Got the following from my buddy and CenTex 3A hoops guru, B.J. Walters. We often see these kinds of whacky finishes to football district races, but not as often in hoops.
Keep in mind when reading this that Class 3A districts still only get three playoff representatives. As you'll read, one of four teams in this central Texas district may tie for a district championship and not even make the playoffs.
I love this stuff! (Thanks again, B.J., for the info!)
The fun is just starting in 19-3A.
Just when we thought everything would be nice and tidy in 19-3A, with Mexia, La Vega, and Lorena all ranked in the TABC hoops rankings and two full games up on the pack, the district showed us what many Waco-area district fans already knew: this district is NEVER nice and tidy.
Groesbeck started the second half of district (with a record of) 2-3 and looking to be a spoiler. They beat a winless Connally team 64-38...no big deal right?
Then the Goats hit their stride, starting their game with #16 La Vega with a 25-5 run en route to a rather convincing 68-54 win at the Goat Gym. Spoiler role turned to hope.
Then they had to hit the road and play a team that they had not beaten in 28 tries, the Mexia Blackcats. Put the streak on top of having to go to very hostile Blackcat Gym, and it was 'uh-oh' time for the Goats, who were in a must-win. They ended the streak with a 67-65 overtime win.
Now we have a complete mess that has no chance of being decided any time soon. There are many different scenarios.
Here is what we do know: Robinson and Connally, I’m sorry, but this party isn’t for you.
La Vega and Lorena are 6-2, while Groesbeck and Mexia are 5-3. La Vega is in Mexia Friday, and Lorena is in Groesbeck on Tuesday, so here we go:
If Groesbeck and La Vega go 2-0 and Mexia and Lorena go 1-1, then:
1. La Vega
2T. Lorena
2T. Groesbeck (Tiebreaker or Flip for 2nd)
If Mexia and Lorena go 2-0, and Groesbeck and La Vega go 1-1, then:
1. Lorena
2T. Mexia
2T. La Vega (Tiebreaker or flip)
If La Vega and Lorena go 2-0 and Groesbeck and Mexia go 1-1, then:
1T. La Vega
1T. Lorena (Tiebreaker or flip)
3T. Groesbeck
3T. Mexia (Tiebreaker)
If Mexia and Groesbeck go 2-0 and Lorena and La Vega go 1-1, then:
1T. La Vega, Groesbeck, Lorena, Mexia
(This would result in a four-team tournament next weekend at a site TBD for three spots)
If you consider that manageable, then it’s not so bad. Either way, it is going to make for a fantastic finish in 19-3A.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
CRHS announces another signing
More college signing news from Cinco Ranch High School, courtesy of campus athletic coordinator Don Clayton...
Amy Brodeur has committed to play at Stephen F. Austin to continue her soccer career at the next level.
We join the Cinco Ranch family in wishing her nothing but success both on and off the pitch.
Amy Brodeur has committed to play at Stephen F. Austin to continue her soccer career at the next level.
We join the Cinco Ranch family in wishing her nothing but success both on and off the pitch.
Seated: Dad (Anthony), Amy, and Mom (Susan)
Standing: John Crow (Boys Head Soccer Coach), Mickey Ventimilla-Miller (Girls Assistant Soccer Coach), Fredy Sanguinetti (Girls Head Soccer Coach), James Cross (Principal), Aaron Hoefer (Boys Assistant Soccer Coach), and Don Clayton (Athletic Coordinator).
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
And the realignment winners are...
As the dust settles from Monday's UIL realignment, who wound up as the big winners and who were the big losers in the Greater Houston area?
Today, let's pick 'em in Class 5A...
I think that if you are looking for winners, you need look no further than a little way out Highway 290 to the schools of Cy-Fair ISD. The entire 10-team district will be relocated back in Region III next year as District 17-5A and, no matter which sport you pick, you can make a case that things just got a whole lot easier for whichever CFISD schools make it into the playoff brackets.
With no disrespect intended toward the Alief ISD and Aldine ISD schools which will comprise neighboring 18-5A, all of the 'Cy' schools' football and baseball coaches probably breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday when they realized that they won't see Round Rock schools in the first round and the likes of The Woodlands, College Park, any of the Klein ISD schools, etc., if they happen to survive that round.
