TD Club's all-preseason team released

Two players from defending 5A-Division II state champion Katy and one from 5A-Division I runner-up Hightower highlight the Touchdown Club of Houston’s 2009 Preseason All-Greater Houston High School Football Team.

Offensive lineman Shep Klinke and tight end Zach Swanson will represent the Tigers at the Touchdowner of the Year banquet, at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at the JW Marriott.

Linebacker Shaun Lewis will represent the Hurricanes.

Other players from the Athlete’s Connection primary coverage area include Morton Ranch quarterback Sam Carter, who recently verbally committed to TCU; Kempner running back Josh Bell, Cypress Creek offensive lineman Cameron Fleming and defensive lineman Will Hampton, Aldine running back Dontae Williams, Elkins tight end Jake Matthews and receiver Jordan Jolly, Alief Taylor defensive lineman De’Aires Cotton, Eisenhower defensive lineman Jay Guy, Cypress Woods defensive Bryce Callahan and Fort Bend Marshall defensive back Toney Hurd.

Matthews, the son of former NFL offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, recently committed to Texas A&M, according to multiple media reports. Klinke committed to the Aggies last winter.

Cotton verbally committed to Texas shortly after last National Signing Day. Guy has committed to California but continues to entertain other offers.
Fleming will play for TCU. Swanson is heading to Stanford.

Former Buffalo Bills running back Thurman Thomas, a Willowridge graduate, will be honored as Touchdowner of the Year.

The complete list is below.
---
Dave Purpura can be reached at (281) 404-4958 or dpurpura@athletesconnection.com.

Touchdown Club of Houston
2009 Preseason All-Greater Houston High School Football Team

OFFENSE
Quarterbacks: Sam Carter, Morton Ranch; Clay Honeycutt, Dickinson; Jacoby Walker, Westfield.
Running Backs: Josh Bell, Kempner; Kendrick Perkins, La Porte; Dontae Williams, Aldine.
Offensive Line: Cameron Fleming, Cypress Creek; Trey Hopkins, North Shore; Chad Lindsay, The Woodlands; Shep Klinke, Katy; Jake Matthews, Elkins.
Tight End: Zachary Swanson, Katy.
Wide Receivers: Jordan Jolly, Elkins; Jordan Leslie, Tomball; DeAndrew White, North Shore.

DEFENSE
Defensive Line: D’Vonn Brown, Lamar Consolidated; DeAires Cotton, Alief Taylor; Jay Guy, Eisenhower; Will Hampton, Cypress Creek; Two Willis, Manvel.
Linebackers: Shaun Lewis, Hightower; Stephen Maeweather, Sharpstown; Luke Muncie, Klein Oak; Jon Whitten, Clear Lake.
Defensive Backs: Kent Brown, Atascocita; Bryce Callahan, Cypress Woods; Toney Hurd, Fort Bend Marshall; Damian Payne, Klein Forest; Larry Stephens, North Shore.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker/Punter: Ron Doherty, Klein; Kyle Trimm, Kingwood Park.

State 7-on-7 rankings released

Rivals.com's Matt Stepp, the 7-on-7 guru formerly with Scout, today released his rankings for next week's state tournament. Katy led local teams at No. 2, behind defending champion Richmond.
Other locals in the top 10 include Klein at No. 4, Lamar at No. 8 and Elkins at No. 9.
Stepp would probably be the first to admit how subjective these are, but we all eat them up, so there *is* a market.
The other local teams were ranked as follows:
11. Langham Creek
13. Chavez
16. Bellaire
19. Tomball
23. Cy-Fair
28. The Woodlands
31. Pearland
32. Dulles
35. Oak Ridge
40. Klein Forest
43. Spring
48. Fort Bend Bush
49. Klein Collins
52. Seven Lakes
53. Stratford
55. Pearland Dawson
59. Jersey Village

The complete list is here.
Our previews resume Wednesday and continue into next week.

Ratterree, Knoblauch, Von Tungeln named First Team all-State

Memorial shortstop Michael Ratterree, Bellaire first baseman Trace Knoblauch and Kempner outfielder Kyle Von Tungeln were 19 players named to the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association First Team all-State released Tuesday.

Ratterree, a Rice signee, belted 12 home runs this year to lead the Mustangs to the District 18-5A championship and a berth in the 5A-Region III quarterfinals, where they lost to Bellaire.

Knoblauch, an Indiana commit, also pitches for the Cardinals. He was named a Preseason All-American by Baseball America.

Von Tungeln, who will play at TCU, finished the year hitting more than .500 with nine home runs and seven doubles.

Area selections to the Second Team were Katy pitcher Keifer Nuncio, Memorial catcher M.P. Cokinos, Katy catcher Andrew Stumph and Cy-Fair first baseman Zach Thomas.

Third Team honorees include Pearland second baseman Josh Gonzales, Oilers shortstop Kevin Miller, Fort Bend Austin shortstop Ryan Dalton and Katy outfielder Jarred Fancher.

The complete teams are listed below.

FIRST TEAM
Pitchers: Tavi Amperan, sr., El Paso Socorro; Zak Hermanns, sr., Coppell; James Ferguson, sr., Austin Westlake; Miguel Pena, sr., La Joya; Luis Pollorena, sr., Laredo United.
Catchers: Justin Beck, sr., Smithson Valley; Josh Elander, sr., Round Rock.
First Base: Trace Knoblauch, sr., Bellaire; Tyler Spurlin, sr., The Woodlands.
Second Base: Anthony Gomez, sr., Laredo United; Jordan Lewis, sr., Dallas White.
Third Base: Jake Feckle, sr., Wylie; Bobby Mares, sr., El Paso Socorro.
Shortstop: Michael Ratterree, sr., Memorial; Derrick Walls, sr., San Antonio Reagan.
Outfielders: Kyle Von Tungeln, sr., Kempner; Cory Falvey, sr., El Paso Socorro; Jake Gonzalez, sr., Brazoswood; Chase McDowell, sr., College Station A&M Consolidated.

SECOND TEAM
Pitchers: Keifer Nuncio, sr., Katy; Aaron Gilbreath, sr., Colley Heritage; Matt Harrell, sr., San Antonio Reagan; Derek Loera, sr., Odessa Hart; Hoby Milner, sr., Fort Worth Paschal; Yanken Jacob, sr., Tyler Lee.
Catchers: M.P. Cokinos, sr., Memorial; Andrew Stumph, sr., Katy; Andrew LaCombe, sr., Southlake Carroll.
First Base: Zach Thomas, sr., Cy-Fair; Andrew Gross, sr., Alvin.
Second Base: Chuck Duarte, sr., Franklin; Tyler Green, jr., Brazoswood.
Third Base: Alvaro Moreno, jr., McAllen; Tucker Oakley, sr., Sharyland.
Shortstop: Agustin Enriquez, sr., Lufkin; Shane Hoelscher, jr., Belton; Brett Pirtle, sr., Tyler Lee.
Outfielders: Tyler Collins, sr., Justin Northwest; Nicholas Lee, sr., San Antonio Madison; Tyler Naquin, sr., Klein Collins; Aaron Williams, sr., Corpus Christi Carroll.

THIRD TEAM
Pitchers: J.P. Clifton, sr., Lufkin; Chase Greening, sr., Lufkin; Colton Lindloff, sr., Brazoswood; Brad Nasis, sr., Smithson Valley; Jamen Parten, sr., Plano; Jameson Taillon, jr., The Woodlands.
Catchers: Mike Bains, sr., Round Rock Stony Point; Jessiray Navarrette, sr., El Paso Socorro.
First Base: Evan Brummett, jr., Round Rock Stony Point; Will Watson, sr., Southlake Carroll.
Second Base: Josh Gonzales, sr., Pearland; Adam Pena, sr., Sharyland; Matt Reyes, so., Midland.
Third Base: Ryan Dalton, sr., Fort Bend Austin; Jose Madrid, sr., Victoria Memorial.
Shortstop: Kevin Miller, sr., Pearland; Chad Kettler, sr., Coppell.
Outfielders: Jarred Fancher, sr., Katy; Vincent Postert, sr., San Antonio Reagan; Toby Teakell, sr., Weatherford; Shaney Wilkinson, sr., Lubbock Coronado.

Bayou Bowl set to kickoff

Greetings from Stallworth Stadium in Baytown, site of the seventh annual Bayou Bowl. The game, pitting all-star teams from Texas and Louisiana, is set to kick off in 3 hours, 19 minutes, promptly at 8 p.m.

There is a ton of area players on the roster, which can be found at www.bayoubowl.org.

It's still disappointing to me how few people really know about this game outside Baytown. It's a big thing here, but people in Houston either don't know about the game or don't care. Anyone who isn't aware is depriving themselves of a fun game. It's not a bunch of second-tier kids with nothing else to do. Players in this game are committed to Texas A&M, Utah, SMU, Louisiana Tech and TCU among other schools.

But as big as Texas is, it's easy to see how the all-star pool is diluted. After all, the Oil Bowl is taking place tonight up in Dallas, and we also have the Blue Chip game - or at least we did until recently. A check of that game's Web site shows no information regarding this year's game.

For those who can't make it out to Baytown, the game will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday on Fox Sports Houston and Fox Sports Southwest. Not sure who is on the call, but my money is on Local 2's Randy McIlvoy. The FSSW crew and a few press box workers were the only people who beat me out here; I couldn't come up with enough things to do to kill time between the end of the lunch banquet at 1:45 and 5:30 or 6.

I am simply thankful Stallworth now has wireless!!

Katy tops a couple of preseason football rankings

It may be June, but a couple of web publications have put out their preseason rankings for the coming football season. One has ranked the top 25 teams in the state, while one has already came out with the top teams from around the country. And both rankings have a familiar local team ranked at the top of both.
Yep, you guessed it. Katy.
The Tigers are the preseason No. 1 according to 5ATexasFooball.com’s preseason rankings after winning its second straight state title. Round Rock Stony Point comes in second, Cedar Hill is third and Southlake Carroll and Allen round out the top five.
As far as Houston-area teams, North Shore is No. 9, followed by Division I state finalist Hightower. Klein Oak comes in at No. 20, with The Woodlands at No. 22, followed by Cinco Ranch and Pearland.
But back to Katy. The Tigers also ranked high in the MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25 early contenders list, coming in at No. 3. Only St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes came in high on the list. Other Texas teams mentioned are Allen at No. 4 and Cedar Hill at No. 13.
Also of interest, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, Calif., was No. 5 on the list. Why do we care? Because Klein Oak will face the Irish as part of the Herbstreit Varsity Series on Sept. 7 at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

What a Friday!

