Hs Basketball Mid-season Report

[Cooley]

January 13, 2008

R.V. Baugus

Some basketball teams are still waiting to start district play, but with more than two months worth of games having already been played (save for those smaller classification teams whose schools had extended football playoff runs and thus got a late start on the hardwood), now is a good time for a mid-season report card on the boy's side about what has happened and what might still yet take place as the race to Austin and the state tournament now begins in earnest.

Who Will Stop Duncanville?

At 23-1, Coach Phil McNeely and his defending Class 5A state champion Duncanville Panthers are on course to return to Austin. The Panthers had a severe test on Friday night at home before topping District 8-5A rival DeSoto by three points in overtime. These south Dallas County foes will meet again at DeSoto before the playoffs, and if the show put on remotely resembles the one already played out, don't be surprised if Chris Dyer's Eagles prevail in another nail-biter. The one loss for Duncanville, by the way, came at the hands of national power Oak Hill Academy.

Is This Football Or Basketball?

Dallas Highland Park and Austin Lake Travis took home football state championships this past year in Class 4A, and the schools are now lighting it up on the court. The Scots from Highland Park stand at 19-4 and hold down the No. 6 ranking in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches/Tex Preps Basketball magazine state rankings, while the less heralded Cavaliers entered the rankings for the first time last week at No. 16 and are a gaudy 21-3 on the season.

What Do Amarillo Palo Duro And Thorndale Have In Common?

Other than both of these schools being basketball juggernauts in Class 4A and Class 1A-I respectively, Palo Duro and Thorndale are the state's final two unbeaten outfits. The Dons of Palo Duro are the No. 2 team in the state at 19-0, while Jeff Lieberman's defending state champions from Thorndale are 20-0 and No. 6 despite losing a wealth of seniors off of last year's squad.

Under The Radar?

Dallas South Oak Cliff is never a team that could be called an under-the-radar unit, especially since the Golden Bears have won three consecutive state crowns in Class 4A. But this year's team is 10-8 and comes off a District 14-4A loss to rival Dallas Kimball, a program that started slow this year but has picked up steam. SOC still has too much talent to stay down and will likely battle Kimball and Dallas Pinkston for the playoff slots.

[GreenBat]

HP did not win State in football. They might in Hoops under the direction of David Piehler, who is destined to be a college coach.

[UNT_92_Fan]

I am very interested in seeing a North Crowley vs Duncanville game. I haven't looked at a schedule and honestly dont know if they have played each other yet but I think that would be a fun game to watch.