Westbury Christian defeated Second Baptist 47-39 Saturday night at Strake Jesuit in the TAPPS District 4-5A basketball tournament championship.

        Leading by one with six seconds to play Friday night at Stratford, the Eisenhower boys basketball team wasn’t quite sure what play the Spartans would devise in hopes of hitting the game-winning basket. The Eagles were confident, however, that Spartans guard Blake Kelting would get the ball somewhere. He ventured a little farther into the paint than Eisenhower guessed, but things worked out perfectly. Kelting got off an airball in the final seconds, Stratford couldn’t get a putback and the Eagles held on for a 63-62 win in front of a frenzied crowd. “They did a good job on the inbound and getting the ball back to him, but I really thought he was going to settle for the jump shot,” Eisenhower coach Jesse Shelton III said.

      As the playoffs are nearing, the teams in the hunt for a spot are playing tight games with exciting finishes.  Friday night’s District 17-5A game between host Cypress Woods (6-8) and Cypress Falls (6-8) was no exception.

            In a game full of fouls and fan outbursts, it was the Katy (9-21, 3-10) boys basketball team that defeated visiting Elsik (14-20, 4-9) 43-39 in a District 18-5A matchup Friday night.

        Wheatley clinched the 19-4A district championship Wednesday night in a 71-68 win over Jones at Barnett Stadium. The Wildcats (26-5, 11-0) were down at the half but turned it on in the fourth to win their 11th district game.

  Even as Memorial's girls basketball team held MacArthur without a field goal for more than six minutes entering the fourth quarter Tuesday night, Mustangs coaches pleaded with their players not to leave Generals guard Denise Duplechin open. "The shooter," they called her. And for good reason. Duplechin scored 11 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, nine on 3-point shots, powering host MacArthur past Memorial 44-39 in the regular-season finale for both teams. The senior's outburst erased a 29-28 deficit, created when the Generals didn't score for 6 minutes, 23 seconds spanning the third and fourth quarters.

        Heading into Tuesday’s game versus Katy Taylor, Morton Ranch shared District 18-5A’s top spot with Hastings at 10-1.

    With no time left in regulation during the District 19-5A match up between Stratford and Aldine, the Spartans were at the line after being fouled on a three-point attempt.

  Memorial girls basketball coach Bill Cronin prides himself on assembling tough non-district schedules. So when the Mustangs were slow out of the gate this season, neither Cronin nor his players panicked. Eight district wins later, the Mustangs have assured themselves another postseason berth and – perhaps inadvertently – performed a gutcheck in the process. Memorial (14-18 overall, 8-5 district) enters Tuesday night’s game at MacArthur (14-10, 8-5) tied for third in District 19-5A. Tuesday's winner earns the district's third spot for the postseason tournament, the loser the fourth spot. Memorial clinched its playoff berth, its sixth in seven years, by defeating rival Stratford Friday night. "We played some good teams early," Cronin said.

  {mp3}080202-MadisonLamarBKB{/mp3}     Joe Lawson hit one of the biggest shots of Madison’s 82-75 overtime victory against Lamar Friday night at Butler Fieldhouse. His layup with a minute left in the fourth quarter tied the game at 69, bringing the Marlins back from a 13-point deficit in a District 20-5A game and opening the door for Madison to earn arguably its most important win of the year. It’s little coincidence, Madison coach Craig Maura believes, that the Marlins are shaking off a tough January now that Lawson – a wing who was injured in the Houston vs.

        Boys Game        Varsity Girls   Lady Coulshard scored 17 points as the Kinkaid girls basketball team defeated rival St.

  Boys Game    Girls Game      With the Cypress Springs boys basketball team holding second-place in District 17-5A, things for the Panthers seemed to be on the up and up.

    Cypress Woods hosted Cypress Ridge in the 13th 17-5A district girls basketball game Friday night.

 {mp3}DS_20104Mem{/mp3}   The Stratford Spartans hosted the Memorial Mustangs Friday night in a highly anticipated rival and district game.

  Cinco Ranch senior girls basketball standout Briana Gilbreath will say goodbye to Texas and hello to California this summer. Gilbreath has committed to the University of Southern California for the 2008-09 basketball season.

        Yates' boys basketball team is ranked No.

            Dobie went on the road Tuesday night to take on Pasadena Memorial, looking to stay within reach of a playoff spot in district 23-5A.

    In a game filled with jump balls and free throws, it was Morton Ranch coming into Mayde Creek’s gym and taking a 35-32 victory Tuesday night in a District 18-5A girls basketball game. And though it was a low-scoring game and the free-throw percentages were not excellent, the Mavericks dropped 13 shots from the line to come away with the win.   “Kyndall Bowens stepped up and made some key free throws when we needed her,” Morton Ranch coach Pam Bowers said of her guard’s five made free throws.