I really should be sleeping after a long Friday here in Austin covering the 5A state golf tournament and keeping an eye on everything going on back home, but that's the reason I am blogging at nearly 1 a.m. What a wild Friday here and in Houston. Where to begin?
- Congratulations to the Cy-Fair softball team for upsetting previously undefeated Klein Oak in their 5A-Region II area round series. Fair pulled off two straight wins at Tomball after dropping Game 1 Thursday night.
We should know not to count out the Bobcats. This is two straight postseasons they've pulled off upsets; last year they ousted then-18-5A champion Katy and 19-5A winner Memorial.
“When it comes to the playoffs, you just never know,” Cy-Fair softball coach Debbie Burrow told HCN's Michael Sudhalter. “Their team is probably stronger than my team, but tonight was ours, and we owned it. Our kids wanted it more – we kept them off-balanced.”

- What is with these baseball scores?: Baytown Sterling 16, Pearland 14 ... The Woodlands 21, Klein Oak 9 ... Cypress Creek 13, Round Rock Stony Point 12 ... La Porte 16, Baytown Lee 6. Goodness. Was it windy back there today? In the words of Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman, oh my goodness gracious!

- Congratulations to Clements junior Portland Rosen on winning the 5A state golf individual title. The Virginia commit shot 6-under par 66 today after a round of 1-under 71 on Thursday. The Rangers themselves had a tremendous turnaround, cutting 17 shots off their Thursday score to finish tied for third. They lost a one-hole playoff with The Woodlands.
Here are a few quotes that did not make my story from golf ...
* Clements coach Jason Jesek on the team's finish: “This year, just in our region Clear Lake got us quite often. They got us every time we saw them. But when you lose two players to college, we had two players come up who really hadn’t been on this stage and we shot our two lowest scores of the year at regionals. Yesterday we tied that same score, which was the best they’d ever shot. And then they come out and do this today.”
“They just had fun. They just wanted to play. I’ve never seen a group of girls who love each other as much as they do. They just want to go play.”
* Travis junior Brandon Wilhide, on what he learned from shooting 81 in the final round after a 70 Thursday: “I need to take this last 18 and learn from it and bring that back next year. Those short birdie putts, even though they were short they weren’t gimmes. I need to pick an exact spot where to hit to instead of just hitting toward the hole.”
* Seven Lakes' Brian Swanson, who shot 70 today after a 77 Thursday and hit no fewer than a dozen greens: “We weren’t thinking at all about yesterday. We just wanted to take this one hole at a time and we did that. I didn’t have a great finish yesterday so I just wanted to come out firing today.”

- To wrap up, we know a few baseball and softball series for the next round but not all of them. I will search out dates and times over the next few days. Here's the current lineup for baseball's area round and the softball regional quarterfinals, both of which must be played as one-game series on Tuesday.
Anywhere there's a "Team A or Team B" scenario, those teams are playing Game 3 of their series today:
BASEBALL
Area playoffs
Seven Lakes or Strake Jesuit vs. Bellaire
Memorial vs. Milby
Kempner or Clear Creek vs. Baytown Lee or La Porte
Katy Taylor or Stratford vs. Atascocita
Westside vs. Katy
Dulles or Clear Brook vs. Baytown Sterling or Pearland
Fort Bend Austin vs. Channelview or Dobie
Cypress Woods vs. Spring or College Park
Cy-Fair vs. Lufkin
Cypress Creek or Round Rock Stony Point vs. Klein Collins or Oak Ridge

SOFTBALL
Regional quarterfinals
Bellaire vs. Seven Lakes
Cinco Ranch vs. Katy, 5 p.m. Tuesday at Seven Lakes (thanks to The Katy Times for that info)
Cy-Fair vs. Spring/Round Rock
Clements or Dobie vs. Clear Creek or Pasadena Memorial

Last week's poll results

Did the UIL make the right call in suspending sports until May 11?

No
64.9%

Yes
24.4%

Not sure, we'll have to see
10.7%

We're stil busy!

Hey everyone, just checking in during this light week.
Even though there are next to no events this week, we are keeping busy! Here's some of what to expect:
I know you saw our "10 burning questions" feature on spring football on Monday, and starting tonight we're kicking off our Spring Blitz series that lasts the better part of the next two weeks. Strake Jesuit is currently featured, and coming up the rest of the week we'll look at Stratford (Thursday) and Eisenhower (Friday). I went out to Ike and Cypress Creek today; Cy Creek will be featured Monday.
In addition, we'll be at the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association banquet tomorrow night at the University of Houston Alumni Center. Three will be inducted into the Ronnie Bell Hall of Honor, including Dickinson (and one-time Cy-Fair) coach Warren Trahan. We'll talk to all the candidates and get a story up tomorrow evening.
There are other features coming later this week too, ones that sometimes are left behind in the normal flow of things, so stick around.
We'll also have our Waco correspondent, John Hillman, covering the TAPPS state track and field championships this weekend in that city.
And don't forget we are updating our list of rescheduled games as soon as new dates are submitted. That story will remain at the top of the page all week.

UIL suspends all sports

Here's the verbatim release from the UIL:

On the recommendation of Dr. David Lakey, Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, and in consultation with Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott, the University Interscholastic League is altering its schedule of events due to the outbreak of the swine flu in Texas. Effective immediately, all UIL interscholastic competition is suspended until May 11.

“The health and safety of our student activity participants is of the utmost importance,” said UIL Executive Director Dr. Charles Breithaupt. “Taking every possible precaution to prevent the further spreading of this disease is an important contribution to the welfare of our great state, and altering the schedule of our events is a way to keep our participants safe.”

As this is a fluid situation, the UIL tentatively releases the following schedule for UIL regional and state events affected by this situation.

Academic State Meet
The UIL Academic State Meet, originally scheduled for May 7-9, will be rescheduled at a later date. The Conference 4A and 5A One-Act Play competition will continue as
previously scheduled on May 15-16. All other conferences competing in One-Act Play will be rescheduled. A schedule of the Academic State Meet, including One-Act Play, will be posted on the UIL web site once finalized.

Texas State Wind Ensemble Festival
The Texas State Wind Ensemble Festival, originally scheduled for May 9, has been
cancelled. The UIL staff will consult with the 16 participating schools to determine whether or not to reschedule the event at a later date.

Regional Track Meets
All UIL regional track meets originally scheduled for this weekend, May 1-2, have been cancelled. The state track and field meet will be extended to a three-day format to include semifinal heats. The meet is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 14-16.

Semifinal qualifiers will be based on the district track meet results. Each region will be represented at the state meet by the top four performances in each event for all conferences.
Hand-held times will be converted to fully automatic times as defined by the National Federation of State High School Association rules. A revised track and field state meet schedule will be posted on the UIL web site no later than Friday, May 1. Qualifiers to the UIL state track and field meet will be posted on the UIL web site on Wednesday, May 6.

Golf State Tournament
The UIL golf state tournament will take place at the previously scheduled times beginning May 11.

Tennis State Tournament
The UIL tennis state tournament will take place at the previously scheduled times beginning May 11.

Baseball and Softball
No interschool games will take place until May 11 for either softball or baseball. Below is an altered playoff schedule for both sports.

Softball, then Baseball
District Certifications: April 28; May 19
Bi-District Deadline: May 16(1 game or 2 out of 3); May 23 (1 game or 2 out of 3)
Area Deadline: May 19 (1 game only); May 26 (1 game only)
Regional Quarterfinal Deadline: May 23 (1 game or 2 out of 3); May 30 (1 game or 2 out of 3)
Regional Semifinal Deadline: May 26 (1 game only); June 2 (1 game only)
Regional Final Deadline: May 30 (1 game or 2 out of 3); June 6 (1 game or 2 out of 3)
State Tournament: June 4-6; June 10-13

And we thought the rain was the biggest of our problems!

Still much to be decided for playoffs

Gonna warn all of you now to take a deep breath. :)
Just got off the phone with Spring Branch ISD athletic director Paige Hershey, who ran down all the scenarios for me regarding this weekend's softball bi-district games. In an ideal world, we'd know everything, but thanks to the storms we don't.
And according to the radar, big storms are on their way AGAIN today! Ugh.
In any case, here's what we know (sort of) coming out of the 17-5A vs 18-5A coaches meeting this morning:
- The only definite series is 18-5A winner Spring Woods against 17-5A fourth-place team Seven Lakes. Game 1 is at 7 p.m. Friday at SW, Game 2 is 2 p.m. Saturday at SL, and an if-necessary third game will follow Game 2.
- Here's where it gets fun: Memorial and Spring Woods will play their postponed game from Friday this afternoon. If Memorial and Stratford are tied for second place after today, they'll play it off tomorrow.
But if Memorial and Spring Woods are rained out today, they will play tomorrow and the Mustangs and Spartans will have to flip for second and third because district certification deadline is tomorrow.
Still following? Good.
Here are the scenarios for Memorial and Stratford this weekend. Plans are in place for the following matchups but they aren't definite:
If it's ...
- Memorial at Katy Taylor, 5:30 Friday.
- Memorial at Cinco Ranch, 6 p.m. Friday.
- Stratford at Cinco Ranch, 6 p.m. Friday.
- Stratford at Katy Taylor, 7 p.m. Friday.
All those would be one-game playoffs.

Take a deep breath!
19-5A and 20-5A coaches were to meet tonight, Bellaire coach Brien Tuffly told me. 15-5A and 16-5A are figuring everything out today. 23-5A and 24-5A still have two seedings up in the air: Elkins and Clements will play for first in 23 at 3 p.m. today at Clements; Brazoswood and Clear Creek are playing for second in 24 this afternoon.
Hopefully - HOPEFULLY - everything will be decided by the end of the night.
In any case, we'll pass on any news the minute we hear anything.

Thompson new Langham Creek coach

Just got the heads-up from Joel Weckerly at Cy-Fair ISD that Cypress Falls offensive coordinator Todd Thompson is the new head football coach/campus athletic coordinator at Langham Creek.
Story will be posted ASAP.

His final stop?

Good article by Joshua Buckley of the Galveston County Daily News on former Nimitz coach David Suggs, who is one of three finalists for the head football coach/campus athletic coordinator position at Galveston Ball.
Read the article here.
My favorite Suggs quote is this: “Granted, there are tremendous amounts of quality athletes in Florida. But overall organization (of Texas programs) is light years difference. Being a head coach in Texas is a tremendous job.”

