Area Tournament Wrap Up

Tiffany Davis traded in the Westside uniform for the one with Westbury Christian on it but no matter what the jersey says, she is still the same player. Although they lost the Aldine Invitational championship to Dallas Lincoln 65-51, Davis put up some numbers, 36 to be exact for this future South Carolina Gamecock. Who else won what? Check out GPR

Unsigned, Sealed or Delivered YET-Elsik's Big Three

All have been starters on varsity since their freshmen season. They have never lost a game during district play. They will win over 100 games before they graduate from high school and they beat teams they were not supposed to on a consistent basis last season. Who are they? Your reigning Region 3 Champion Elsik Rams go to players or the name I love calling them by, The Big Three

Back to back Chronicle All Greater Houston player Akunna Elonu was simply unstoppable on Saturday as she scored at will, keeping Elsik close with Cy Falls early in the ball game and at one point had more points than the Hightower team, she scored her 20th point in the third quarter, at the time the Hurricanes had only 19. If Elonu sounds familiar it's because her brother played and a sister plays at Texas A&M, she also has another sister playing collegiate ball. We're talking Levi's, it's in the genes!

Crystal Porter, also a back to back Chronicle All Greater Houston player who, in my honest opinion, if was a couple of inches taller, would have been gone a long time ago. Check the archives out during the Rams playoff run to state last season and remember one of my favorite saying, it's not what you do, it's who you do it against as she battled MDAA's Courtney Williams and Crystal Fortham during the run. In case you can't find the archives, trust me, the kid is legit

Jasmine Ocanas, yeah I know, she doesn't look like a basketball player, too nice right? Wrong, she is one of the top point  guards in her class, can hit the long ball, sees the floor well and has been a Chronicle All Greater Houston player. Two things sum it up about her.

1. Elsik went to state last season
2. Ocanas runs the point!

One more time, the game starts where? At the ONE!!!!!!!!

Katy Nike Classic- Good-win For Cy Falls

Actually it was a "great win" however that isn't Loryn's last name as she led the attack in the championship game against Klein Collins with 20 points in a 72-41 victory. Equally important was four Cy Falls players scored in double digits, Shernise Robertson (17), Sadalia Ellis (16) and Kit Metoyer (12). All of Metoyer's points came on threes, in fact Cy Falls connected on 11 three pointers, yes "Da Bomb Squad" is still applicable. Robertson added 3 and Ellis dropped 2, but probably one of the most important things that happened in this game was Carol Willie pulling glimpses of "Akeem the Dream" out from back in the day as she would rebound on the defensive end, make an outlet pass and run the floor past everyone for a lay-up. And FINISH!

This happened several times during Final Four Saturday and when you have your post working like that, you're cooking with hot grease. Another important thing was Erin Caldwell's ability to give solid minutes off the bench to relieve Willie who in my opinion is, I've said it before, is on the verge of blowing completely up!

No matter what out of place vowel I put in Sadalia's name, the game starts. one more time, with the one. Her teammates feed off her energy and she sets the tone on both ends of the court, no question about it and it's not open for debate. In their 57-39 win against Elsik, she scored 24 points and had at least 8 or 9 steals, in fact I zipped up my briefcase, just in case.

That's a combined  50 points margin of victory over two of the top teams in the area that have a legitimate chance to go deep in the playoffs. Kit nor Loryn shot the ball well in that game however Robertson  continued torching the nets, 16 points, and she has to be one of the leaders in the country shooting the three, players who have attempted one or two need not apply!

I've said it before and I will say it again. This team has five players capable of scoring 20 or more points on any given night and if the guards are clicking and the posts are doing their job, barring injuries, right now Cy Falls and Clear Springs are your front runners in Region 3, by the way, they are also on opposite sides of the BRACKET.

Keep in mind I said "right now" and as good as both teams are, Duncanville showed neither are invincible and anything can happen in the playoffs. With that being said, the Chronicle shows Clear Springs losing to Beaumont Ozen on yesterday to go along with their loss on Tuesday at Dekaney and if true, this gives them 3 losses for the season, the same amount they had last season.

What does it mean for this season? Well only schools that names start with the letter before or after their school name have beat them this season . This makes an interesting case for Cy Falls traveling to Dekaney on WEDNESDAY and should the Eagles lose, maybe that name game really does mean something.

Katy Nike Classic-Final Four Saturday

Several stories are coming up from today's action including 


(1)Tyler Gilbert and Akunna Elonu going completely off today


(2) Elsik's "Big Three", all three are still unsigned, all three are in my Top 30 and all three can play at the next level and I will bet my rep on that!


(3)Another story will involve a brief conversation with Veja Hamilton who didn't shoot the ball like the player I said a case could be made for her being a Top 100 player on opening day. She assured me things would be different, they were! 


(4)How about Cy Falls winning the whole thing?  Not only did they do it, they did  it like I anticipated after seeing what Loryn Goodwin brought to the table opening day. Needless to say, their match-up at Dekaney on Wednesday will determine who the top team in the area is right now.


In case you missed the games, VYPE did a live broadcast of the 3rd place game and the championship


THIRD PLACE

CHAMPIONSHIP



Let me also thank VYPE for the plugs and for interviewing me at halftime. The stories will start coming out tomorrow, enjoy the games.

