McNeese State -First Look

Last season McNeese State represented the Southland Conference in the NCAA Tournament after coming off one of the most exciting seasons in school history. With over 340 teams in D-1 basketball, being one of the 64 that actually makes the "Big Dance" let's you know how important it really was. Head Coach Brooks Donald-Williams team is off to it's best start ever at 5-1 after an opening game loss to UCLA (67-59). Yes that's the same UCLA that's in the Pac-12 and even more impressive than the 8 point loss is that they did it on the road

I always say that the game starts at the one, well add the one, two and the three as in long ball shooters. Led by the Baggett twins, Aslyn and Caitlyn, along with Kendra Wells, this high octane offensive trio can put up numbers in bunches, in fact all three are on course to break 1000 career points this season

Candace LaCombe showed she could shoot the three as well, knocking down 2 of them in first 3 minutes and
3 in the first half while Martika Hull is just so athletic, the first thing that I noticed was that she just hustles you on both ends. With Hightower's Jasmine Prophett deciding to join a superb recruiting calls, the future looks bright for the Cowgirls.

Dekaney Takes Major Step

After Dekaney won the Fort Bend ISD Tournament a little over a week ago, I wrote that they placed themselves  in a very good position to be the #1 team in the area since they were hosting both Cy Springs and Cy Falls the following weeks. I knew the Springs and Dekaney match-up would be a must see game however the flu was one of only a few things that would stop me from seeing that game. Kayla Nevitt apparently went completely off scoring 27 points and solidified her spot among the must see 2014 players

5 Area Tournaments

Several of the top players and teams will be playing various events across the area. Raven Burns, pictured with dad, went off against  Westbury Christian scoring 25 and almost put up a triple double as Bellaire pulled off the victory despite missing 3 starters. Both teams will be playing this week, Bellaire in the HISD and Westbury Chrisitian in the Aldine Invitational. As an added treat for Aldine, Top 100 player Breanna Hayden  is coming to town with her squad, Dallas Lincoln. Check out the EVENTS tab in link!

GPR

Husky Classic-Texas Southern's Youth Shows Hunger

This was my first look at TSU this season. I knew they were young, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores and 10 freshmen, so my guess was I could expect anything. They went up against A&M Corpus Christi and appeared to be on the verge of running away with the game however crucial errors toward the end of the half found them down 28-27.

I have seen young teams fall apart after closing halves out like this however having a player like Gianne Fleming, junior from Peoria Arizona, who can do quite a number of things led the second half attack and finished with 17 points in the 63-54 victory.

Morgan Simmons was one point shy of a double-double,  and her 11 rebounds, 6 on the offensive end including two big ones down the stretch for baskets, helped kill the A&M CC momentum while Kiara Taylor added 11for the game. Simmons and Taylor are freshmen!

 Former Brookshire star, Jeesica Jammer, led the Islanders with 12 points as she attacked the basket at will and she also finished with 11 rebounds, while Brandi Huff added 10 points

Speaking of former local stars, Bianca Smith is now a grad assistant at TSU while Kerrie Patterson-Brown has joined the staff

 Coach Yolanda Broughton is looking forward to making big things happen at TSU, I can see why because this young team could be special

 It's hard for me to believe it's been 4 years since I went from an internet gangsta to this LOL!

SCOUT

Montgomery, HISD and Katy Tournaments Dec 1st-3rd

Seniors Jasmine Rollins and Kierra Fisher help lead Klein Forest in Montgomery Tournament. Interesting situation, Klein Forest and Cy Woods, both ranked in the cities Top 20, appear to be on a semifinal collision course

Bellaire took care of Westbury Christian today 62-55 despite not having Lulu McKinney, A J Alix or Bianca Winslow, McKinney and Winslow suffered minor injuries in the Texas Invitational . They may not be able to defend theie HISD title as Kincaid and Temple ready to do battle

Several Top 20 teams are in Houston's 3rd major, the Katy ISD Tournament. Check out the brackets


EVENTS

Desoto Ready For Run

Let's see if I can figure this out. Desoto lost the opening game of the season to Duncanville 63-51. They also lost to Cy Falls in the Texas Invitational 76-55, who lost to Duncanville 58-47 in the Gold semi-final game. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing as the Eagles lost in the R-2 Final 4 semfinal game to Pfluggerville in overtime. What I do know is they regrouped to win the Silver in the Texas Invitational defeating one of the areas top R-2 contenders, The Woodlands. I also know they have one of the best back courts in the state, Jordan Jones (Texas A&M) and Bryce Owens (New Mexico) plus a variety of players who can get the job done.

Rice Overpowers Alcorn

Rice started out like they wanted to open this thing wide up score 7 points in the first minute. Jessica Custer had 5 of those 7 and finished with 29 points

Kiara Ruffin kept Alcorn in it, in fact she helped them briefly take the lead in the first half. She finished with 31 points on 12-20 from the field, 6-7 from bta

Dickinson's own Brianna Hypolite contributed 14 points in the Owls 74-57 victory while Jessica Goswitz added 11

If you want to play at the next level, you really need to attend local college basketball games so you can observe what these young ladies can do. It's not easy to make it to the next level, I have shown statistics numerous times on the percentages of kids who don't make it, so may I suggest the earlier the better!

 Houston's Zoe Rogers and The Woodlands Megan Shafer

Hargraves Helps Woodlands Into TABC Rankings

I called the Highlanders "The Unranked Woodlands" after the preseason poll and even though they lost two games in the Texas Invitational, both games were by only 2 points and both to teams ranked in the Top 5 in both the 4-A and 5-A polls, they were runner-up in the Silver. Ashlyn Hargraves 6 threes and 25 points helped get them back on track as they defeated Klein Collins on Monday and they have also entered the TABC state poll at #20.

TABC

Thanksgiving Weekend Basketball

This is a great time to see players that have made it to the next level. Rice cranks it up tonight as they host Alcorn State and on Saturday, Arkansas Little Rock will be coming to town

Friday and Saturday, the Husky Classic features HBU, Texas Southern, A&M Corpus Christi and Vermont

Friday and Saturday, the David Jones Classic features U of H, McNeese State, UT Pan American and Yale