A taste of this week

It's yet another big week at The Athlete's Connection. And in lieu of the Action Update we can't bring you right now, I suppose this will have to do!
We had plenty of huge games last week, not to mention a team in the state soccer semifinals, and this week we get some more big rivalries AND championships - the track and field kind.
Schedules can change at the last minute, but you can virtually rest assured we'll have plenty of coverage from the 15-5A, 17-5A, 18-5A and 23-5A track and field championships, as well as games such as Stratford-Memorial baseball (Tuesday) and Cy-Fair-Cypress Woods softball (Friday). We have two full weeks remaining in the softball season and three in baseball before the final round of postseason action for 2008-09 picks up.
Remember you're allowed to request games for us to cover. Some of you do that, and we certainly appreciate it! Just make sure you do it *at least* 10 days in advance; calling us the day of or before a game is never advised. :)
And also, it's great to see our growing community on Facebook. Visit our AC page here and if you're a Facebook member, become a fan!
Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

This week's event schedule

MONDAY
Baseball
Houston Christian at Kinkaid, 5 p.m.
Track and Field
District 23-5A championships at Hall Stadium, 3 p.m.

TUESDAY
Baseball
Milby vs. Bellaire at Butler, 4:30
Aldine at Waltrip, 5 p.m.
St. Thomas at Houston Christian, 6 p.m.
Alief Taylor at Hastings, 7 p.m.
Cinco Ranch at Katy, 7 p.m.
Cypress Ridge at Cypress Creek, 7 p.m.
Cypress Springs at Cypress Falls, 7 p.m.
Cypress Woods at Jersey Village, 7 p.m.
Dulles at Hightower, 7 p.m.
Eisenhower at Humble, 7 p.m.
Elkins vs. Clements at Frankie Field, 7 p.m.
Elsik at Spring Woods, 7 p.m.
Fort Bend Austin at Travis, 7 p.m.
Katy Taylor at Seven Lakes, 7 p.m.
Kempner at Fort Bend Marshall, 7 p.m.
Lamar vs. Westside at Butler, 7 p.m.
Langham Creek at Cy-Fair, 7 p.m.
Mayde Creek at Morton Ranch, 7 p.m.
Northbrook at Strake Jesuit, 7 p.m.
Stratford at Memorial, 7 p.m.
Willowridge at Fort Bend Bush, 7 p.m.
Lutheran North at Second Baptist, 7:30

Boys lacrosse
Houston Christian vs. Bellaire at Bayland Park, 7 p.m.
Katy vs. Fort Bend at Old Kempner Stadium, 7 p.m.
Memorial at Strake Jesuit, 7 p.m.
St. John's vs. Lamar at South Campus Sports Association, 7 p.m.
Kingwood at Episcopal, 7:30
SWLC vs. Katy Taylor at Firethorne, 8 p.m.

Softball
Madison vs. Bellaire at Butler, 4:30
St. Agnes at Duchesne, 4:30
Houston Christian at St. Pius, 5 p.m.
Fort Bend Bush at Clements, 6 p.m.
Cypress Creek at Cy-Fair, 6 p.m.
Cypress Ridge at Cypress Falls, 6 p.m.
Cypress Springs at Cypress Woods, 6 p.m.
Fort Bend Austin at Hightower, 6 p.m.
Langham Creek at Jersey Village (varsity only), 6 p.m.
Katy at Seven Lakes, 6:15
Mayde Creek at Katy Taylor, 6:15
Morton Ranch at Cinco Ranch, 6:15
Elsik at Memorial, 6:30
Nimitz vs. Eisenhower at Aldine Complex, 6:30
Northbrook at Stratford, 6:30
Sam Houston vs. Westside at Butler, 6:30
Spring Woods vs. Hastings at Alief Complex, 6:30
Dulles at Kempner, 7 p.m.
Elkins at Fort Bend Marshall, 7 p.m.
Travis at Willowridge, 7 p.m.

Track and Field
District 15-5A championships at Cypress Falls, 3:15
District 17-5A championships (girls field) at Morton Ranch
District 18-5A championships at Crump Stadium, 3:30
District 19-5A championships at Plummer Middle School
District 20-5A championships at Barnett Stadium, 4:30
District 23-5A championships at Hall Stadium, 3 p.m.

WEDNESDAY
Boys lacrosse
Klein at Westside, 6 p.m.
Cinco Ranch at St. Thomas, 7:15
Clear Lake at Kingwood, 8 p.m.

Softball
Lamar vs. Milby at Barnett, 6:30

Track and Field
District 15-5A championships (running preliminaries) at Cypress Falls, 4:30
District 17-5A championships (boys field) at Morton Ranch
District 18-5A championships (varsity field) at Crump Stadium, 3:30
District 19-5A championships at Plummer Middle School
District 20-5A championships at Barnett Stadium, 4:30

THURSDAY
Baseball
Concordia Lutheran at St. John's, 4:30
St. Pius at Houston Christian, 6 p.m.

Boys lacrosse
Katy at Memorial, 6 p.m.
SWLC vs. Bellaire at Bayland Park, 7:30

Track and Field
District 15-5A championships (running finals) at Cypress Falls, 6 p.m.
District 17-5A championships (running finals) at Morton Ranch, 6 p.m.
District 19-5A championships at Plummer Middle School
District 23-5A championships (running finals) at Hall Stadium, 3 p.m.

FRIDAY
Baseball
Bellaire vs. Madison at Butler, 4:30
Fort Bend Baptist at St. John's, 4:30
Beaumont Kelly at St. Thomas, 6 p.m.
Second Baptist vs. Westbury Christian at Bayland Park, 6 p.m.
Aldine at Atascocita, 7 p.m.
Clements at Fort Bend Marshall, 7 p.m.
Cy-Fair at Cypress Ridge, 7 p.m.
Cypress Creek at Cypress Woods, 7 p.m.
Cypress Falls at Langham Creek, 7 p.m.
Fort Bend Bush at Fort Bend Austin, 7 p.m.
Hastings at Stratford, 7 p.m.
Hightower at Elkins, 7 p.m.
Jersey Village at Cypress Springs, 7 p.m.
Katy at Morton Ranch, 7 p.m.
Katy Taylor at Cinco Ranch, 7 p.m.
Kempner at Willowridge, 7 p.m.
Mayde Creek at Seven Lakes, 7 p.m.
Memorial at Northbrook, 7 p.m.
Nimitz vs. Eisenhower at Lansford Field, 7 p.m.
Spring Woods at Alief Taylor, 7 p.m.
Strake Jesuit at Elsik, 7 p.m.
Travis at Dulles, 7 p.m.

Boys lacrosse
Houston Christian vs. Cy-Fair at Goodson Middle School, 7:30
Kingwood vs. Lamar at South Campus Sports Association, 7:30
The Woodlands at Strake Jesuit, 7:30
Friendswood vs. Katy Taylor at Firethorne, 8 p.m.

Softball
Sam Houston vs. Lamar at Delmar, 4 p.m.
Westbury Christian at Second Baptist, 4:30
Episcopal School of Dallas at St. John's, 5 p.m.
St. Pius at St. Agnes, 5 p.m.
Fort Bend Austin at Travis, 5:30
Cy-Fair at Cypress Woods, 6 p.m.
Cypress Falls at Cypress Creek, 6 p.m.
Cypress Springs at Langham Creek, 6 p.m.
Elkins at Hightower, 6 p.m.
Jersey Village at Cypress Ridge, 6 p.m.
Cinco Ranch at Mayde Creek, 6:15
Katy Taylor at Katy, 6:15
Seven Lakes at Morton Ranch, 6:15
Aldine vs. Eisenhower at Aldine Complex, 6:30
Elsik vs. Northbrook, 6:30
Memorial at Alief Taylor, 6:30
Stratford at Spring Woods, 6:30
Clements at Dulles, 7 p.m.
Fort Bend Bush at Fort Bend Marshall, 7 p.m.
Kempner at Willowridge Willowridge, 7 p.m.
Chavez vs. Bellaire at Butler, 8 p.m.
Beaumont Kelly at Houston Christian

Track and Field
District 18-5A championships (running finals) at Crump Stadium, 5:30
District 19-5A championships (running finals) at Plummer Middle School
District 20-5A championships (running finals) at Barnett Stadium, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY
Baseball
Lamar vs. Milby at CLC, 10 a.m.
Westside vs. Sam Houston at Delmar, 10 a.m.
Stratford at College Park, Noon
Cinco Ranch at Morton Ranch, 2 p.m.
Elkins at Travis, 2 p.m.
Fort Bend Austin at Dulles, 2 p.m.
Fort Bend Bush at Kempner, 2 p.m.
Fort Bend Marshall at Hightower, 2 p.m.
Katy Taylor at Mayde Creek, 2 p.m.
Seven Lakes at Katy, 2 p.m.
The Woodlands at Memorial, 2 p.m.
Westfield vs. Aldine at Lansford Field, 2 p.m.
Willowridge vs. Clements at Frankie Field, 2 p.m.
St. Thomas at Brazoswood, 6 p.m.

Boys lacrosse
Klein vs. SWLC at Westchester Academy, 10 a.m.
Cinco Ranch at Westside, Noon
Fort Bend at Kingwood, Noon

Rugby
State tournament in Dallas

SUNDAY
Rugby
State tournament in Dallas

Carter, Wilkerson finish high school careers strong at GHAGBCA All-Star games

BY CHAD WASHINGTON
The Athlete's Connection

The Greater Houston Area Girls Basketball Coaches Association’s All-Star Game featured two different games that had one star shine for the last time as a high schooler, while the other had a player have one of the best performances in her career.

In the first game, the Terry Farrell All-Stars defeated the Pat McKenna All-Stars 69-66 as Westfield guard Gevenia Carter scored 16 points, including three 3-point shots. Carter, who averaged 18 points and 10 steals this past season, played in her final high school game before heading to Central Florida next season.

“It was just an honor to be here,” Carter said. “A lot of girls came here and we all just came out and had fun.”

Hightower guard and Texas State recruit Diamond Ford also had 16 points, including a couple of steals that she turned into layups in the fourth quarter to help the Farrell All-Stars to increase its lead. College Park guard and Texas Tech signee Monique Smalls had 14 points to lead the McKenna All-Stars.

In the second game, Willis guard Brittany Wilkerson led the Glenn Tucker Smith All-Stars beat the Rennie Chaney All-Stars 87-71. Wilkerson, who averaged only 10 points per game this past season, scored 20 in her final high school game.

“I was feeling really good, I just wanted to get out here and have some fun and play like I always play and get my teammates involved,” Wilkerson said.