        The Cinco Ranch Cougars girls basketball team remains undefeated in District 18-5A after a 61-43 win against Elsik on Tuesday night. The Cougars (24-7, 12-0) got off to a slow start but broke away at the end of the second quarter to defeat the Rams (9-3 district).  “We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Cinco Ranch senior Briana Gilbreath said.

      Girls Game   Boys Game       Nimitz freshman forward Chrishauna Parker didn’t burst onto the scene until almost a month into the girls basketball season because of a severe ankle injury. Now that she’s emerged as an able counterpart to junior phenom Brittany Griner, the Cougars have taken a huge step to another District 19-5A championship. Griner had 27 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks, and Parker added 11 points and 11 rebounds to pace Nimitz pace rival Eisenhower 54-42 Tuesday night at the Aldine Campbell Center. The Cougars (24-7 overall, 11-1 district) handed the Eagles (25-7, 11-1) their first district loss and pulled into a first-place tie with Eisenhower with two games remaining. After a cold start from the floor, Griner and Parker keyed an inside domination that led to Nimitz outscoring Eisenhower 15-5 in the quarter to open a 26-14 halftime lead. “Brittany and I are like Shaq and Kobe,” Parker said.

  Jazmon Reynolds' 18 points led four scorers in double figures, and the Eisenhower boys basketball team continued its dominant run atop District 19-5A with a 91-60 rout of MacArthur Friday night at the Aldine Campbell Center. Christopher McDuffie added 17 points, Darius Goff 16 and Ella Ellis 10 for the Eagles, who improved to 25-3 overall and 9-0 in the district. Eisenhower led only 23-17 after one quarter, but widened its lead to 46-32 at halftime. Desabran Cooper had 15 points and Derek Williams added 13 for MacArthur (3-18, 2-7).   Nimitz 55, Aldine 51 Nimitz (12-7, 6-2) used a 24-12 fourth-quarter advantage to defeat Aldine at the Campbell Center. Willie Holmes scored 19 points and Marion Grice 18 for Nimitz. Brandon Williams had 19 points for Aldine (15-8, 5-4).

        Just in case their lofty area and state rankings weren’t proof enough, the Bellaire girls basketball team reminded everyone Friday night that this is their year to win District 20-5A – and maybe more. The Cardinals thrashed two-time defending district champions Westside 87-38 at Butler Fieldhouse, and about the only people who weren’t shocked by that score were the Cardinals themselves. Whether it’s because of their focus after a midseason upset loss or new shooting drills in practice, Bellaire (32-1, 12-1) didn’t pause to admire the scoreboard or let up in any fashion until the finish. “We were anxious to get going, get some running and gunning and show how we can really play,” Cardinals guard Jasmine Hartman said.

          The Cy-Fair girls basketball team have already clinched a playoff spot with their undefeated district record.

  Langham Creek’s girls basketball team (21-8, 8-2) is tied for second with Cypress Falls in District 17-5A with only four more games left until the playoffs.

  Ask just about any college player about the transition from high school to college sports and you will most likely hear various descriptions of the higher level of play at the collegiate level.   There certainly is a transition, but what matters most is how well you make that transition.

          With the student section packed full of loyal fans from both Langham Creek and Cypress Springs, the stage was set for an intense 17-5A match up between the two backyard rivals.

              Ike Nlemchi's big third quarter helped the Spring Woods boys basketball team defeat visiting MacArthur, 58-54, in a District 19-5A game Tuesday night. Nlemchi had 14 points for Spring Woods, which got 12 points from Eddie Green and 11 from Jimmy Heckard and outscored MacArthur 21-15 in the pivotal third quarter. The game remained close during the first half with Lester Collier of MacArthur displaying his endurance on both offensive and defensive sides, scoring most of his 14 points at that time. MacArthur led 24-23 at halftime, but Nlemchi hit multiple 3-pointers in the third and stepped up his defense to help Spring Woods to a 44-39 lead after the period. Heckard was outstanding, making several steals and scoring a handful of coast-to-coast baskets. Another leading player of the night was Willie Patterson of MacArthur, who added 10 points. Desabrian Cooper added 11 for MacArthur, which couldn't catch up in the fourth quarter.

{mp3}080122-GBB-CyFalls{/mp3}     The Cypress Falls girls basketball team clinched a playoff spot Tuesday night with a 60-42 win over Jersey Village in a District 17-5A game.   “Now, we want to get that playoff mentality, so every game is just another test,” Cy Falls coach Jim Stephens said. It was Senior Night for the Lady Eagles, who put on a good showing.   Senior Starr Spencer came out firing at hit the first basket of the night.