Katy Nike Classic-Klein Collins Has Toughest Route To F-4

When you talk about a team that has improved and overcome adversity, look no further than Klein Collins as they head into a semifinal match-up against Hightower, the other semi has Cy Falls going against Elsik. Other than myself, no one had the Tigers picked in any Top 10 prior to the start of the season yet here they are in the semifinals of Houston's third major, they defeated North Shore to win the Bronze in the Texas Invitational and will probably be looking at Clear Springs in the 2nd round of the Peggy Whitley Classic next week

Today they battled two heavyweights, first a very young but exciting Mansfield Timberview team who appeared to be on the verge of putting this one away off the top. I saw JaLea Bennet play during the summer and was totally impressed with her ability to get to the basket anytime she wanted along with the poise she showed at a young age. My exact words were "she is a great athlete that can do some damage on the floor" and watching her today, I hit it completely on the head.  She is but one of a team full full of talented players who can fit that mold, in fact this is a very good young team, 5 sophomores, 3 juniors and 3 seniors. Not only was I impressed, I can't tell you how refreshing it was to see so  many players on one team that could create going to the basket.

One of those juniors is Lili Thompson, the lightning quick guard that can score from just anywhere on the court, she led Timberview with 14 points however as much as I enjoyed watching Timberview, this day belonged to Klein Collins.

I always tell people that you need at least three offensive weapons to be successful in GBB, that rule doesn't apply when you have a duo that can put up numbers like Dominique Dillingham (22) and Veja Hamilton (21) did today. Dillingham kept them in the game all the way through on both ends, she is simply one of the hardest players I have seen come through here, so whether you call her Double D or D squared, expect her to defend and fight until the end. What can I say about Hamilton and her ability to score, sometimes at will, that I haven't already said? Not much and her 5 free throws in overtime helped seal the victory. Jasmine Nash hit two back to back shots to help break this thing open, first a big three to help send it into overtime and then a drive down the lane in traffic to give Collins a 49-48 lead in overtime. In their second game of the day, Collins defeated Barbers Hill 50-43 as Hamilton (16) and Dillingham (10) continued to provide the offense while Hill was led by Kendall Shaw (12) Shannon Evans (11) and Mackenzie May (10)

Back to Tiberview, again this is one of the most explosive teams and I mean blowing up from several positions and I can't wait to get another look at them doing the Mansfield Rotary Tournament

Katy Nike Classic-Saturday Schedule Updated

EVENTS

Gene Hackerman Invitational-N Texas vs Oregon State

Brittany Hudson got my attention when she was still in middle school. I was amazed at her uncanny ability to things most players her size weren't supposed to do. As she enters her final collegiate season, I'm still amazed watching her play. North Texas went up against Oregon State, known for their high octane offense and this was a battle from the start as my long day was starting to wear me down after my bout with the flu. Like anything else, I needed something to pump me up and Hudson helped raise my energy level as I watched hers go on and on and on.

This was a good game, it was up and down, back and forth and it kept you in suspense until the final moments which saw the Eagles hold on to win 60-53. Hudson led North Texas with 16 points followed by Jasmine Godbolt with 15

Earlysia Marchibanks was everywhere for the Beavers as she led all scorers with 19 points. You also might want to remember this name, Ali Gibson. I hadn't seen the kid in a couple of years but she's showing lot's of poise for a freshman

Katy Nike Classic-Shaw Celebrates Birthday With Upset

Kendall Shaw not only turned 18 today, she was also turning a lot of fans heads, especially those who haven't seen her in a couple of years. She simply took over the Barbers Hill offense in the third quarter, not on the block where you would probably expect this 6'4 future Vanderbilt Commondore to score most of her points but from the 10-12 foot range, showing how much she has expanded her game.

 In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, it was Shaw and Katy Taylor's Amira Jenkins going back and fourth with baskets from every imaginable angle but this game belonged Eagles as Shaw celebrated her big day with a double-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down 13 rebounds while Shannon Evans added 10 points. Taylor received 13 points each from Jenkins and Logan Johnson.

Gene Hackerman Invitational @ Rice

BRIANNA HYPOLITE (RICE)

With an ever abundance of high school tournaments going on this weekend, in case you need a change of pace you can check out the action going on at Tudor this weekend as A&M Corpus Christi, Oregon and North Texas  come to town. Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I wrote about the local talent playing from our area at the various schools, well add a couple of more as Brittany Hudson and Tamara Torru come back home for encore appearances. As a refresher course, 5'7 Hudson (Fort Bend Austin) was a combo guard that could not only score from anywhere on the court, but simply elevate over players 6'0 and above, Torru teamed with sister Nia to help Bellaire continue to be one of the top teams in the area. Torru was a great athlete that simply out worked you, in fact she was recently named SUN BELT PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Aldine Invitational- Slow Start Ends With Speed

Kingwood Park appeared to be on the verge of pulling of an upset as they held leads of 13-6 after one and 17-11 at the half over Klein Oaks however KP was outscored 15-5 in the third quarter and Oaks never trailed again and won 39-31. DJ Vallier led Oaks with 12 points, Jazmyn Jackson matched that number for KP

Brianna Hayden is simply one of the top 2013 players in not only the state, but the country and even though she wasn't the player who got Dallas Lincoln going, she played a major role in how they finished

Ri'Kell McWright and Camesha Turner got the ball rolling early for Lincoln against Fort Bend Marshall however their press was very effective and what was an 11 all score after one turned out to be a 42-17 deficit and Linclon never looked back