Westside forward Donna Dike was 10-of-10 from the free-throw line and scored 16 for the Smith All-Stars, while Westfield forward Simone Hopes had 11 points to lead the Chaney All-Stars.

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Chad Washington can be reached at (281) 404-4953 or cwashington@athletesconnection.com.

Jersey Village capitalizes on Lamar's late miscues for non-district win

By HEATHER BURR
The Athlete's Connection

It was a nice day for baseball as Jersey Village traveled to Lamar for a non-district Saturday afternoon game.

With the stands full and the pressure off, the game was a chance for some players to rest and others to excel.

“We like to get in the mindset of staying fresh and keep a third pitcher fresh,” Falcons coach Robb Jensen said. “This gives us confidence in some kids that don’t get to throw to step up and compete in a good game.”

A good game it was as Jersey Village took a 7-4 victory.

The Falcons got an early lead on Riley Wathen's two-out solo home run in the first.

“Riley would be the first to stand out,” Jensen said. “He’s been our leader and four-hole hitter. He’s doing a great job for us at the plate.”

Lamar tied it in the bottom of the inning when Marquis Kindle doubled and pitcher John Williamson singled him home.

The Redskins went ahead 2-1 in the second when pitcher Neal Dennison homered, then added two more in the fourth. Judson Bartlett walked with the bases loaded, then Hunter Sellers scored on a passed ball.

But Jersey Village answered big-time in the fifth.

Matt Moore had an RBI when he reached second on an error. Catcher Lance Siragusa reached third on an error, allowing two more runs to cross the plate. Siragusa crossed the plate for the Falcons’ fifth run on a ground ball from Tyler Cox.

“Siragusa leads the team with four home runs,” Jensen said. “He’s been swinging the bat real well.”

Jersey Village got two more insurance runs in the seventh.

“This is big for our kids to come in and face a quality opponent like Lamar,” Jensen said. “It’s a good confidence booster for our kids to come back and get this game.”

The Falcons are tied for fifth in district 15-5A with a record of 3-5, one game behind fourth-place Cypress Creek.

“Maybe this will springboard us in district,” said Jensen, whose team faces Cypress Woods on Tuesday. “They (Woods) were the favorite of the district going in. We played them well and lost 4-3 in the first round. We’ve got our ace Riley Wathen going against them so hopefully we’ll get a win. He gives us a certain sense of confidence when he’s on the mound.”
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Heather Burr can be reached at (713) 339-4400 or info@athletesconnection.com.

STATE SOCCER: Katy falls in semifinal; The Woodlands downs Clear Lake

By DAVE PURPURA
The Athlete's Connection

The Katy boys soccer team’s improbable ride to state ended Friday.
Five-time state champion Plano, making its first state tournament appearance in nine years, shut out the Tigers 3-0 in the first of two 5A semifinals Friday afternoon at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown.
The Tigers, who had played three consecutive overtime games to earn their first state berth, managed to get a few good scoring chances early in the second half but few in other parts of the game.
Katy finished 17-4-5. They defeated perennial powers Strake Jesuit, Kingwood and Elsik in the first three rounds of the postseason, then ousted undefeated Clements in the regional semifinals and survived Westside in a shootout in the regional final.
Plano (24-3-5) will play Klein Oak or Brownsville Lopez in the state championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday. Oak and Lopez played Friday’s second semifinal.
The Wildcats came out the aggressor and took a 1-0 lead just less than 18 minutes in, when Danny Hahn scored off a Ryan Brown assist. It was only the third regulation goal the Tigers had allowed this postseason.
The Wildcats stayed quicker in the second half and finally punched in an insurance goal with about eight minutes left, when Andrew Von Woesik tucked his shot into the side of the net of an assist from Dillon Powers.
Powers, a Notre Dame signee, netted Plano’s third goal with five minutes left.

GIRLS: The Woodlands 2, Clear Lake 0
Kylie Cook and Kelsey Bass scored for the Highlanders (27-1-3), who didn’t allow the Falcons a shot on goal and handed Lake (22-1-4) its first loss of the year.
Cook scored from about 20 yards away with less than 14 minutes left in the first half, then Bass added the insurance with 10 minutes to go.
The Highlanders were the only team to shut out the Falcons this year. They did it twice, the first time in a scoreless tie in the Kilt Cup in early January.
The Woodlands will play Coppell in the girls final at 4 p.m. Saturday. Coppell knocked off nationally-ranked San Antonio Reagan 1-0, scoring in the final minute of the second overtime.
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Dave Purpura can be reached at (281) 404-4958 or dpurpura@athletesconnection.com.

All-District-15-5A girls soccer

Region II finalist Cypress Creek took two superlative awards on the all-District 15-5A girls soccer teams announced this week.

Sophomore Sarah LaLanne was named Most Valuable Midfielder, and coach Kathy Fling was named Coach of the Year.

Creek went undefeated in district and lost to The Woodlands in the regional final.

Other superlative awards went to Cy-Fair senior Samantha Brenz for Most Valuable Forward, and Jersey Village senior Yosselyn Aguilar as Most Valuable Defender.

The first team, second team and honorable mention picks are as follows:

FIRST TEAM
Forwards: Terah Parker, sr., Cypress Creek; Sydney Curry, jr., Cy-Fair; Kristie Riegel, sr., Cypress Falls; Sarah Guerrero, jr., Jersey Village.
Midfielders: Cat Abitua, jr., Cypress Creek; Lynsey Curry, fr., Cy-Fair; Molly Baker, sr., Cypress Woods; Joceline Quiceno, jr., Cypress Woods; Alison Boone, jr., Langham Creek.
Defenders: Gretchen Hollas, sr., Cypress Creek; Lauren White, so., Cypress Creek; Alex Weidenheft, jr., Cy-Fair; Kelsey Schad, sr., Cypress Woods; Alyssa Cowie, sr., Cypress Woods; Kelley Poblette, jr., Langham Creek.
Goalkeepers: Michelle Kloss, jr., Cypress Creek; Ryan Smith, sr., Jersey Village; Danielle Licarione, jr., Langham Creek.

SECOND TEAM
Forwards: Amanda Biega, sr., Cypress Creek; Hannah Lewis, jr., Cypress Woods; Isabella Carrasco, so., Cypress Woods; Kadie Walaszczyk, fr., Jersey Village.
Midfielders: Ashley Blackwell, jr., Cypress Creek; Sydney Frielinghausen, jr., Cy-Fair; Jordan Hopper, jr., Cypress Falls; Angele Aitwal, jr., Cypress Ridge; Kim Ekholm, jr., Cypress Springs; Becca Spence, sr., Cypress Woods.
Defenders: Rachael Swerdon, fr., Cypress Creek; Aileen Fitzgerald, sr., Cy-Fair; Lindsey Wells, so., Cy-Fair; Kerrie Prieto, jr., Cypress Falls; Cali Davis, jr., Cypress Woods; Michelle Petrarca, fr., Langham Creek.
Goalkeepers: Callie Hasselbring, so., Cypress Ridge; Patty Walrath, jr., Cypress Woods.

HONORABLE MENTION
Margaret Fleming, jr., Cypress Creek; Jaclyn Wahlberg, sr., Cypress Creek; Cailyn Trapani, so., Cy-Fair; Marcia Kaiser, jr., Cy-Fair; Jennifer Swanstrom, jr., Cypress Falls; Victoria Voigt, so., Cypress Falls; Madison Knisley, jr., Cypress Falls; Sanmai Gbandi, sr., Cypress Ridge; Evelyn Fajardo, sr., Cypress Ridge; Katarina Casas, jr., Cypress Ridge; Cynthia Diax, sr., Cypress Springs; Jessica Leiva, sr., Cypress Springs; Megan Snelling, sr., Cypress Woods; Emilee Hoenes, jr., Cypress Woods; Arielle Fike, sr., Jersey Village; Raven White, sr., Jersey Village; Carolyn Parker, fr., Langham Creek; Diana Ramirez, jr., Langham Creek; Tiffany Titone, so., Langham Creek.

Area notes: Bartlett steps down at Cinco Ranch; Creek OC headed to Waco

By CHAD WASHINGTON and DAVE PURPURA
The Athlete's Connection

It was a job Danny Ramsey had dreamed of landing for his first head-coaching gig.
The former Cypress Creek offensive coordinator was named the new head coach at Waco High School on Wednesday.
Ramsey, 34, also coached the offensive line and assisted in calling plays for a Cougar offense that averaged 505 yards and more than 40 points per game last season. Cy Creek lost to Klein Oak in the Class 5A Division II area playoffs last season, 49-21.
“Every position that I’ve taken, I consider myself the head coach of whatever I’m charged with,” Ramsey told the Waco Tribune-Herald. “I was head coach of offense at Cy Creek all the way down to head coach of the English class that I taught at Cypress Creek High School. It’s just being given the chance to be in charge of something bigger.”
Creek head coach Greg McCaig said he was sorry to see Ramsey leave his program but happy for the athletes at Waco High.
“Danny creates an environment where our kids want to be there,” McCaig said. “We had 23 senior offensive linemen. We run the spread offense, and we’re only able to use five offensive linemen, so he was able to keep 18 kids excited about being there. Kids worship him.”
Before joining McCaig’s staff in 2004, Ramsey was an assistant coach at Marlin, Houston Christian and Spring.
Ramsey takes the reins of the Waco football program from Johnny Tusa, who compiled a 181-87-2 record and guided the Lions to the Class 4A Division II state final in 2006 and the 5A Division II state semifinals in 1991.
Tusa resigned as the Lions’ head football coach and campus athletic coordinator in February after 23 seasons at the school and 29 in the district.

Bartlett retires at Cinco Ranch
Eric Bartlett, who led the Cinco Ranch girls basketball team to five straight district championships, six postseason appearances and a 54-game district winning streak, recently announced his retirement.
Bartlett was 165-77 in eight seasons with the Cougars and is 468-292 overall; he spent 22 years at his alma mater, Humble, before coming to Cinco – the last 16 as head coach.
The Cougars won their fifth consecutive district title this year and advanced to the regional quarterfinals. In 2007-08, they went 30-8 and advanced to the regional championship game, where they lost to eventual state champion Cy-Fair.
Cinco – which was winless in district the year before Bartlett’s arrival – won 54 straight district games from 2005-08, a streak that was snapped this season by Katy Taylor.

