2018 Katy Classic ready for action

The 2018 Katy Classic will be pretty darn exciting based on who I've seen that are in it and as well as who I haven't seen so far so let me start with Katy led by their senior backcourt of Savannah May and Cassidy Howard who have already captured one tournament, the SBISD, defeating R-3 contender Westside for the championship.  The Tigers are on a collision course to face defending R-3 champ Cy Creek in the quarterfinals, winner probably has a good chance to make it to the finals, haven't seen out of town squads Colleyville Heritage, Wagner or Cedar Ridge but the real challenge may come from Hastings or Cinco Ranch who play each other off the top

On the other side, I'm seeing improvement in Katy Taylor each time I've watched them play, my first look at Seven Lakes is coming up, Spring, featuring talented Haley Wesley, is ready for action starts it off with a squad Morton Ranch squad I'm hearing rave reviews about and I already know Bush has a young lady that can go off for 30 at the blink of an eye but this will probably boil down a Langham Creek vs Cy Ranch quarterfinal to represent that side of the bracket in the finals, but what do I know, the game is played where, on the court

SCHEDULE 

2022 Jade Miller added to freshman WATCH LIST

I've seen some talented freshmen over the years and I'm talking going back almost to the previous century so one thing I do when I evaluate talent is "could they have battled against the players of yesteryear" because the "then" and the "now" is totally different and if anyone tells you anything differently, they're clueless or brainless because it's just nit the same game. Dulles has three talented freshmen, Nya Threatt , Dai Dai Powell and Kaylie Johnson, Elkins has the amazing Peyton Overton, Saija Cleveland is already sending messages with Langham Creek and what can I say about Shadow Creek's R'Mani Taylor that I haven't said lus Sydney Ward just made the TRIFECTA TIP SHEET for Katy Taylor read more

I caught Jade Miller before her 7th grade season and was simply amazed at a number of things she showed me, ability to score, score under pressure and even more importantly handle the ball under pressure. Now she's a freshman at Lamar HS and the poise she shows is ahead of her years, I put a hashtag on #sizedontmatter with the disclaimer, when you can play and Miller can play as she scores in bunches quickly and is making the adjustment to HS ball nicely. Mid to long range or off the dribble, she always had that but she sees the floor even better and still has plenty of upside

Hightower holds off Ridgepoint in all Fort Bend #FBISDTournament

Shades of yesteryear almost as a couple teams from FBISD, Hightower and Ridgepoint, made it not only to the finals of their school districts annual tournament and both squads will be highlighted among the top squads I've seen so far this season but first things first. Hightower is showing early signs of having enough to make a deep run in R-3 5A race, 6'4 Winnie Kuimi is showing signs of her old self controlling the paint on both ends, while fellow seniors Sydni Johnson (MVP) and Aresa Gipson definitely played huge roles in their win. Johnson with the pull-up from almost every angle imaginable, Gipson hust "fire and desire" battling for everything and never taking a play off played dividends in their victory. Destini Lombard, long and athletic, created issues with her defense and scored multiple ways but she and fellow junior Taelor Purvis also played the passing lane to a tee. Purvis also explode for multiple scores, including several stop and pops or just attacking the rim at will but this squad has several others

Ridgepoint's unsigned senior Taylor Thomas is one of the top remaining UNSIGNED players in Texas, she's an explosive scorer that put up numbers and was a huge catalyst in the teams several runs. Fellow senior Mallory Gibson has been somewhat of a silent assassin throughout her career, she does plenty of things that don't show up in the box score but this team isn't the same team it will be come district, trust me, because senior Jaida Herndon isn't one hundred percent, she'll give a boost on both ends and sophomore Marchelle Willis adds more firepower from bta, she didn't suit up but she'll be back. The improvement from sophomore post Dala Allen tells me a lot, still has plenty of upside but is quite serviceable in their scheme but Aleighyah Fontentot, saw her drop 8 long balls as a freshman last season, can fill it up quickly and then you add one of the states top point guards, sophomore Raven Adams, who is threading the needle like a master seamstress, continues to ad even more to her arsenal which includes, you guessed it, the long ball

Katy holds off Westside for 2018 #SBISDInvitational Championship

HOUSTON, TEXAS- The Spring Branch ISD Tournament was the third tournament I had a chance to cover in three days, starting with the Conroe ISD and Peggy Whitley Classic squeezed in between so I had already seen a variety of talented players spread out over an abundance of teams, closing it out with the SBISD event was pretty cool. Dulles showed plenty of athleticism and explosiveness as well as youth and they took SBISD champion Katy down to the wire in the semifinals the night before but the Westside vs Katy championship was definitely a good one, side note the Wolves played without 6’3 #BCSLock Fatou Samb who had a slight sprain but watching those two teams, well Dulles as well, tells me they have a chance to make noise and possibly play spoilers during the playoffs. Katy with its back to back SBISD Tournament Championship and Allana Thompson wins her 2nd consecutive MVP award

Here is the 2018 All Tournament

MVP Allana Thomoson-Katy

All Tournament

Savannah May - Katy

Cassidy Howard - Katy

Jenna Caskey - Katy

Jessica Soders - Westside

Helena Johnson - Westside

Kayla Pilson - Westside

Aleah Pressly - Dulles

D'Anna West - Dulles

Katlyla Ngo - Klein Cain

Summer Creek at Cy Creek helps open up 2018/19 with a bang

Summer Creek avenged an R-3 final loss to Cy Creek in one of the best opening day games I've seen and by best I mean energy, intensity, playoff atmosphere and teams making runs at each other in a "down to the wire" battle, all this to start the season off and ironically both teams may run across each other in a couple of weeks at the Texas Invitational and even during the playoffs but first things first. Maliyah Johnson has elevated her status among the top 2020 players in the state and at 6'3 , she creates a lot of issues combined with her athleticism and extended range but the the Lady Bulldogs have a solid backcourt in Adoara Nwoekeji and Mailyn Wilkerson as both are athletic and shoot the long ball  and talk about athletic, Victoria Crawford brought plenty heat on defense while fellow senior guard Halle Jones was ice from the line down the stretch to help secure the victory. Big boost off the bench from Tyanna Sherman has me thinking this is another SC you can't count out, hopefully you caught that

Kyndall Hunter and Rori Harmon are one of the best young backcourts in the state, both are capable of  going completely off and dropping points in bunches. Hunter's aggressiveness and explosiveness ignited many runs as she threw pinpoint passes through traffic countless times, well I didn't count them while Harmon continues to dazzle creating her shot and once either gets going, anything can happen. Fellow sophomore Taylor Jackson caught my eyes years ago and as she has gone above the magic number of 6'0, her inside presence coupled with 6'3 Morgan Hill gives the Lady Cougars a definite inside presence while Ally Harman's solid play helps make this squad one you don't want to count out. The game has changed, I know you hear this and that from people popping up from nowhere but trust me, it is not what it used to be so again, this was refreshing to see early