. MacArthur/Eisenhower (F18)

6 p.m. Monday, Campbell Center

Westside (R20) vs. Tompkins (T19)

7 p.m. Tuesday, Cinco Ranch

Manvel (W22) vs. Beaumont West Brook/Port Arthur Memorial (F21)

TBA

Hastings (R23) vs. Clear Lake/Friendswood (T24)

Tuesday, Manvel

North Shore (W21) vs. Alvin (F22)

7 p.m. Monday, Phillips

Clear Falls R24 vs. Travis (T23)

7 p.m. Tuesday, Manvel

Complete area list right here

BCS frontcourt has Cy Woods ready for @TXInvitational

Nancy Mulkey (Oklahoma) and Jasmine Williams (Texas A&M) have already sealed their deals while Kate Reece is only entering her sophomore season yet she too has numerous offers on the table at majors. Reece and Williams both scored over 20 last night in defending state champion Cy Woods victory of Atascocita however the real test comes next weekend at the Texas Invitational fir the team ranked preseason #1 by both TABC and the Houston Chronicle


SCHEDULE

#UnderTheRadar freshmen help Dillard to upset win over #13 Loyola

Alyssa Washington (Photo courtesy of J Williams) 

Few things I love more than saying I told you so however I knew Alyssa Washington (Pflugerville) and Shae Moore (Atascocita) were among the top players in Texas 2015 and the staff at Dillard knew at also as the two freshmen are already paying dividends dropping 24 and 22 respectively in the upset

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Cisco impressive over weekend

I always get a kick out of watching players I knew that would play at the next level when they were young and Alachiron King and Bianca Hampton definitely showed signs as freshmen with Nimitz and Macrthur respectively. I didn't catch Erin Willis until later when she transferred to Atascocita but I just knew those kids would have a shot at going somewhere easily. Never been to Anchorage or anywhere else in Alaska, I get cold watching the fisherman on the Discovery Channel so fortunately Chamira Cockerham came to Texas and all did exceptionally well for Cisco at the San Jacinto Inbvitational

I've already tweeted about the local kids as well as CC on Twitter, archived stories on players can always be found in the search bar but let me give a special S/O to Lyndsey Dowing from Washington DC for dropping 4 three pointers, deep threes, in the first quarter of their game against San Jac

"It's All About the Girls" event October 17th

The Gym (2325 Atascocita Road, Humble, TX  77396) is inviting local Varsity and JV teams to participate in their “It’s All about the Girls” pre-season basketball event on Saturday, October 17, 2015.  Games will begin at 2:00pm.  Each team will play 2 games in round robin style.  The entry fee is $75 per team, and each player will receive a tournament memoir.  Regular high school rules will apply.  The door entry fee will be $5 per attendee, and the snack bar at The Gym will be fully staffed.

Coaches, you could utilize this pre-season event as an evaluation tool for roster purposes to see how your girls play against other teams as opposed to inter squad scrimmaging.

For more information, contact Anissa at 281-540-4496 OR anissav@ourgym.net.  Space is limited, register early.  Be sure to tell her you saw this on Girlz Prep Report.

Lady Houston Phenoms win #IBC NCAA

I remember the first time I saw the Lady Houston Phenoms in pink, I simply couldn't stop watching them, not just because pink bring my eyes out, it also opened my eyes at what I felt would develop into a barrel of next level players. Fast forward almost four years later and this is my first real good look at the new group. Yeah I know Alana Spencer and Madison Francis, they both made the Tip Sheet

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Yeah I know the 6'2 twins from Atascocita, Diamond and Jada Johnson, although raw when I initially saw them, they've been on the grill and are smoking as well as Nadia Trevino who has size and upside and is also physical and this gives them an impressive front-line for the future, trust me and the heat brought from Alexis Lumpkin on both ends of the court had me sweating, she's powerful and can get it done as well as smooth and electrifying Chardae Jones

Sarah Pettiford made All Tournament team so let me give her a special Tip Sheet simply because I love the way she plays, hard, and never takes a play off. She might be the best young defender in the area, you wanna deal with this young lady you better bring a lunch and on top of that, this jumper off the dribble clicked all weekend.

Sports Prep 2018 wins HS Championship #PrimeTime

Sports Prep entered the girl's scene last year and got their feet wet was they were not only competitive but exciting. This years squad has some of the top young talent in the area including a couple of freshmen, Dezeree White and Tia Tolbert who were not only a couple of the leading freshmen scorers in the Cy Fair district but aa couple of the leading scorers period and in case you don't follow or you haven't been attention, District 17 is the toughest district in the area. Tolbert continues to elevate her game but what I was even more impressed with her this time around is her aggressiveness and ability to finish with contact. She and fellow Cy Springs teammate Kierra Flowers are definitely going to do some damage next season in district, Flowers is explosive and acrobatic and brings intensity on both ends

White and fellow Langham Creek teammate Mariel Wade also continue to improve in several areas but big ups to the Cy Woods duo of Olivia Chan and Faith Isabelle. Chan is smart, she understands the game and makes plays while Isabelle is on the verge of breaking out and if she continues what I saw this past weekend, she too will be one of the top sophomores in D-17 joining White, Flowers and Tolbert. Michelle Macintyre showed me she could score last season and her range has improved but what I get from this squad is they simply bring a lot of heat from as far as Atascocita by way of Averi Jones. Two players will be entering high school this season, Annie Carlisle, who has plenty of upside and Elecia Lartigue who I've been watching forever or what seems like. Lartigue is among the top 2019 players in the area, she's not afraid of physicality, can score and defend but the blend and mix on this team is why they won this event