End notes
Strake Jesuit’s Joey Brooks and St. Thomas’ Blake Jolivette played in the Capital Classic at American University on Thursday night, and their U.S. All-Star Team lost 129-98 to the Capital All-Stars, a team comprised of Washington, D.C.-area standouts. The U.S. team, which consisted mostly of Division I commits, shot only 14-of-43 from the field and had only six fast-break points. Jolivette will play at American; Brooks is committed to Notre Dame. … Former Seven Lakes standout Brandon Provost plans to transfer from Air Force, according to RCSSports.com. He scored only two points all season, appearing in 18 games.
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The writers can be reached at (281) 404-4958 or dpurpura@athletesconnection.com.

Five-run inning helps Elkins edge Clements

By CHAD WASHINGTON
The Athlete's Connection

After losing 9-0 to Clements more than a month ago, there was much more than the District 23-5A lead on the line for the Elkins softball team on Thursday night.

Pride and tradition also were up for grabs.

A five-run fifth inning, sparked by a two-RBI double by senior third baseman Amber Garza, helped the Knights to a 5-1 win in a battle between two of the top-ranked teams in the state. Elkins, who is ranked No. 6, moves into a tie atop the district with the second-ranked Rangers.

“Clements is a playoff-caliber team and are expected to do well in the playoffs,” Elkins coach James McClanahan said. “It was a good match to see where we’re at and what we still need to work on.”

After Clements (25-5, 12-1) scored a run in the top of the fifth, a couple fielding errors helped the Knights to put two runners on with no outs. Shortstop Donielle Breaux got a hit and reached second base after a throwing error by Clements catcher Erin Dooley. Then Elkins outfielder Kelsey Thorton grounded to second, but made it to first as Rangers first baseman Ally Ensor dropped the ball.

After Breaux stole home on a double steal, Elkins first baseman Jena West then laced a single to center field that scored Thorton to put the Knights ahead 2-1.

After second baseman Stephanie Harris beat out an infield hit, Garza then came up and belted a 1-2 pitch from Clements pitcher Liz Paul into the left-center field that brought home pitcher Nicole Gremillion and Harris to put the Knights up 4-1. Centerfielder Chelsea Kovich came up next and hit a RBI single to score Garza for the Knights’ last run.

“(Liz) is a really good pitcher, and I knew I just had to put the ball in play,” Garza said. “I just told myself, ‘Line drive, line drive,’ and that’s what I hit.”

Gremillion made the lead stand up by retiring six of her last seven batters. She ended the game giving up only four hits and no walks while striking out three.

Meanwhile, Paul was strong in her first four innings of work, striking out seven batters while giving up only two hits. None of the runs scored were earned, but she gave up six hits with no walks and struck out eight.

The Rangers’ lone run came when outfielder Erin Daniels got a one-out double and scored when outfielder Sarah Dilley beat out a grounder to shortstop. Daniels scored from second and slid head-first into home plate to beat out the throw from first.

Elkins (26-4, 12-1), which has won district the last two years and five of the last six years, are in position again to win it again. But McClanahan and the Knights are focused on the ultimate goal, which the Knights won in 2003 and 2004.

“District championships are important, but it has no bearing on our ultimate goal of getting to the state tournament,” McClanahan said.
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Chad Washington can be reached at (281) 404-4953 or cwashington@athletesconnection.com.

Softball recap: Lamar 7, Westside 4

The Lamar softball team outdueled Westside for the second time this year, defeating the Wolves 7-4 at Butler Sports Complex Thursday night.

Lamar pitcher Bianca Lilly allowed nine Westside hits over seven innings, but the left-handed sophomore gave up only three earned runs and she struck out 13.

Lamar collected its first four runs off senior Taylor Reekwald, who took the loss and gave up five hits in four innings.

Tied 1-1 going into the fourth, Lamar broke the game open when Gessenia DeLaCruz led off with a single to center field.

Reekwald walked Bethany Kelm, then Sandra Gallegos reached on an unsuccessful fielder’s choice to load the bases.

Seven-hole hitter Logan Rogers then stroked the Redskins only extra-base hit, a line-drive double over the outstretched glove of Westside third baseman Emily Sage, scoring two. Gallegos later scored the third run of the inning on a passed ball.

Lamar added three more unearned runs in the fifth inning as junior Becky Brune relieved Reekwald. The Westside defense got shaky as Lilly reached on a dropped strike, her sister and third baseman Brittany Lilly made it to first on a bunt single, and DeLaCruz reached on errors to lead off the inning. Bianca Lilly scored on a throwing error, Gallegos knocked in Brittany Lilly with a single down left field line, and Gallegos stole home.

Westside completed the night’s scoring in the bottom of the fifth, as Margaret Lee knocked in one run with a double up the middle and Reekwald drove in two with a double to left center. Other Westside offensive highlights included doubles by Sage in the fourth and Kaitlin Thomas in the second.

The win gives Lamar sole possession of second place in District 20-5A with a record of 6-2. Westside falls into third place at 6-3.

Cypress Woods at Cypress Creek softball

By HEATHER BURR
The Athlete's Connection

It was a roller coaster ride for the Cypress Woods and Cypress Creek softball teams Thursday night as they battled for the top spot in District 15-5A.

With highs and lows for both teams and even a weather delay that might have had some bearing on the outcome, Cypress Woods came out with a 5-3 win.

Trailing 3-2 in the top of the seventh, the Wildcats’ final at-bat was put on hold for about 45 minutes because of lightning. It was just enough time for the players to take off their shoes and get cozy in their cars.

But what would the delay mean for the Cougars, who had the momentum, and the Wildcats, who were battling for their lives?

“I wasn’t sure if we were going to respond or not after the break,” Woods coach Cliff Bond said. “Taking a break that long doesn’t really affect a batter as much as I think it does a pitcher.”

Cypress Creek had trailed 2-0 after the third then tied the Wildcats in the fourth with a base hit from Tori Sheppard and an RBI from Kayla Irvin. The Cougars then took the lead in the sixth when Sheppard reached base again and Jackie Heffernan had an RBI double.

“I think it helped us because we got to take a break and sit down and think,” Bond said.

They must have thought about big hits and scoring runs because that’s what the Wildcats did in their last at-bat.

With one out, Kristina Cordova reached base for the fourth time. Alexandria Dawson had a base hit, moving Cordova to third. Then Jettie Thompson came up with the winning triple and on an error reached home for three RBIs and a two-run lead.

“Kristina Cordova is probably the ultimate competitor on our team,” Bond said. “She’s always going to give everything she’s got. And for Jettie Thompson, I’ve never seen her nervous at any at bat. This is probably the second game she’s won for us. She’s a real clutch hitter for us this year.”

Pitcher Katherine Moreno struck out her fourth batter to start the bottom of the inning. An error allowed Brandi Virgil to reach first then she took second on a base hit from Erin Duhon. Two fielding plays ended the Cougars’ at-bat and the game.

“Cy Creek is a tough team,” Bond said. “They hit the ball extremely well and that’s what we were really worried about coming into this game.”

“Everybody just stayed calm and we came out and played our best,” Cordova said. “There’s nothing more we can ask of our team than to come out and play hard.”

Woods will face Cypress Springs on Tuesday, the same day Creek plays Cy-Fair.
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Heather Burr can be reached at (713) 339-4400 or info@athletesconnection.com.

Strake Jesuit at Memorial baseball

By DAVE PURPURA
The Athlete's Connection

The Strake Jesuit baseball team entered Thursday night’s game at Memorial eager to, if not confident they could, atone for a nine-run loss to the Mustangs three weeks ago.

The Mustangs summarily drubbed the Crusaders 9-5 and left Mustang Park in a familiar position – firmly on top of their district.

“This is a huge win,” said Memorial starting pitcher Nick Bergmann. “They came here to beat us but we stepped up and just kept hitting and won the game. Each game excites us and motivates us more and more to keep winning.”

M.P. Cokinos and Michael Ratterree hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning and Bergmann held the Crusaders to one run through the first six innings as Memorial (19-3, 8-0) strengthened its hold on District 18-5A to two games ahead of Strake Jesuit and Stratford.

“We got on them early; that’s what we talked about all week,” Mustangs coach Jeremy York said. “We were fortunate we could make things happen early. …

“Every game we win puts distance between us and someone else. That’s our objective, to just go out and take care of business. If we do that, we’ll be in great shape.”

Memorial hosts Stratford on Tuesday night.

Cokinos hit his team-leading ninth home run, Ratterree his seventh.

“He just threw a changeup over the middle of the plate, I waited on it and got it out to left. And the wind was blowing,” Ratterree said.

“They swing the bats well, and anytime you have them in the (Nos. 3 and 4 spots) you have to be careful with them or they can turn a game around in a hurry,” York said. “We have other guys in the lineup who can do it as well. We were fortunate.”

Memorial added three standup doubles from Carter Burgess, David Holland and Daniel Neumann in the second to take a 4-0 lead, then blew the game open with another run in the third and four in the fourth.

Bergmann allowed seven hits while striking out nine, walking one and hitting a batter in 6 2/3 innings.

Strake Jesuit (12-8, 6-2) fell back into a tie for second-place with Stratford, a tie the Crusaders had broken with a one-run victory over the Spartans on Tuesday night.

Patrick Blizzard’s solo home run in the fourth inning was the most offense the Crusaders could muster until Evan Fichter’s grand slam in the seventh. They finished with six hits.

“I just wanted to get that last out,” said Bergmann, who was pulled immediately after the slam with one out remaining.

Family Day upcoming
The Mustangs are holding their annual Family Day festivities April 18, when they host The Woodlands.

Activities include face painting, baserunning for kids 12 and younger run the bases following the varsity game, and a raffle. Meal deals also will be available.

Admission is $2 for children and adults; youths age 5 or younger are admitted free.

The junior varsity game begins at 10 a.m.; the varsity game is at 2 p.m.
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Dave Purpura can be reached at (281) 404-4958 or dpurpura@athletesconnection.com.

Poll results

From last week's poll ... voting was about as close as I figured.

17-5A: Katy, Cinco Ranch, Seven Lakes all strong
26.3%

15-5A: Cy Creek, Cy Woods, Cy-Fair tied for first
23.4%

18-5A: Spring Woods, Memorial set to meet for first place
19.7%

20-5A: Bellaire-Lamar-Westside three-way rivalry
14.6%

23-5A: Clements, Elkins each have 20 wins already
10.2%

Other
5.8%

Bayou Bowl releases Texas roster

I believe this was finalized a few days ago, but here it is. Once again, it's mostly Houston kids with a smattering from other areas. The most prominent out-of-area name I see is Southlake Carroll QB Kyle Padron, an SMU commit who is named after my favorite cigar. OK, that was bad.
Peruse the roster at your leisure. Louisiana's is not yet available.
The game is June 13 at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown; we'll be out there all week with complete coverage.

