Cy Springs closing gap in win over SATCH #GirlsTXJamboree

The good news is that this is one of the best Cy Springs teams I've seen in a very long time,the bad news is they play in the absolute toughest district in the area however they are capable of pulling off some key upsets in their quest for the playoffs. SATCH on the other hand is still very competitive after Anna McCleod has moved on plus they have some new additions to their squad which never quit as they fought to the very end in their 56-48 loss to the Panthers

Speaking of new additions, 6'4 Carma Nicola is a senior that has her best basketball ahead of her however the improvement I see each time she's on the court is just scary on what she could become. Freshmen D' Anna West and  Tiffany Mack, who is is 6'2 are great additions to this senior heavy team and wen you combine them Tia Tolbert and Kierra Flowers, this could be the team to beat in the district in a couple of years. Big game for Toraya Bass who led all scorers with 16, Tolbert added 10 while Tasia Hayes was definitely solid at the one

The Mavericks have added a couple of key players in Victoria Shelton and Anna Jackson, Shelton is explosive off of the dribble, gets to the rim at ease and big ups to Lydia Hulin who was almost everywhere on both ends. SATCH was without Megan Miller who simply adds another element to the talented team and Krystal Jackson is back from an injury and once she's 100% her 73 inches will come in handy. The Schenck sisters, Madison and Mikayla, do so many things that don't appear in the box score however their 15 and 14 points respectively gives you an idea

The Schenck sisters and Tia Tolbert made the Under The Radar Tip Sheet

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Lake Travis impressive in win over Legacy Christian #GirlsTXJamboree

Lake Travis was without their leading scorer, Aspen Howie, while Beaumont Legacy Christian was without Alexis Morris, one of the top players in the 2017 class who happened to make the USA team so I was thinking based on who the Cavaliers had, this would get ugly quick after seeing Legacy Christian last season. To be honest, this was a good game even though Lake Travis rotated everyone in evenly they won 45-34, Mandy Karako is a nightmare to guard, she led all scorers with 15, Nikkie and Natalie Paxton as well as Kaylie Kirkpatrick are all solid players and I'd love to see them with their full roster but I was also pleased with the continuous progression from Jordan Ott who made the Under The Radar Tip Sheet

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Even though Morris was missing, I enjoyed Jean'Na McClelland operating on the floor, she led her squad with 14 while Marli Lemons and Alex Westbrook brought some heat. Danielle Soileua is athletic and long, plus she's close to "the magic number" and with her wingspan she's definitely over six feet. Allura Wilkes is one of those players I had to find out what their name was since she did a few things that definitely caught my eye. When I found out she too was a freshman, that was simply icing on the cake as her upside and potential definitely have her on my radar

Yates holds off Chavez #GirlsTXJamboree

Yates and Chavez proved to be a competitive game as both teams had energetic and athletic guards and wings while each had a little size to go along with it. This game was tight until Yates pulled away at the end winning 49-38

YATES- Amari Albrow led all scorers with 17 scoring multiple ways while Derrian Smith did a good job running the one and keeping everyone involved. La Asia Baker and Rebecca Williams brought and applied pressure, this team is very scrappy. On top of that, their two bigs, Monet Dixon and Morghan Taylor were serviceable on the inside

CHAVEZ-Naomi Ferdinand is in a lot of pictures. probably because she was everywhere and the 6'0 senior led her team withh 16 points. Solid guard play across the board for Chavez, especially from Amber Scott and Kristie Mejia, Avrion Edwards can create problems at 6'0 while 6'1 Sylvia Ramos is only a sophomore but doesn't mind contact in the paint

Under The Radar stars shine in #GirlsTXJamboree

Jordan Ott

Although the weather was ugly outside, the talent made up for it inside at Westbury Christian High School where the Girls Texas Jamboree was held. I'll break down each of the five games, I saw enough of Bellaire in the fifth game to know that right now they're the best team in HISD and when they get back to full strength, add them to the list of legitimate contenders to represent R3 6A

Right now, I'll give you an UNDER THE RADAR Tip Sheet

Madison and Mikayla Schenck

2016
Madison Schenck (SATCH) at six feet, she simply does so many things well on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. She makes smart decisions, can handle the ball under pressure in the open court and can hit the mid and long range with ease. The UNSIGNED senior is a steal, this young lady keeps adding to her game and won't quit on you

Marissa Banfield 

2017

Marissa Banfield (Westbury Christian) Loved her game when she was 10 playing a couple of years up, I knew what was going to happen and as usual I'm correct. The main job of a point guard is to make her teammates better, run the offense and not make bad decisions, well she can do all of that plus take a game over when needed

Tia Tolbert

2018

Tia Tolbert (Cy Springs) Tolbert's aggressiveness on both ends keeps getting better, I saw that begin to improve over the summer however I'm loving her ability to create off the dribble and finish strong taking contact. Mid and long range, check and double check. Perimeter defense has gotten better, in fact she loves playing it

Mikayla Schenck (SATCH) Watching this young lady in the open court is blowing me away, well that and her NBA range but what I like even more about what she's improving on, no it's playing the passing lanes, it's her ability to set defenders up to take them off the dribble and with her length and ability to catch and shoot......

Jordan Ott (Lake Travis) One of my favorite players to see before I actually saw her live. I caught a glimpse of Ott in a video and I was scratching my head and over the past two seasons, she's gone from just being good to really good and on the verge of taking it even further. Great size, she knows how to score and when to score and creates match-up problems galore

UNSIGNED Madison Schenck one of players to watch #GirlsTXJamboree

2016 Madison Schenck has started of the season on a tear with SATCH and I expected nothing less. The 6'0 star has been a player I observed since she was in the 8th grade wen she was only a back to the basket player however hard work and determination has not only elevated her game to where she can handle the ball in the open court, under pressure, as well as nail the mid and long range with ease and rebound on both ends while play defense, inside or on the perimeter.

