After four hard-fought quarters Saturday between District 23-5A rivals Travis and Elkins, the score was even.   Travis guard Ray Penn was enjoying one of his most productive individual efforts for the Tigers, but he wasn’t done just yet. Penn made aggressive drives to the hoop and drew fouls late in the overtime, knocking down seven of nine free throws as Travis edged Elkins 75-73.

{mp3}Podcast-20090105{/mp3}   Just because it's football season doesn't mean our podcasts are taking a holiday.   Chad Washington and Dave Purpura return to analyze the goings-on from the first month of boys and girls basketball, including who is at the head of the pack and the teams turning heads behind them.

  While we were preoccupied with the football playoffs and the holiday season, we haven’t had much time to take a good look at the area girls basketball scene.

    In only its second varsity season, Travis is looking to make its move as a contender in District 23-5A.

        Fort Bend Austin has been looking to break out from the crowded field of District 23-5A teams for almost the last three years.

      All season, Alief Taylor has played with emotion and spirit in every game, hanging with every opponent until the final buzzer.

    For all its lofty expectations and ambitions, the Strake Jesuit boys basketball team could be found guilty of winning quietly. The Crusaders started sluggish Friday night against Memorial but slowly built an insurmountable lead, breaking open a tight six-point game in the third quarter with a 16-0 run and cruising past the visiting Mustangs 71-47 in the District 18-5A opener for both teams. Joey Brooks scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half as the Crusaders displayed crisp passing and equally fluid efforts from inside and outside to remain undefeated (19-0) in front of a large but docile crowd. “In the first half I don’t think we came out with enough defensive intensity, so in the second half coach got on us about defense so we started stretching the lead out,” Crusaders guard Steven Rogers said.

  Worthing boys basketball coach Dote Williams paced pensively outside his team’s locker room Friday after a 58-55 win against Booker T.

   The Jersey Village girls basketball team began their New Year with an exciting 42-38 win over District 15-5A rival Cypress Falls on Friday afternoon. The Falcons led most of the way but let lost the lead with 3:45 left in the fourth.

    (Championship - Kingwood VS.

  Coming off an eight day layoff and a HISD Jaycees/Reebok tournament championship, Strake Jesuit showed its rust against a struggling Westside and avoided an upset with a late fourth quarter surge that sent the Crusaders (19-0) with a 64-47 win over the Wolves (3-12). Halfway into the fourth quarter, the Crusaders held a 45-41 lead against the upset minded Wolves.

  While the year 2008 is coming to a close, several area teams were at Kingwood High School on Monday hoping to end the year on a high note as well as carry it over to a strong start in 2009. The first-annual Kingwood Holiday Classic had a diverse field of teams contending for a championship while getting its last preparations in before district play begins.

    The Alvin Holiday Classic is the last chance for teams to get its final preparations in before district play winds into full gear in January.

  (Championship: Strake Jesuit VS.

      The majority of greater-Houston’s high school students are out enjoying winter break.

    The Katy Taylor girls basketball team hasn’t started Christmas break yet. Jessica Harrison scored a game-high 17 points and Lindsey Fenati added 12 points and two steals as the Mustangs coasted to a 65-39 win against visiting Madison in a non-district game Monday afternoon. “That’s the most we’ve ever pressed this season and I think we did a really good job at it,” Harrison said. That started early.

      After a couple of tough losses during the past week, the Dulles girls basketball team resumed District 23-5A play trying to recover from the losses that knocked them from the state’s No.

        The reason it often felt like Jones had seven or eight players to Cypress Falls’ five in the first half Friday afternoon is Jones coach Quincy Shelton has no problem running 10 or 12 players regularly. Much as it did 13 days ago, the deep, talented Falcons had no problem with the Eagles in the first round of the 69th Annual Houston ISD Tournament, bolting to a 10-point lead halfway through the first quarter and breezing to an 81-51 win at Reagan High School. Kendre Bailey’s 17 points led 11 scorers for the Falcons, who routed Falls 62-30 in the semifinals of the Spring Branch ISD Tournament Dec.

    Allison Campbell took the bait. "Thanked" by some returning alums Wednesday night for giving them a good game - North Shore outlasted visiting Westside 71-66 in overtime of a non-district game - the Mustangs coach answered in kind. "Yep," she replied.

  What did the Langham Creek boys basketball team want for Christmas?   An early District 15-5A win will do.

    “We knew tonight was going to be a challenge,” Elsik’s Yateria Wilson stressed after a painstakingly close 70-66 victory against Alief Taylor Tuesday night. It was close from the very beginning as Elsik (2-0) hosted the 18-5A district game against Alief Taylor (1-1) in front of a packed energetic crowd. Alief Taylor led in the first quarter, until Wilson made four consecutive shots for Elsik to tie up the score.

        The Cypress Woods boys basketball team held off persistent Cypress Springs 68-58 Tuesday night in the District 15-5A opener for both teams.   “They’re pretty tough,” said Wildcats coach Chris Draudt.

      The Eisenhower girls basketball team scored 22 points in both the second and third quarters Tuesday night at MacArthur, but coach Anthony Watkins thought the second 22 were a lot prettier than the first. "We made a big effort in the third quarter to come out and put our stamp on the game.

          It is said that one player cannot carry a whole team in basketball.