2009 Texas Roster

Name Position Wt Ht High School
AJ Dugot WR 195 5'11" Dayton Dayton
Austin Pugliese QB 180 5'11" Cypress Creek
Austin Riley OL 280 6'2" Baytown Lee
Ben Hughes OL 260 6'4" Fort Bend Austin
Bo Snelson RB 180 5'8" Pasadena Memorial
Kasey Carrier RB 180 5'9" Pearland
Christine Michael RB 208 5'11" Beaumont West Brook
Da Marcus Baymon OL 330 6'2" Cypress Creek
Darius Johnson WR 170 5'10" Hightower
Garrett Langthorpe OL 300 6'3" Oak Ridge
Ja'Mes Logan WR 185 6'3" Westfield
Jerrell Watkins OL 260 6'3" Channelview
Richard "Keagan" Kogut QB/WR 195 6'3" Baytown Sterling
Kevin Forsch OL 290 6'4" Klein Oak
Kyle Padron QB 200 6'4" Southlake Carroll
LaMarquis King WR 190 6'3" Nimitz
Nick Harwell WR 175 6' Elkins
Ryan Walker WR 180 6' Southlake Carroll
Keenan Flax OL 285 6'5" Cypress Ridge
Matt Eureste OL 280 6'3" Cypress Falls
Andrae May CB 170 6' North Shore
Chase Maires Rover 200 5'10" The Woodlands
Colton Valencia Free Safety 190 6' Hightower
Devin Williams Tackle 222 6'2" Cinco Ranch
Emerson Evans End 235 6'1" Alief Taylor
Eric Dago End 220 6'3" Westside
Jarrod Stewart Strong Safety 183 5'10" Pearland
Jesse Beauchamp LB 215 6' Klein Collins
Jordan Wilson Tackle 245 6' Conroe
Justin Williams Tackle 250 6'3" Galveston Ball
Kendrick Washington CB 160 5'10" Brenham
Kirby Ennis End 240 6'4" Huntsville
Nathan Snow Rover 185 5'11" Clear Lake
Phillip Stewart LB 220 6'1" Hightower
Princeton Jackson LB 210 6'1" Cypress Ridge
Quaylon Ewing CB 180 6'1" Kempner
Radermon Scypion End 235 6'4" Pasadena Memorial
Steven Campbell Strong Safety 190 6' Jersey Village
Tahare Ray LB 225 6'2" Spring
Tommy Henshaw Kicker/Punter 185 5'11" Clear Creek

Signings at Cy Springs

From Cypress Springs assistant football coach Jerry Prieto comes this heads-up:
On Wednesday, the Panthers' Klent Hardin will be signing with Austin College to play football.
On Friday, Darius Wilson will be signing to play football with Mary Hardin Baylor and Anthony Washington will be signing to play football at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Bi-district soccer pairings

Here's the complete list of 5A bi-district soccer for Monday and Tuesday. We'll be at a few games Monday and several more Tuesday. Check back with the main site to see where we'll be!
These are teams from the AC coverage area only.
Special thanks to Steven Thomson for sending the list.
***
BOYS
Region II
Cypress Falls vs. Georgetown
6 p.m. Tuesday, Cy Falls

Langham Creek vs. Round Rock McNeil
6 p.m. Tuesday, Berry Center

Cypress Woods vs. Cedar Park
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Cy Woods

Region III
Morton Ranch vs. Alief Taylor
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Alief Taylor

Aldine vs. Westside
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Delmar

MacArthur vs. Lamar
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Delmar

Katy Taylor vs. Hastings
6 p.m. Tuesday, Katy Taylor

Elkins vs. Clear Lake
5 p.m. Tuesday, Alvin

Fort Bend Austin vs. Brazoswood
7 p.m. Tuesday, Alvin

Katy vs. Strake Jesuit
7 p.m. Tuesday, Strake Jesuit

Kingwood vs. Bellaire
5 p.m. Tuesday, Thorne

Nimitz vs. Sam Houston
7 p.m. Tuesday, Thorne

Cinco Ranch vs. Elsik
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Alief Auxiliary

Clements vs. Clear Creek
7 p.m. Tuesday, Alvin Auxilary

Hightower vs. Clear Brook
5 p.m. Tuesday, Pasadena

North Shore vs. Pearland
7 p.m. Tuesday, Galena Park

GIRLS
Region II
Langham Creek vs. Round Rock Westwood
4 p.m. Tuesday, Westwood

Cy Woods vs. Round Rock
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Cy Woods

Cy Creek vs. Cedar Park
7 p.m. Tuesday, Cy Creek

Cy-Fair vs. Round Rock McNeil
6 p.m. Tuesday, Georgetown

Region III
Cinco Ranch vs. Spring Woods
6 p.m. Tuesday, Tully

MacArthur vs. Bellaire
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Butler

Atascocita vs. Lamar
7:30 p.m. Monday, Thorne

Mayde Creek vs. Memorial
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mayde Creek

Kempner vs. Clear Lake
TBA

Clements vs. Clear Brook
5 p.m. Tuesday, Alvin auxiliary

Seven Lakes vs. Stratford
7 p.m. Tuesday, Rhodes

Kingwood vs. Milby
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Barnett

Aldine vs. Westside
5:30 p.m. Monday, Butler

Cinco Ranch vs. Elsik
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Alief Auxiliary

Fort Bend Austin vs. Brazoswood
7:30 p.m. Monday, Friendswood

Elkins vs. Clear Springs
7 p.m. Tuesday, Manvel

Live from Durley Stadium ...

Good afternoon everyone from Durley Stadium, site of the 58th Annual Texas Southern University Relays. It's one of the largest track and field meets in the country - some say it is the largest; others say it's the third or fourth.
We'll be here both today and tomorrow. I'll be talking to a few area coaches getting caught up on how their seasons are going, and tomorrow Chad Washington and I will split coverage. I'll be here and at the University of Houston for the field events in the morning and early afternoon; Chad will be around in the evening for the running finals.
As usual, the top teams in our area will include Hightower, Elsik and Cinco Ranch. We've already seen a few of those teams and will be seeing them and a lot more this weekend.
If you're coming out, remember your sunscreen no matter your skin tone! It's not too hot but the sun will be bright.
And if you don't come here, remember the other big event in the area is the Space City Classic at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Center. Lots of credit goes to Tonya Greene and her co-workers with the classic for publicizing the heck out of what was a fun but not crowded event a year ago. I certainly expect to hear about a great game - and great crowd - tomorrow night.
Have a great weekend!

PS You may enjoy the music. The P.A. announcer just cued up "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe" by Barry White. Awesome. Thankfully no one saw me groovin' to that and typing this! :)]

Now that basketball is done ...

The spring is upon us, and that means a lot of baseball, softball, soccer and track coverage the next few weeks. Here are the big events coming up the next few months:


March 20-21 (Fri. and Sat.) - TSU Relays at Texas Southern
March 21 (Saturday) - Space City Classic, 2 p.m. at Berry Center
April 3-4 - Region III soccer tournament at Turner Stadium (yes, not Deer Park as the UIL site says). The Region II tournament will be at the Georgetown Athletic Complex.
April 10-11 - State soccer tournament, also at Georgetown. Construction forced a move from Round Rock, which has hosted the tournament since 2005.
Week of April 13-17 - District track championships. 15-5A is at Cypress Falls, 17-5A at Morton Ranch, 18-5A at Crump Stadium, 19-5A at Plummer Stadium, Houston ISD is at Barnett Stadium and 23-5A is at Hall Stadium.
April 20-23 - Girls (20-21) and boys (22-23) golf regional tournaments. Both Region III events are at Eagle Pointe in Mont Belvieu. Region II girls is at Cottonwood Creek in Waco; Region II boys are at Twin Rivers in Waco.
May 1 - Softball playoffs begin. There will be games Friday and Saturday of that week because of TAKS testing.
May 1-2 - Regional track. Region III is at Turner Stadium; Region II is at Baylor.
May 7 - Baseball playoffs begin.
May 11-12 - State tennis in Austin.
May 14-15 - State golf at Jimmy Clay Golf Course in Austin.
May 16 - 5A state track at UT.
May 16 - 7-on-7 state qualifying tournaments begin. A full schedule is available at 7on7.rivals.com.
June 5-6 - State softball tournament in Austin.
June 12-13 - State baseball tournament in Round Rock.
June 13 - The Bayou Bowl, 8 p.m. at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown.
July 10-11 - 7-on-7 state tournament at Texas A&M.
July 20-21 - The Texas High School Coaches Association school in Austin. The boys basketball all-star game is the 20th; the football game is the next night.

I'm searching now for spring football game dates and 2009 football schedules. If anyone can help, shoot me an e-mail at dpurpura@athletesconnection.com or ac_editor@comcast.net.

Poll results from last week

Of course many voted with their hearts, but I'd have voted the same way. I wanted to see them finish the run in style.
***
Who wins the 5A boys basketball championship?

Strake Jesuit
87.2%

DeSoto
6.8%

Cedar Hill
5.5%

San Antonio Wagner
.5%

12.3 left -- DeSoto 47, Strake Jesuit 44

Dandridge hit another pair of free throws to put DeSoto up three... Strake just can't get a bucket to go down the stretch here...

32.8 left -- DeSoto 45, Strake Jesuit 44

A steal by DeSoto's Dominique Bennett and a free throw by Darius Terrell has got the Eagles ahead, and they have the ball... Frazier fouls Dandridge...

1:37 left -- Strake Jesuit 44, DeSoto 44

Dandridge has hit another 3 to tie the game, but quickly picked up his fourth personal foul... Strake has the ball...

3:35 left -- Strake Jesuit 44, DeSoto 38

A couple of Frazier steals turned into big buckets to open up a six-point Crusader lead. Frazier took his first steal coast-to-coast for a layup, then found Brooks open on his second steal and he layed it in with the foul. He did miss the free throw though, so there is time for a comeback.
Just as I typed this, Dandridge hit a 3 in the corner and Brooks got an offensive foul, his fourth personal... things are tightening up here at the Erwin Center...

End of third quarter, Strake Jesuit 38, DeSoto 32

Tim Frazier has stepped up and has scored 15 points, six coming in the third quarter. Steven Rogers hit a 3-pointer in the quarter and he has seven.
But the real reason for the Crusaders regaining the lead is their defense. They have created 14 Eagle turnovers and have made DeSoto shoot 35 percent from the field.

