Saturday, February 26, 2011

Ozen Heads To Austin











What a great weekend for basketball in Houston Girl's Basketball. The Campbell Center looked like it did in the old days, fans were cheering, kids were playing and I was happy to see that, more






ELSIK!!!!!!

 Pictures are worth a thousand words, story on GPR



R3 semi-final action from Campbell

I guess the biggest surprise for me is that there were no blowouts at the Campbell Center and I guess that’s how it should be at this stage of the game. Beaumont Ozen will play Huntsville for the R3-4A championship, while North Shore plays Elsik for the R3-5A title. 







In the 4A semis, Ozen defeated Angleton 56-45 despite 27 points from Angleton’s Ceteria Foster. Ozen was led by Asia Booker’s 18 points and followed by Asia Clark’s 17. In the other 4A semifinal Huntsville defeated Manvel 63-55 behind Ronisha Major’s 23 and Cedra Coleman’s 11. Manvel’s Jade Castille led all scorers with 30.




North Shore defeated Cy Falls 54-48 in a game that started off ugly and finished up strong. Monique Bedford scored 11 of her 20 points in the final period to help lead the Mustangs to a semi-upset over the #1 team in the state. I call it semi because I stated all four had a chance to make it to Austin, you’ll see what I mean in a minute. Courtney Williams added 14 points while Katira Young scored 11.  Shernise Robertson scored 14 for the Eagles, followed by Macy Moore with 10.
  
Elsik did the unthinkable and defeated Clear Springs 63-56. Elsik was a coming off a close win against Cy Woods while Clear Springs knocked off defending state runner-up Hightower, so you may have thought this would end another way. Crystal Porter scored 19 for the Rams, while Akunna Elonu added 17. Brooke McCarty led all scorers with 21 for the Chargers followed by Courtney Latham with 15                                                                                                                                         

Elsik plays North Shore tomorrow and here’s the connection. Courtney Williams committed to Texas A&M while Akunna’s older sister, former Elsik star Adaora starts for the Aggies.



Thursday, February 24, 2011

R3 4A & 5A Final Four-Friday & Saturday

This is probably the best four-some record wise that I can remember (135-10). Out of the four teams, Elsik and North Shore are the only teams that made it to the regional semi-finals before, in fact they played against each other in 1996. Elsik is the only team that has made it to Austin, they've been four times, winning it once back in 1998

Cy Falls (37-1) the number ranked team in the state is led by
Sedlia Ellis along with sharpshooters Kit Metoyer and Macy Moore. Their only loss is to Elsik, a team they beat on the road only a few days prior. This team has size, they have shooters and can beat you many, many ways





North Shore (35-2) the winner of two "MAJORS" this season rely on "All Everything" Courtney Williams to set the pace for an outstanding supporting cast which includes Katira Young and Mo Bedford. Their only losses are to Hightower and North Crowley, a Region 1 Final 4 participant

Clear Springs (33-2) the only blemishes on their record are losses to Atascocita and San Antonio Wagner,who is in the Region 4 Final Four, while defeating Desoto who is in the Region 2 Final 4, on the road. This team is young, led by freshman Brooke McCarty, sophomore Courtney Latham and junior Aaliyah Brown, and are already one of the favorites for next season

Elsik (30-5) is the only team that has beaten Cy Falls this season. They are led by three talented juniors, Jasmine Oconas, Crystal Porter and Akunna Elonu. The X factor for them to make it to Austin for the 5th time may be if Lindsey Cypher and Ocanas can hit the long ones to open things up for Porter and Elonu


Logic, reasoning, deduction or even mathematical equations haven't worked this season, but you have four great teams ready to represent Region 3 next weekend. Four games will be played at Campbell Center tomorrow starting at 3:30 where both the 4A and 5A semi-finals will be played , the finals for both are on Saturday.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Mustangs No Pushover











This was an exciting game that had everything you wanted to see. Katy Taylor almost knocked off their third #1 team this season, but it just wasn't meant to be read more











Both of these teams deserved to win, they fought that hard and several Falls players gave props to the Mustangs











Shernise Robertson has been the best sixth man in the city this season, while senior Larissa Scott has shown time and time again she can play at the next level

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Terrific Tuesday?