          The way Morton Ranch’s girls basketball team ran over and around Hastings to a 19-point first half lead Monday night, the Bears looked as if they could be left for dead. No one in the gym, from either team to the fans, seemed to look at it that way, though. Maybe they knew the Bears had a ferocious run in them. Hastings reeled off a 13-0 run from late in the second quarter into the third and fought all the way back to tie the game with 54 seconds left, but Laura Anderson’s turnaround layup with 30 seconds left ended up the game-winner as the Mavericks escaped with a 50-48 non-district victory. “I’m definitely happy to get out of it.

    (Championship:  Cy Falls VS.

  Even with just three players standing more than six feet tall, the Cypress Falls girls basketball team had to like its chances against Stratford in the championship game of the Spring Branch ISD girls basketball tournament.

      (Dulles VS.

    (Cy Springs VS.

        With all of the good teams in District 23-5A, the Fort Bend Bush Broncos may be the best team you haven’t heard a lot about. With good teams like Dulles, Elkins, Travis and Hightower getting most of the publicity, the Broncos have quietly built themselves as a team that can contend with the best in the area.

    (Memorial VS.

  Last year, Dulles started its season with a 21-game winning streak.

      (Stratford VS.

          (Willowridge VS.

  Stratford girls basketball coach Cathy Martin knows life without center Rodneisha Milum might be tough these next few weeks. The sunlight at the end of the tunnel, though, is knowing what Milum will bring upon her return from a high ankle sprain. Without Milum’s 15.3 points a game and inside presence, Stratford lost 66-26 to Elsik in its District 18-5A opener Tuesday night.

      Elkins girls basketball coach Willie Yarber wanted some of his younger players to get some minutes early in the season not only to get them some playing time, but to see if they can contribute. So far, they have. The Knights had nine players score in a 64-32 win against Kempner in a District 23-5A game Tuesday night at Hopson Fieldhouse.

         While much attention has gone to top-ranked Dulles, Hightower has quietly came on as another tough team from District 23-5A. The Hurricanes have won nine of their first 11 games, including 69-50 against Willowridge Tuesday night at Hopson Fieldhouse.

    The Stratford boys basketball team set the tone for Tuesday night’s game at Mayde Creek, scoring the first seven points and holding on for a 69-64 win.   The visiting Spartans improved to 7-2 and dropped the Rams to 0-8. Stratford started the game with a 7-0 lead and led 19-11 after the first quarter. Mayde Creek crept up on the Spartans at the end of the second quarter, and came within 34-28 at halftime. Entering the second half, the Spartans asserted their strength and achieved their greatest lead at the end of the third quarter. “We shared the ball offensively and started playing better defense,” point guard Blake Kelting said. The Spartans’ Sean Bowman scored the last eight consecutive points of the third quarter, and the Spartans led 52-43. Unsatisfied with the third quarter, the Rams fought back in the fourth coming dangerously close.

  When Cy-Fair girls basketball coach Ann Roubique received an e-mail this past spring from Team Australia’s Craigieburn Eagles asking if she would like to take part in an international duel, she quickly jumped on the opportunity to be a part of a unique experience for her and her girls.   Tuesday night, the situation came to fruition, and Texas' 5A champions enjoyed a 58-23 victory.

    Forgive the Seven Lakes boys basketball team if upon hearing that Yates thought itself a slow team Tuesday night, they pull off a collective spit-take. Granted Yates was held to its second-lowest point total of the season in a 79-45 victory in the marquee non-district matchup, and needed a 17-2 run at the end of the first half to pull away.

    (Championship:  Jones VS.

      Last year, the Dulles boys basketball team won its first 21 games of the season and parlayed that into a berth into the state finals.

          (Jersey Village VS.

  Steve Agwu showed a willingness in the first quarter Friday evening to challenge much taller defenders inside, on one occasion hitting a layup following his own miss.

      (Lamar VS.

          This was the kind of win that makes an 1,150-mile trip worthwhile – not that the C.I.

        One of the Lamar boys basketball team’s two returning starters helped the Redskins start strong Thursday at Northbrook. One of the Redskins’ six sophomores helped secure their 52-40 win. Senior guard Sam Shivers scored seven of his 10 points in the first half, sophomore guard Trey Dickerson added eight of his game-high 13 in the second half, and Lamar pulled out a gritty, sometimes-sloppy victory in the first round of the Spring Branch ISD Tournament. Forward Markell Templeton, Lamar’s other returing starter, scored most of his 10 points in the second half as Lamar established a strong inside presence.

  Football is almost at the height of its tournament season. So is basketball, which has a plethora of tournaments across the entire area this weekend. In addition to Katy ISD, which is holding its boys and girls events this weekend, other tournaments include the Spring Branch ISD boys, Aldine boys and girls, Katy boys and girls, the 32-team Houston ISD girls event, Terry girls and Tomball girls. Sixteen boys teams will compete in the Spring Branch event, which begins Thursday at campus sites and continues Friday and Saturday at Stratford and Don Coleman Coliseum.

    (Willowridge VS.

  For much of the first half Tuesday night, it looked like the Second Baptist boys basketball team had snuck into Bellaire's gymnasium and tightened the rims to their liking. The Eagles and Cardinals combined to start their non-district game 0-for-14 from the floor, with Bellaire responsible for 10 of those misses, and neither team scored for the first 4 minutes, 38 seconds. It was tied at 4 after one quarter and Second led by four at halftime. But Bellaire, ranked No.