              It’s not that the Elsik girls basketball team has sympathy for any opponent. But the Rams could have been forgiven Tuesday night if they looked at backyard rival Hastings’ bench and salivated over outmanning them 15-7. Yes, seven. Hastings has hung in the District 18-5A race all season with that almost-unheard of amount of players, and Tuesday the Bears outraced Elsik to a six-point first-quarter lead.

{mp3}080121-BBB-Stratford{/mp3}   Thanks to their best district start in several years, the Stratford boys basketball team is in strong contention for the District 19-5A championship more than halfway through the season. The Spartan men have put themselves in a pretty good position in achieving their goal of winning the district championship.

      Westside VS.

          After battling through a tough District 18-5A schedule, the Katy boys basketball team pulled out its first district win with a 52-47 victory over Mayde Creek Friday night.   But even though the Tigers won the game on the court, coach Patrick Okruhlik wants to make sure his team wins the most important conflict of all.   “We’re a team that’s been struggling a bit and battling ourselves,” Okruhlik said.

             Morton Ranch trailed Alief Taylor through the fourth quarter until Laura Anderson stole Taylor’s inbound ball and scored the winning basket, 54-53, with just seconds left.

          When you put St.

      Cinco Ranch and Katy Taylor began the second round of District 18-5A play Tuesday night, and the Cougars remained undefeated with a 57-36 road win. “It’s always a rivalry between us and Katy Taylor,” Cinco Ranch coach Eric Bartlett said.

          A no-look pass from Strake Jesuit’s Joey Brooks to James Wiseman late in the first quarter Tuesday night caught the Cy-Fair boys basketball team napping. The Crusaders made sure the Bobcats didn’t get chances to wake up. Strake Jesuit trailed by four points early, but outscored visiting Cy-Fair by 42 points after that to cruise to a 75-37 victory in District 17-5A. Cy-Fair (10-9, 4-4) thrived on 3-pointers at the onset but inexplicably seemed to fall asleep with less than a minute left in the first, when Brooks, a junior who already has verbally committed to Notre Dame, sent a pass to Wiseman behind a screen for an easy layup. That started an 8-0 run featuring several baskets off transition, an overriding theme for the Crusaders (16-3, 7-1) both Tuesday night and the entire season. “That pass gave us the momentum a little bit, and then what we tried to do was pick up our defensive momentum and just try to be more aggressive,” said Brooks, who scored a game-high 17 points.

  {mp3}080114-GBB-Hastings{/mp3}     Hastings hosted Morton Ranch in the second half of District 18-5A girls basketball Monday night and improved their record to 21-5 overall, 5-3 in district with a 45-25 victory.

          The Elsik boys basketball team earned few if any style points from their 66-54 victory against Katy Monday night, but winning pretty is the farthest thing from coach Tim Martin’s mind. Of the Rams’ eight scorers, none were seniors.

{mp3}080111-BBB-KleinCollins{/mp3}               In a non-district boys basketball game Friday night, Klein Collins hosted St.

  {mp3}Katy-Cinco recap 20080111{/mp3}     It only seemed like Cinco Ranch’s stingy man-to-man defense executed its plans to perfection Friday night, forcing Katy into turnover after turnover, then scoring off those in a prosperous second quarter. The Cougars forced nearly a dozen turnovers and outscored Katy 19-5 in the period, but Cinco Ranch coach Eric Bartlett was in confession mode after a 59-41 win in District 18-5A. “I’m not a very good man-to-man coach,” Bartlett said.

          Three Katy Taylor players scored in double figures Friday night against Morton Ranch.

          As the first round of district is nearing the end, teams are looking for every district win.

 {mp3}DS_20103{/mp3}   The Memorial Mustangs hosted the MacArthur Generals in a District 19-5A girls basketball game Tuesday night.

  The Stratford boys basketball team gained its composure when Aldine lost theirs Tuesday night.

    When the Alief Hastings basketball team prepared for their match up with District 18-5A opponent Katy Taylor, they knew their hands would be full facing off against Mustang shooters like Corbin Ray and Blake Matocha. “They (Taylor) have Corbin (Ray) who is a heck of a player and he got us pretty good in the first half,” Hastings coach Darrell Foster said.

  The Cy Creek Cougars and the Jersey Village Falcons both hosted a game Saturday afternoon.

       Second Baptist VS.

  {mp3}080104-BBBNimitzGilmer{/mp3}     Nimitz and MacArthur faced each other Friday night on the court as Nimitz’s men’s and women’s teams both won their games.

      Friday night’s action featured a Spring Branch ISD classic as the Stratford basketball team hosted Memorial.

{mp3}080102-BBBNimitzGilmer{/mp3}     Nimitz’s intensity led to a 63-55 win over Memorial Wednesday night.  “It was a good win,” said Nimitz coach Randy Gilmer.