Because of their geographic location on the northern outskirts of metropolitan Houston, the Cy-Fair schools always have to be prepared to go either to Region II or Region III at realignment time, depending on how the numbers fall out. But, given their history of successes on the field, it would be hard to argue that they aren't better off in Region III.
Cypress Woods made it to a football Region II championship game this past season, but Cy-Fair and Cypress Falls each made it at least that far on multiple occasions in Region III and the Golden Eagles played in a 5A Division 2 state championship game as a Region III representative in 2006. Baseball seasons were a little tougher, thanks to the Katys, Bellaires and Kingwoods of the region, but Woody Champagne led his Cy-Fair Bobcats to a state baseball championship out of Region III back in 2007.
Conversely, if you feel like anyone got the short end of the stick, you'd have to pity Kingwood and Atascocita. Not only do they get bumped from the friendly confines of Region III for Region II, but they also get ousted from their cozy surroundings in the Humble/Aldine district to be relocated into the Conroe ISD/Lufkin district. They'll annually see The Woodlands, College Park, Oak Ridge, Conroe and Lufkin in district play. Ouch!
The move was basically unavoidable when it became obvious that Humble was not going to have the enrollment numbers to stay in 5A. (They join Humble ISD schools Kingwood Park and Summer Creek in 4A next year.) And, because of their geographic location in relationship to the Conroe schools, the move was the most natural to make.
At the same time, District 14-5A, which was a small six-team district in recent years, now becomes a little bigger and stronger, too.
I have to confess that the first thing I thought of when I saw the make-up of this district was The Woodlands-Kingwood series in baseball. This revamped district should be a lot of fun for observers, if not for the teams involved.
The other 'losers' in the realignment would have to be Memorial and Strake Jesuit. Memorial, like Kingwood and Atascocita, find themselves in a school district (Spring Branch ISD) where the other high schools are seeing enrollment drop them to 4A levels (Stratford was already there at the last realjgnment but successfully petitioned to stay in 5A) and find themselves now grafted in with the Katy ISD schools.
Strake Jesuit, the lone Houston-area private-school UIL stepchild, will move to that district with Memorial. Strake is likely to spend its entire existence in the UIL shuffling from one district to another every other year--the proverbial 5A nomads.
There was room for one more team in the seven-team Alief/Aldine district and Strake is geographically close to the Alief ISD schools, but they will return instead to compete against the same Katy schools that welcomed them into UIL play as district mates back in 2004. That has to something akin to the welcome you could get in the 1980s at a Von Erich family Christmas gathering: reverse choke holds and body slams for everyone! (Don't you just love obscure references that hint at the writer trying just a little too hard to be clever?)
We'll offer some opinions on 4A winners and losers in the next post.
Today, let's pick 'em in Class 5A...
I think that if you are looking for winners, you need look no further than a little way out Highway 290 to the schools of Cy-Fair ISD. The entire 10-team district will be relocated back in Region III next year as District 17-5A and, no matter which sport you pick, you can make a case that things just got a whole lot easier for whichever CFISD schools make it into the playoff brackets.
With no disrespect intended toward the Alief ISD and Aldine ISD schools which will comprise neighboring 18-5A, all of the 'Cy' schools' football and baseball coaches probably breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday when they realized that they won't see Round Rock schools in the first round and the likes of The Woodlands, College Park, any of the Klein ISD schools, etc., if they happen to survive that round.
Because of their geographic location on the northern outskirts of metropolitan Houston, the Cy-Fair schools always have to be prepared to go either to Region II or Region III at realignment time, depending on how the numbers fall out. But, given their history of successes on the field, it would be hard to argue that they aren't better off in Region III.
Cypress Woods made it to a football Region II championship game this past season, but Cy-Fair and Cypress Falls each made it at least that far on multiple occasions in Region III and the Golden Eagles played in a 5A Division 2 state championship game as a Region III representative in 2006. Baseball seasons were a little tougher, thanks to the Katys, Bellaires and Kingwoods of the region, but Woody Champagne led his Cy-Fair Bobcats to a state baseball championship out of Region III back in 2007.
Conversely, if you feel like anyone got the short end of the stick, you'd have to pity Kingwood and Atascocita. Not only do they get bumped from the friendly confines of Region III for Region II, but they also get ousted from their cozy surroundings in the Humble/Aldine district to be relocated into the Conroe ISD/Lufkin district. They'll annually see The Woodlands, College Park, Oak Ridge, Conroe and Lufkin in district play. Ouch!