Halftime -- DeSoto 26, Strake Jesuit 25

Derico Dandrige hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first half to give DeSoto its first lead of the game at the break.
The Eagles rallied back, going on a 12-4 run to end the quarter, with Wilson scoring on a three-point play and Dandridge's 3. Wilson has came off the bench to score 11 points at the break.
The Crusaders are led at the half by Frazier, who has nine points. Joey Brooks had five points in the first quarter, but only has seven now.
If Strake is going to win this game, either Brooks and Frazier needs to explode offensively or other role players will have to step up.

2nd Quarter -- Strake Jesuit 23, DeSoto 16

A 3-pointer by Tim Frazier and a couple of layups by Steven Rogers has the Crusaders up 23-16 with 4:25 left in the half. Strake is playing very good team ball so far...

End of first quarter, Strake Jesuit 12, DeSoto 11

Ryan Dunbar's 3-pointer with a second left in the quarter has put the Crusaders up by one at the end of the first quarter. Brooks leads Strake with five points, while the Eagles' reserve guard, Alex Wilson, has five.

Strake-DeSoto 1st Quarter

DeSoto has taken an early 6-5 lead by passing and taking advantage of some foul trouble by Jesuit. Both Joey Brook and Wes Williams have two fouls each.
Both teams are having trouble shooting the ball early on.

Greetings from Austin!

Hey everyone, I'm in the Frank Erwin Center preparing for the 5A semifinal between Strake Jesuit and DeSoto. It's a cold and rainy day here in the state capitol, just like I bet it is back in Houston. But inside the Drum, it's been hot with action all week long.
Yesterday, the Houston area went 1-for-1, with Stafford falling to Dallas Madison in the 3A semifinals and Yates blowing out Mansfield Timberview in the 4A semis. The Crusaders are looking to be the second Houston-area team to play for a state title.
The Strake Jesuit section is starting to fill up with green and white, and it looks like all of their allotted seats are going to be filled. DeSoto is still filling their section, but they may not be able to bring the noise like Strake will.
Nazareth just finished beating Leggett 63-46 in the 1A Division II semifinal game, and we're waiting for both the Crusaders and Eagles to take the floor. I'll check in with updates as I can, so stay tuned...

This weekend

... we'll be all over the place.
Tonight, Ignacio Salazar will catch some baseball out at the Langham Creek Tournament as the Lobos host Atascocita. That game is at 7:30.
I will hit up the St. Thomas rugby team as the Eagles host Kingwood. The Eagles keep rolling; they shut out Round Rock Stony Point 57-0 last weekend.
We'll also have a recap of the Stafford boys basketball team's state semifinal game. That tips off at 3:30.
Tomorrow is a huge day on a few fronts. Chad Washington will be in Austin to see the Strake Jesuit boys basketball team play DeSoto in a state semifinal. That tips at 3:30 and we'll keep you posted throughout the afternoon.
Then we'll have two championship soccer games. I will watch Memorial and Spring Woods' girls slug it out for the 18-5A title, and Heather Burr will be in Katy for Cinco Ranch-Katy girls soccer. That's always a fun game.

The latest from Austin

All the area competitors (by area I mean the Athlete's Connection's coverage area) have finished except for divers Hudson Rains (Cy-Fair), Sean Mokhtari (Stratford) and Dominic Ricotta (Cinco Ranch), and it appears the Stratford boys will carry the day. They were in sixth-place the last time team scores were displayed. Coach Michael Hoskovec told me that will be the Spartans' highest-ever finish; the girls once finished fourth.
Otherwise, not a bad weekend for the AC area - we got three state champions and a few more seconds, including two from Eisenhower's Karson Applin.
All that's not to mention how well Kingwood and The Woodlands are doing. They will, of course, be noted in my story.
One final note: I love the camaraderie between district schools here. All the Katy schools came up together and have cheered their hearts out for each other. Same for the Cy-Fair and Spring Branch schools, at least on the second part.
That's good to see, especially in the light of all that hullabaloo (is that how you spell it?) with the column in the Cinco Ranch paper talking about people from other Katy ISD schools. This is what it's all about, not that.
I expect my story will be up before 2:30, with photos to come after that. Remember, you can't buy photos we take at state meets, but peruse them to your heart's content.
Then I will head back to Houston and sleep, sleep, sleep.

An early taste of paradise

Tim Jones has his college choices narrowed to Hawaii and Southern Cal.
Tough call, eh?
Before he goes west for the next phase of his life, Jones earned Texas glory Saturday morning when he won the boys 100 freeestyle state championship. He finished in 45.34, just ahead of Kingwood's Austin Wilson (45.4) and El Paso Coronado's Jake Hartley (45.46). Lamar's Zach Holmes was fourth (46.13) and Shea Kenny from Cypress Woods came in seventh (46.47).
"I just swam as fast as I could ... to my potential," Jones said. "I didn't do as well as I wanted in the 200 (he finished fifth earlier in the day) so I wanted to redeem myself. ...
"I had to focus more today. Usually in the finals it's how you finish that determines the race."

Cy Creek freshman wins 50 free title

Cypress Creek freshman Kathryn Eckhart won the 50 free state title, upending The Woodlands senior Kelsey Amundsen by .18 seconds. Eckhart finished in 23.11, almost a full second faster than her time at the start of the year. The key and the first thing coach Jeff Chandler mentioned was her reaction time of .64.
Stratford's Lilly Marrow was fifth and Clements' Danielle Yoho was sixth.

Hunter Bayley wins 200 freestyle state title

Stratford senior Hunter Bayley came from two back on the final lap to win the 200-meter freestyle relay championship Saturday morning at the UIL 5A State Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin.
He will presented his gold medal shortly.
Also, Kingwood's girls 200 medley relay team won the state title in a national record time of 1:43.25.

Basketball playoff thoughts

A few thoughts to unload on this Wednesday morning:
* Was just chatting with a few folks here in the office regarding the boys bracket looking, well, a bit different than we figured. Congratulations to Eisenhower and Elkins on pulling off two big upsets; Ike, fourth-place in 19-5A, edged 20-5A champion 65-63 at Delmar Fieldhouse, and Elkins ousted 24-5A champ Galveston Ball 66-48 at Santa Fe.
I have to wonder how much momentum Elkins carried in from defeating Kempner in Friday's playoff game for fourth-place in District 23-5A. Ball, meanwhile, won a district that simply isn't that good.
Conversely, according to always-in-the-know Jim Hicks of RCSSports.com, Bellaire turned down a tiebreaker game with Chavez, then was pounded by Yates on Saturday entering last night. The dislike between Cardinals coach Bruce Glover and Chavez coach Kevin Pullum is no secret, but I'm not exactly sure how that figured into all this.
* As it is now, we may see some intriguing district rematches in the regional quarterfinals. Strake Jesuit could play Alief Taylor, and Hightower might play Fort Bend Bush. Strake and Hightower went undefeated in their districts; of course, the Crusaders finished the regular season as the state's No. 1-ranked team.
* Congratulations to all the girls winners from last night, especially Cy-Fair. What a way to pull out a victory, not only considering the shot Chiney Ogwumike made to win it but also that happened after point guard Cassie Peoples sustained a broken right leg with only a minute left.
I'm not one for plugging the competition, but check out the Chronicle's video highlights here. Chiney's shot is the first highlight. It was incredible.
Our best goes out to Cassie, too.
I'll be traveling to Central Texas tomorrow and will be in Austin Friday and Saturday for the state swimming championships. Catch ya soon.

How the boy's basketball playoff picture looks (2/19)

Here's a sneak look at how the boy's basketball brackets look right now. There's a couple of spots that need to be filled and there's a handful of games this weekend that will determine either playoff positioning or tie-breaker games for one playoff spot.

The play-in games in our area are from 17-5A and 23-5A. Katy, Katy Taylor and Morton Ranch are each tied with 3-7 records for fourth place in 17-5A. That means there will be a three-way mini-tournament, with Katy facing Taylor Friday at 6 at Cinco Ranch High School, with the winner facing Morton Ranch the next day at 3 p.m., also at Cinco. Whoever comes out of this mini-tourney will have to rest up quickly, because undefeated Strake Jesuit awaits in the first round.

Elkins and Kempner are tied at 7-6 for fourth place in 23-5A, and will meet each other Friday at 4 p.m. at Wheeler Fieldhouse for the play-in game. The winner will face Galveston Ball in the first round.

There are a couple more games that will affect the playoff picture on Friday. Clear Lake and Clear Brook meet in a battle for third place in 24-5A, and maybe even second if Clear Springs trips up against Clear Creek. Pearland and Deer Park could flip in Friday's games, while Spring and Klein Collins will meet to decide the final spot in 13-5A.

All the Cy-Fair ISD teams know who they will meet in the first round except for Cypress Woods, who will wait for 16-5A to work itself out this weekend. Georgetown, Vista Ridge and Stony Point all finished the regular season 7-7 in district play and will play this weekend in a play-in tournament. The winner will face the Wildcats in the first round.

Only two first-round games have been confirmed with a time and place, with Cinco Ranch-Alief Taylor facing off Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Wheeler, with Mayde Creek-Elsik following them at 8 p.m.

We'll have all the times for the other games and the first-round matchups on Sunday on our site.

Possible first-round playoff matchups (if the season ended today):

Region II

Klein Forest (second in 13-5A) vs. Oak Ridge (third in 14-5A)
Cypress Falls(fourth in 15-5A) vs. Leander (first in 16-5A)

College Park (first in 14-5A) vs. Spring/Klein Collins (fourth in 13-5A)
Langham Creek (second in 15-5A) vs. Round Rock (third in 16-5A)


The Woodlands (second in 14-5A) vs. Westfield (third in 13-5A)
Cypress Woods (first in 15-5A) vs. Georgetown/Stony Point/Vista Ridge(fourth in 16-5A)

Tomball (first in 13-5A) vs. Lufkin (fourth in 14-5A)
Cypress Springs(third in 15-5A) vs. Round Rock McNeil (second in 16-5A)

Region III
Mayde Creek (third in 17-5A) vs. Elsik (second in 18-5A)
Eisenhower (fourth in 19-5A) vs. Bellaire (first in 20-5A)

Humble (second in 19-5A) vs. Madison (third in 20-5A)
Katy/Katy Taylor/Morton Ranch (fourth in 17-5A) vs. Strake Jesuit (first in 18-5A)

North Shore (second in 21-5A) vs. Pearland (third in 22-5A)
Elkins/Kempner (fourth in 23-5A) vs. Galveston Ball (first in 24-5A)

Bush (second in 23-5A) vs. Clear Lake/Clear Brook (third in 24-5A)
La Porte (first in 22-5A) vs. Channelview (fourth in 21-5A)

Alief Taylor (third in 17-5A) vs. Cinco Ranch (second in 18-5A)
Kingwood (first in 19-5A) vs. Sam Houston (fourth in 20-5A)

Seven Lakes (first in 17-5A) vs. Stratford (fourth in 18-5A)
Chavez (second in 20-5A) vs. Atascocita (third in 19-5A)

Beaumont West Brook (third in 21-5A) vs. Deer Park (second in 22-5A)
Hightower (first in 23-5A) vs. Clear Brook/Clear Lake (fourth in 24-5A)

Travis (third in 23-5A) vs. Clear Springs (second in 24-5A)
Port Arthur Memorial (first in 21-5A) vs. Dobie (fourth in 22-5A)

Girls basketball bi-district times (updated 4:53 p.m.)