My picks on season

I'm checking out  my first 12 picks and with the exception of Atascocita , all made it to the Elite 8 in their respective regions or class or one of them knocked out each other to get there which is why I place so much emphasis on telling people I don't really read other peoples rankings of teams or players, I base things on what I see because I am actually out there looking at games and not basing my thoughts on team records or mascots

Cy Woods and North Shore have been the teams to beat all season, I've been writing that since November and I said if they stay healthy, this is what it's going to come down to. I also said that either could get upset at Campbell because anything can happen in a one game series

One more time, others people rankings, what team you play on, high school or club,  or even more importantly, who trains you mean absolutely nothing to me. The game is played on the court, show me on the court

RANKINGS

Area HS Top 10 plus

After week two, this is what I have but keep in mind the top three have beaten up on each other and are the teams to beat. The fight from everyone else tells me that anyone can get hot in February and get out of here

1. Cy Woods

2. North Shore

3. Dekaney

4. Manvel

5. Westside

6. Barbers Hill

7. Hightower

8. Atascocita

9.Cy Fair

10. Seven Lakes

11. Clear Springs

12. Port Arthur Memorial

Marbley and Vincent rolling into Sweet 16

Unsigned 6'2 Tiara Marbley has come a long way and with her Klein Forest teams huge upset over Atascocita, they're the Cinderella story from the area. She, along with fellow unsigned teammate PG Destiny Vincent will have their hands full against Stony Point tonight in College Station. The link below has tonight's schedule

GAMES

Westside vs Cy Fair round 2

Last season there weren't a lot of doubleheaders in the second round so using that logic, it probably won't be this round either but I hope I'm wrong. Westside was on a roll starting with knocking off Barbers Hill by almost 20 then having a decent Sandra Meadows Classic showing with wins over area Top 10 Atascocita and Hightower.

The Wolves barely got by Katy Taylor and as one of their bright young stars tweeted out to her teammates, this was a wake -up call and all though I love watching talented players, I love it even more when they can think and they get it so with all that being said, they're going to have their hands full with Cy Fair

Brynae Thompson erupted for the Bobcats scoring over 20 and as I've been saying for years, when you go to war, you need as many weapons as possible and this is a basketball dad that actually knows what's he's talking about. Thompson, Angela Harris, Taylor McCowan and Kyler Wyatt have all put up numbers at various times and if all are clicking, this could get ugly but the X FACTOR might be Olivia Noah

Sentreal Gregory has had a breakout season for the Wolves and with two D1 signees Janae Smith (Grambling) and Maddy Turner (A&M CC) that's going to be a problem yet when you think that problem is solved, Tanea Thomas and Kirby Celestine give you yet another one, btw, that's SELL-UH-STEEEEEEEN


The Cy Fair vs Westside just gave me a flashback to when Nnneka, Chiney and my daughter played so that seals it, if I have to walk barefoot in the snow, this is the game I gotta go

Friday 7pm @ Katy Taylor HS

#4 seeds almost pull a double

I'd seen Klein Forest early, at the SBISD Tournament, and I also saw them late and to be honest the only consistent thing I gathered was that they would play hard and never quit and evidently that formula worked last night as they defeated #1 seed Atascocita in OT

Well also Destiny Vincent's ability to run the team and Tiara Marbley's improvement offensively definitely showed and had a lot to do with why I was there watching

Four players. Twyna Fletcher (13) Marbley and Jachelle Hudson (11) and  Vincent (10) were  in double digits for the Golden Eagles who came up platinum. The Taz Anacia Wilkinson led all scorers with 17 followed by hear teammate Aimee Brown's 14

BOX

The significance of this picture is simple, the Westside girls happened to be at Klein Forest game when I snapped it and almost lost to #4 Katy Taylor but held on to win 37-35. If the box score is right, they had to come back from an 8 point deficit to win this game and as one of their players tweeted, this was a wake up call and she's right. Oh, no individual scoring available but their game against Cy Fair is looking like the one I'll be attending

BOX 

I'll pick a doubleheader based on weather

What we have here is a dilemma but it's a good one to have because number one, I hate blowouts and I'm pretty sure Cy Woods is going to handle MacArthur with ease at Campbell Center. The second game, Cy Fair vs Nimitz could become interesting bu the Bobcats should win and I'm leaning toward this one because a player I coached, Northwestern State signee Brynae Thompson,  transferred over to Cy Fair this season and is making her first playoff appearance, yeah I'm sentimental type of guy

Kingwood opens up a doubleheader against Spring at Oak Ridge, several players from both teams I called D1 players a loooooooong time ago have proved me right, rite, wright yet again and it's followed by Atascocita and Klein Forest. That's a better option simply because I don't see a massacre other than the thunderstorm, bad traffic and temperature in the forties, you know what scratch that because when you add the distance.........

HISD vs Katy districts go at it at Mayde Creek as Bellaire opens up against Tompkins while Westside battles Katy Taylor in the nightcap and the same reasons I gave above apply here too so Campbell Center today and guess who I'm coming to see tomorrow