The move was basically unavoidable when it became obvious that Humble was not going to have the enrollment numbers to stay in 5A. (They join Humble ISD schools Kingwood Park and Summer Creek in 4A next year.) And, because of their geographic location in relationship to the Conroe schools, the move was the most natural to make.
At the same time, District 14-5A, which was a small six-team district in recent years, now becomes a little bigger and stronger, too.
I have to confess that the first thing I thought of when I saw the make-up of this district was The Woodlands-Kingwood series in baseball. This revamped district should be a lot of fun for observers, if not for the teams involved.
The other 'losers' in the realignment would have to be Memorial and Strake Jesuit. Memorial, like Kingwood and Atascocita, find themselves in a school district (Spring Branch ISD) where the other high schools are seeing enrollment drop them to 4A levels (Stratford was already there at the last realjgnment but successfully petitioned to stay in 5A) and find themselves now grafted in with the Katy ISD schools.
Strake Jesuit, the lone Houston-area private-school UIL stepchild, will move to that district with Memorial. Strake is likely to spend its entire existence in the UIL shuffling from one district to another every other year--the proverbial 5A nomads.
There was room for one more team in the seven-team Alief/Aldine district and Strake is geographically close to the Alief ISD schools, but they will return instead to compete against the same Katy schools that welcomed them into UIL play as district mates back in 2004. That has to something akin to the welcome you could get in the 1980s at a Von Erich family Christmas gathering: reverse choke holds and body slams for everyone! (Don't you just love obscure references that hint at the writer trying just a little too hard to be clever?)
We'll offer some opinions on 4A winners and losers in the next post.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Cinco's Radcliffe chooses Rice
Cinco Ranch High School announced today that LB James Radcliffe has committed to play for the Rice Owls.
Radcliffe was a three-time All-District LB, as well as 17-5A Defensive Player of the Year, first team All-Greater Houston, and recognized on both the academic and on-the-field all-state teams. He was also a Cougar captain.
Radcliffe will join former Cougars John Gioffre, Bobby Kiesewetter, and Tanner Leland on the Rice roster.
Radcliffe was a three-time All-District LB, as well as 17-5A Defensive Player of the Year, first team All-Greater Houston, and recognized on both the academic and on-the-field all-state teams. He was also a Cougar captain.
Radcliffe will join former Cougars John Gioffre, Bobby Kiesewetter, and Tanner Leland on the Rice roster.
Seated: Jim (Dad), James, and Kris (Mom)
Standing: Chad Simmons (Defensive Coordinator), Chris Dudley (Inside Linebacker Coach), James Cross (Principal), Don Clayton (Head Football Coach), and Mike Flanagan (Outside Linebacker Coach).
Monday, February 1, 2010
Highlights of the UIL realignment
Several Houston-area teams will be more than mildly affected by the 2010-2012 district realignment announced by the University Interscholastic League this morning. Here are some of the changes:
- Class 5A Region II: Kingwood and Atascocita will move from Region III to join the Conroe ISD schools and Lufkin in District 14-5A.
- Cy Fair ISD schools move from Region II back to Region III to form one of two 10-team superdistricts in the region (along with Fort Bend ISD)
- Three of the four Spring Branch ISD schools drop from Class 5A to 4A. Stratford, Northbrook and Spring Woods will join the Magnolia ISD schools, Waller, Brenham and Montgomery in 17-4A.
- Memorial, the lone remaining Spring Branch ISD 5A school, will join the six Katy ISD schools and Strake Jesuit to make up District 19-5A.
- Alief ISD (three schools) and Aldine ISD (four schools) will compose arguably the most geographically-awkward district, 18-5A.
- Deer Park and La Porte, natural geographic rivals, are in separate districts for the first time in recent memory.
- HISD Westbury moves back from 4A to 5A to join other HISD schools in District 20-5A.
- Baytown Lee drops from 5A to 4A.
- Pearland moves back to 24-5A from 22-5A, replacing Galveston Ball, who drops to 4A.
- Humble and New Caney drop from 5A to District 18-4A with Caney Creek, Huntsville, Kingwood Park, Willis and new schools Summer Creek and Porter.
- Angleton and Brazosport will relocate to 23-4A to join the five other teams: Bay City, El Campo, Foster, Lamar Consolidated and Terry.
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