It will be for some teams, but it also will be Termination Tuesday for others. After watching one of the most exciting and action packed games of the season last night at the Campbell Center between Clear Springs and Hightower, I expect tonight's Katy Taylor vs Cy Falls game at the Berry Center to be equally impressive. Taylor is going for the hat trick, trifecta, triple  or whatever you want to call it as they attempt to do what I've never seen before and that's beat three #1 state ranked teams in the same season. Cy Falls has been the areas "Cream of the Crop" so far this season and they can beat you so many ways, none of that matters to Taylor, so once again it's on!




The winner between North Shore and Elkins will face the Taylor-Falls winner. The Knights were so so, until the return of Donielle Breaux, she makes that team go, so to count them out, I would have to say no. I wish I could figure out how to clone myself, this is a game I would truly love to see and not just because it's a double-header, Manvel vs Foster is in the second game at Phillips. Breaux. North Shore is the #3 ranked team in the state and they are expected to win, however not many expected Elkins to beat Hightower, a team North Shore suffered one of their two losses to.

Cy Woods has got to be on Cloud Nine after knocking off back to back R3 runner up Bellaire, however they will have their hands full against Elsik over at Mayde Creek. Clear Springs had a couple of newcomers, Brooke McCarty and Courtney Latham come in and lead them to their first regional fnal four in only their, help me if I'm wrong, third varsity season. Camille Williams and Olivia Ogwumike have come on strong in Woods second playoff appearance, last season, they lost by 5 to R2 F4 Georgetwon. Elsik is on a mission and they plan on taking no prisoners and the thing they can say that no one else can this season is that they've beaten Cy Falls.











The Woodlands and Atascocita will be playing in Aggieland country tonight, against two teams, Pflugerville and Georgetown, that are both ranked higher than them. Call me what you want but I would love a Houston area final, however with so many talented teams out there this time of year, that's easier said than done. On paper, The Taz looks great and was my early season favorite to be in Austin. They are a former #1 state ranked team and at times have looked like they could beat some college teams. The Woodlands have several weapons and they will need to have all of them against a very athletic Pflugerville team.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Clear Springs-NEXT!!!!!











LL Cool J was said "Don't Call It A Comeback" so Guru SJ says "Don't Call It An Upset". With the exception of Cy Woods, each of the remaining area teams are listed on the TABC Top 25











This was one of the best games I've seen all season and it's sad someone had to lose, but Clear Spring did exactly what they needed to do to win, check out story




Sunday, February 20, 2011

Monday @ Campbell


First of all, let me congratulate Hightower's Taylor and Tyler Gilbert on their commitment to the University of Houston. The twins are two of the areas top posts in the Class of 2012. Hightower is the last area team remaining that reached the Final Four last season from Region's 2 or 3. Cy Fair, Clear Lake, Bellaire and Westside have all been elimnated prior to the Elite 8 and Clear Springs hopes lie in the hands of their youth. 6pm at the Campbell Center.

Rankings, Scouting Service, Club Ball, etc

It's always been important to me to see kids multiple times and to try and be as accurate as possible. With things spread out all over the city and only one of me, I can't see everyone all of the time. I plan on working with both Cedric LaFleur, Cy Fair Texans, and Al Coleman, Cy Fair Shock, to try and see as many young ladies as possible since they have the two largest organizations in the area, along with many of the other clubs in and out of the city who have and continue to support us. I will also cover events outside of Houston like Joey Simmons Premier Basketball and Kelvin Powells Basketball On The Bayou.

The Insiders are hosting a couple of tournaments, one on March 25-27 and the other May 13-15 and I'll be there for sure, from sunup to sundown. I'll compile a Top 40 and "Best of the Rest" for 2012 which will be updated throughout the season until the July events, along with the top Rising Stars from 2013 down to 2017 and younger

I also plan on doing some evaluation camps for the younger kids, which will include a personal breakdown on what they need to work on, what their pluses are, etc, etc, etc. Feel free to email me any information on players or if you have any questions regarding my consulting services, I am at your disposal. The worse thing you can do is wait until the last minute to understand how this stuff truly works. We had 20 kids sign early and probably another 20 will sign in April, do the math on how many play at the next level, NCAA Stats , and learn how the game is really played from someone who actually knows.