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The Under The Radar Schenck is just one of many bright stars I'll catch today at the Texas Jamboree

Bush comes up short this time #FBISDTournament

Bush hung with the defending R3 representative Rudder in the 3rd place game of the FBISD Tournament and remember my saying "it's not what you do, it's who you do it against". After handling Crosby, a team I had ahead of the 5A area schools, to get to the semi's the Broncos had a tough one against champion Dekaney and lost by 12 to Rudder in the 3rd place game but by that same token, they only lost to defending 6A champ Cy Woods earlier in the season by 7

You have a lot of talent on this team, Daizha Norris put on one of the best shooting exhibitions I saw all summer, 8 threes, 3 long twos with her foot on the line and this included a fade-away 35 footer to send the game into overtime so with that being said, you get the picture. I had a better picture of what Tamera Gulley could do over the summer, she was solid and consistent while Emily Casler definitely showed she could get it done in the paint on both ends.

I love the energy from both India Lloyd and Beatrice Miller, they played well in the semi's and give the Broncos another look which will be even brighter when another talented player I saw big things coming from returns and that's Asia Nolan who has had some untimely injuries but she can play too. I'll catch Bush again, don't be surprised if they're at Campbell Center

2015 Texas Invitational All Tournament team

Yep I stole the picture and it's worth more than a thousand words

MVP: Ciera Johnson, Duncanville

Zarielle Green, Duncanville

Chasity Patterson, North Shore

Megan Valdez-Crader, San Antonio

Brennan Ashlynn Dunbar, Clear Falls

Lexi Rich, San Antonio

Madison DiDi Richards, Cy Ranch

Nancy Mulkey, Cy Woods

Cierra Lane, Pearland

Ja’Carria Ferrell, North Crowley

RECAP

Rudder still talented and explosive #FBISDTournament

The Lady Rangers of Rudder didn't catch my eye late last season simply because I knew several players on the team, including the Suber twins and the Daily sisters and had watched them play since middle school so it definitely wasn't a surprise at seeing them making a state title run and even though they fell short they still have several ingredients remaining to do it again

Kiana Suber iced the regional final last season from the line, she and her twin sister Brianna bring plenty of heat both offensively and defensively and as athletic and acrobatic as they are, they keep adding to their games. Megan Daily could always shoot the three, she's shooting at a higher percentage while her sister Trisha Daily brings so much pressure on defense while still handling pressure to run the team and scoring when needed

While the older Daily sisters ate seniors, more are coming starting with freshman Trecee who it seems like I've been knowing even before she was in school, I'm serious the more I think about it I'm pretty close. I was super impressed with her poise as she stepped out on the floor and handled the heat and I already know what type of talent she possesses after catching her in club ball and I can't wait to see her and the baby, Precious, go to work in a couple of years

Deyesha Wilbert is long and athletic, a shade under the magic number and definitely will create problems all season while Kiara Benford and Tieshton Thompson fill in many of the blanks without any let up when they're on the floor so I wouldn't be surprised to see this talented group at Campbell Center again making another run

LAST SEASON

Hightower has enough heat to get it done down stretch #FBISDTournament

Hightower is one of the few teams from the area that have made it to the state tournament multiple times, they made it in 2003 and 2010 so based on the 7 year gap, technically they're supposed to go next season and trust me, they have a solid class of juniors that also make them a favorite next season however senior guards Reyna Ammons, Maddison Glass and Rachel Brown are battle tested and want to go out with a bang.

Good to see Lenecia Mitchell back, she had star written all over her when she was in middle school and is showing no ill effects from an injury, she just makes things happen. Jasmine Harvey could always shoot the three, nothings changed but the explosiveness from Treazure Mouton on the offensive end definitely has gone up

Mouton's length and change of direction gives her definite advantage as her midrange game continues to improve, Eneily Rodriguez was huge off the bench for Hightower giving them an added boost offensively and guard Taylor Howard will simply give them yet another dimension when she returns. The Hurricanes were runner-up at this seasons Fort Bend ISD Tournament

Dekaney defeats Cy Ranch

I expected a battle and in the first quarter it was as Dekaney's Jaelyn Richard-Harris and Cy Ranch Deauzya Richards were hitting baskets and the quarter ended with Richards dropping a 30 footer to cut Dekaney's lead to 2. In the second quarter, Richard's had to leave after a hard foul and Dekaney simply went on many runs, ignited by Richard-Harris and when you factor in the supporting cast of Jasmine Smith and Makeeda Collins plus Kene Hamilton and Keishawna Scott,, they simply started opening the game up. Big ups to the two sophs I didn't see in the summer, they seem to be getting better every game

Ariana Whitfield is coming off a three for all at the Texas Invitational where I think she tied or set a record for threes, I can't remember but I do remember that this team is better than played yesterday. Rachel Tapps was on the end and it appeared her head was over the rim, this is the athleticism she possesses and the UTEP star is finally healthy and ready to make things happen. A key ingredient missing is D'Asia Collins, game starts at the one and she's one of the best sophomore points in Texas so when she returns, this team will be different

Richards was able to return however the Mustangs just couldn't put together enough to get back in it. Taylor Coleman and Alyssa Guerrero are definitely serviceable in this system, new additions Jalie Burkhalter and Jala Buster will pay dividends when it counts and if this team stays healthy, I'm standing by what I said earlier that they are definitely one of the teams to beat in Region 3