I'll keep an updated list here. I still have e-mails out to several coaches from our coverage area; as soon as I get confirmed times and dates, they'll be added here.
Here's the list of what I know so far as of 12:45. Feel free to comment with any games you know:
- Cedar Park Vista Ridge at Cypress Falls, 6:30 Monday
- Stratford vs. Morton Ranch, 5:30 Tuesday at Don Coleman Coliseum
- Elsik vs. Mayde Creek, 6 p.m. Tuesday at Katy Taylor
- Westside vs. Humble, 6 p.m. Tuesday at Campbell Center
- Cy-Fair vs. Round Rock, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Berry Center
- Jersey Village at Cedar Park, 7 p.m. Tuesday
- Memorial vs. Katy Taylor, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Don Coleman Coliseum
- Bellaire vs. Kingwood, 7:30 Tuesday at Campbell Center
- Cinco Ranch vs. Alief Taylor or Hastings, 7:30 Tuesday at Katy Taylor
[The one-game playoff between Taylor and Hastings will be at 6 p.m. Friday at Hastings South Gym.]
- Lamar vs. Eisenhower, 7:30 Tuesday at Delmar
- Cypress Woods vs. Georgetown, 7:30 Tuesday at Brenham
- Nimitz vs. Chavez, 7:30 Tuesday at Barnett Center
- Dulles vs. Brazoswood, TBA

Three other 23-5A vs. 24-5A games will not be decided until Friday night.

Athlete of the Week: Stratford relay team looking to reach state

Hunter Bailey has had a goal of reaching the state swimming finals since last year, when he qualified for state in two individual events. He said he wanted to qualify for three events, including a couple of relay teams.
And so far, he is right on schedule.
Bailey, with Rob Chuchla, Marlon Bishop and Michael Bishop, won two relay events at Saturday’s 18-5A championships, winning the 200-yard medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet won the 200 medley with a time of 1:38.04 and the 200 freestyle in 1:27.68.
All four swimmers had such a strong meet that they were named this week’s Athlete’s Connection/College Ball or Bust Athlete of the Week.
“I’m still hoping to make it to state and hopefully send three relay teams there,” Bailey said. “That would be awesome.”
The group also did well in individual events, with Bailey winning the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle, Michael Bishop winning the 50 freestyle and finishing second in the 100 butterfly, and Marlon finishing second in the 100 breaststroke.
“Both of those guys, Hunter and Michael, are training,” Stratford coach Michael Hoskovic said. “We trained through this meet because we got our goals, and our goal is to go on through regionals and go to state.
“They were a little beat up a little bit today, but we’re going to give them a little bit of rest ”so that they’re in their best form in the next couple of weeks.”

Main site remains down

Our IT extraordinaire, Fred Newtz, is working diligently to get the site back up and running ASAP. Until then, all new stories will be posted here - as will always be the case if the main site is down for an extended period.

Guiton to be a Buckeye?

Just got off the phone with Ray Evans, the head football coach at Eisenhower High School in Houston, regarding when everything is going for Signing Day. He said the Eagles likely will have 15 or so players sign Wednesday morning in the school gym. But the most interesting thing he said concerns their quarterback, Kenneth Guiton. Once considered almost a lock to go to Kansas, Guiton is grabbing attention from, of all places, Ohio State. After the couple backouts earlier this week by other commits, apparently the Buckeyes' thoughts turned to Guiton. Guiton isn't the biggest kid - 6-2 1/2, 175 - but he's efficient. He has thrown for almost 4,000 yards the past two years and Ike didn't lose a single district game.
Apparently OSU was over at the school yesterday and will be talking to him again tonight. If the offer comes, it might be tonight.
He's also considering Wyoming and has been offered by Prairie View, so I've got to think if coach Jim Tressel (or whoever is down here representing the school) offers Guiton will take it.
As most of you know or have discerned over the past 16 months, I'm an unabashed Buckeyes fan. I'd love to have the likes of Kenneth Guiton wear the scarlet and gray, not only because of his athleticism but also his character.
If anything comes up, I'll let you know.

JoJo Williams heading to Miami ...

Ohio?
Apparently so, according to a Scout.com report. The Redhawks' new coach, Houston native Mike Heywood, has reportedly promised Williams he could his preferred tackle position. Since he goes both ways, I'm not sure if the preferred position is OT or DT.
Anyway, Williams called UConn coaches last weekend and rescinded his verbal. He'll be going up to Oxford, Ohio (an hour northwest of Cincinnati) this weekend for his visit, and if all goes well Williams will head to the Buckeye State, not Connecticut.

Poll results

In the spirit of last week's change of administrations, we asked what you'd do if you got to be president of any sports league. The Obama-McCain race was far closer than this:

Get rid of the BCS and install a playoff system
78.9%

Change NFL overtime rules
7.8%

Other
6.7%

Contract Major League Baseball teams
3.3%

Mandate lower pro salaries
3.3%

Updated list of verbal commitments

Here's our most recent list of football verbal commitments from the AC coverage area. As fluid as verbal commitments are, this is subject to change in the 12 days between now and National Signing Day.
We'll be running as complete a list as we can a few days before that.
***
Emone Bailey, OL, Elsik, to Houston
Thomas Bates, S, Baytown Lee, to Houston
Lyle Beloney, CB, Seven Lakes, to Army
Trey Briggs, LB, Jersey Village, to Rice
Michael Brockers, DE, Chavez, to LSU
Steven Campbell, DB, Jersey Village, to Texas A&M
Kasey Carrier, RB, Pearland, to New Mexico
Eric Dago, DE, Westside, to Utah
Knile Davis, RB, Fort Bend Marshall, to Arkansas
Marcus Davis, DB, Clear Creek, to Texas
Quaylon Ewing, CB, Kempner, to Boise State
Anthony Fera, K, St. Pius, to Penn State
Keenan Flax, OL, Cypress Ridge, to Houston
Enrico Forbes, DE, St. Pius, to Baylor
Alex Francis, CB, Hightower, to Rice
Colby Goodwin, TE, Cy-Fair, to Utah
Kolby Gray, QB, Cypress Falls, to Pittsburgh
Kalvin Guyton, RB, Lamar, to Texas A&M
A.J. Highsmith, QB, Hightower, to Miami (Fla.)
Ben Hughes, C, Fort Bend Austin, to SMU
Kelvin Jackson, DE, Hightower, to Navy
Princeton Jackson, LB, Cypress Ridge, to Iowa State
Bobby Janisch, OL, Jersey Village, to Rice
Darius Johnson, WR, Hightower, to SMU
Dele Junaid, S, Hightower, to Mississippi
Jacob Karam, QB, Friendswood, to Texas Tech
Anthony Kendrick, WR, Seven Lakes, to Kentucky
Terrance Kindle, DE, North Shore, to Fresno State
Kendrick King, LB, Alief Taylor, to Houston
Hasan Lipscomb, RB, Cypress Ridge, to Minnesota
Terrance Lloyd, DE, Stratford, to Missouri
Craig Loston, DB et al., Eisenhower, to LSU
Barrett Matthews, TE, North Shore, to Texas
Andrae May, CB, North Shore, to Oklahoma State
Andy McCloud, QB, The Woodlands, to UTEP
Kenric McNeal, WR, Spring, to Texas A&M
Joe Mitchell, QB, Morton Ranch, to Oklahoma State
Jordan Najvar, TE, Klein Oak, to Stanford
Clint Naron, OL, Klein Oak, to Texas A&M
Ralph Oragwu, OT, Fort Bend Marshall, to Houston
Jared Pickett, RB, Fort Bend Marshall, to Houston
Thaddeus Randle, DT, North Shore, to Nebraska
Jaz Reynolds, WR, Eisenhower, to Oklahoma
Daniel Salinas, LB, North Shore, to Fresno State
James Scott, CB, Strake Jesuit, to SMU
Russell Shepard, QB/ATH, Cypress Ridge, to LSU
Phillip Steward, LB, Hightower, to Houston
Jerrad Stewart, S, Pearland, to Utah
Greg Timmons, WR, Eisenhower, to Texas
Mario Turner, DE, Pearland, to UTEP
Colton Valencia, S, Hightower, to Texas A&M
Justin Washington, DL, Cypress Woods, to Arizona
Devin Williams, DE, Cinco Ranch, to Tulane
Joseph Williams, DT, Strake Jesuit, to Connecticut
John Wooldridge, TE, Episcopal, to TCU

Kolby Gray heading to Pitt

Gray verballed during a visit up there yesterday. Here's the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's story.

Call me old-fashioned ...

... but the stage ESPN (and yesterday NBC) give high school seniors to announce their college choices is ridiculous.
Is this what this has come to? The kids welcome the celebrity (who wouldn't?), but this is being done mostly for those who follow college football so closely that these announcements are the highlight of their week. That was the case during NBC's coverage of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday and tonight on ESPN for the Under Armour All-America Game.
Of course, we had an all-star game in San Antonio today for seventh- and eighth-graders. Goodness. No wonder the stage is so big by the time they're seniors. The progression is only "natural."
Anyway, off my soap box and back to tonight's game. Craig Loston has been splendid at safety for the White team and Russell Shepard has been himself at QB for the Black, though the main criticism is he's held the ball too long. At the risking of being mean to 15-5A defenses, this is a real good unit he's facing and he'll see challenges those units here simply are unable to present.
Right now it's 21-6 Black late in the second quarter. I'm watching the game from my house tonight and will have a report on the local players posted minutes after the game ends.