Pflugerville vs Bowie

With several choices available I just could not keep away from this match up but maybe I should have.  This game had as many story lines as your best daily soap.  Bowie with two Division 1 prospects in the line up and a 20 year well respected coaching veteran. Pflugerville several players with dreams of playing at the college level and a coach in his first year at the varsity level. On paper there was no question who had the leg up on who. But that's why they play the game baby and it started with a bang. The panthers were not threatened by Bowie's D1 prospects and came out to show that they were a team to be recon with.  

At the end of the first quarter Pflugerville lead 17 to 8 and had proven that they were there to win and that Christmas was coming early for them. The panthers defense against Bowie's Paul Baxter was intense forcing Baxter to his left side and doubling him every chance they had in an attempt to get the ball out of his hands. They were not going to allow Baxter to beat them on this night and the strategy was successful. 

In the second quarter the Bulldogs were able to make a run out scoring the panthers 24 to 15 and tying up the game just before the break 32 to 32. What was most apparent to me on this night was Bowie's lack of effort on the defensive end allowing the panthers to score in double figures in both the first and second quarter.  Additionally, the panthers were out rebounding the bulldogs even though Bowie had the taller player on the court with 6'6" Isom who towered over most of the panthers line up. 

In the second half it was much of the same Bowie allowing the panthers guards to penetrate uncontested and scoring when the chance presented itself or passing the ball to the open man who scored from under the basket.  The panthers continued to pressure Baxter throughout the game and forcing him to put the ball in the hands of his teammates who were just not looking to score.  Isom the only other scoring threat on the bulldogs roster just could not get the defense off of him long enough to find the ball and when he did he was pressured and forced to give the ball up.

In the end the panthers team was just to much, while Baxter was able to put up more than half of the bulldogs points scoring 28.  The rest of the team just did not contribute enough to help the bulldogs pull out a win on this night.  Since this conference puts 4 teams into the playoffs the bulldogs may still get through as a third or fourth seed.  But if they want to contend for the district championship they will need to do two things rebound and commit to playing defense.  Allowing eight opposing players to put up scoring numbers and three of them scoring in double figures tells it all.  There are very few stat lines for good defensive play but as a recruiter or a college coach all you need to look at are the opposing teams stats to tell you what the loosing team did defensively. On this night the bulldogs did't do enough, they were outscored, out hustled and out rebounded on both ends of the court.  

Pflugerville 68, Bowie 50

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Bowie	8	24	8	10	—	50
Pflugerville	17	15	12	24	—	68

BHS: Huerta 5, Baxter 28, Isom 9, Mayes 2, Smith 2, Walton 4
PHS: Brooks 13, Onyeje 16, Williams 8, Bostic 10, Bierbower 7, Henderson 8, Moss 4, Ochsner 2
Records: P: 10-6, B: 11-4.

Hays High School Rebel Classic

I spent this week attending the Hays High School's Varsity Boys and Girls Rebel Classic and I have to say it was a great week.  The tournament was well organized and had an exciting group of teams participating in the event.  

In the Boys division schools like St. Michael's Academy which will be a strong contender in the TAPPS 5A division. From the UIL 4A division there was the host Hays, Crockett, Lanier, Hutto, Del Valle, Dripping Springs, and Vista Ridge.  The big schools present from the 5A division were McNeil, Leander, San Marcos, Harker Heights, and Steele High School all teams that will be contenders in their individual districts and you may be looking at a State Champion in this list of teams.  

In the Girls division small schools present were 2A Poth and Leon, 3A Lovejoy, Wimberley and Palestine High School. 4A Lehman, Hendrickson, Vista Ridge, and host Hays High School and from the big school category were 5A SA Churchill, New Braunfels, Steele, SA Madison, San Marcos, and the Highlands High Schools. 

With such a diverse group of schools participating in this tournament it made for some great competition and some surprising upsets.  I look forward to this tournament again next season and would recommend it to any coach looking to get out of their district and play some strong competition.

Great job Rebels and good luck this season.       

Hays vs St. Michael's (Hays Tournament)

As a fan of St. Michael's athletics its difficult to watch a team with so many offensive threats just not get down and dirty and play defense.  On several occasions there were players that just laid back after a missed shot and in no hurry to get back to defend. The only area on a basketball court that doesn't requires much skill but a lot of heart is defense and I just didn't see much of that from the Crusaders.  


In stead what I saw were players taking their time down court, standing straight up and letting the offensive players drive past them and get to the basket. Even after the coach pointed the mistake out they continued to play weak on the defensive end.  On the offensive end however, they were as different as day and night.  Once they got the ball in their hands they were a different player, driving the lane putting up shots and in one instance one shot almost from half court that didn't go end.  If there was as much effort on the defensive end as on offense this would be a different team, one that would be hard to recon with.  Crusader's remember offense wins games but defense wins championships and you will need to get that area taken care of before conference play if you want to contend in the TAPPS division. 


As for the Hays Rebels, they were a very different team than I am used to seeing. They have some height that they have been lacking in the past few years and a group of scoring guards that will posse a threat against many of their opponents this season. With Cagle (14), Kimbro (13), and Johnson (10) all scoring in double figures and seven other players adding some scoring of their own this was a great team win. The rebels moved the ball around well and were able to find open looks from all areas of the court.  They did a great job on the defensive end shutting down long range shooter Jack Kiser after he was able to put up three 3 pointers after coming in off the bench. After that the defense did a great job of getting out on Kiser and keeping him off the line forcing him to take longer shots most of which fell short.


In the end it was a good win for the Rebels pulling off a 30 point win after holding the Crusaders to only 6 points in the second and 7 points in the third.     


Hays 71, St. Michael's 41

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
St. Michael's	18	6	7	10	—	41
Hays	14	14	19	24	—	71

SM: Garza 2, Ginet 3, Reech 3, Carlton 4, Guerrero 8, Blauke 5, Vandrak 3, Alvarez 3, Kiser 10
HHS: Williams 8, McSpaddan 6, Johnson 10, Normand 6, Jass 4, Kimbro 13, Agnew 2, J. Rodriguez 4, Cagle 14, Miller 4.
Records: H: 7-4.

McNeil High School Basketball

By: D. Maldonado

Central Texas Recruiting

centexrecruits@yahoo.com 

McNeil High School's Boy's Basketball is our Highlight team of this preseason.  With five games under their belt Coach Darrell Hagemann has his team running on all cylinders with wins over Del Valle, Cedar Park, Bowie and most recently Belton.  

In their season opener against Anderson the Mavs defense looked sluggish and at times confused, allowing four players to score in double figures two of which scored over twenty points.  Since then Coach Hagemann must have gotten to the root of the problem the defense is looking much improved and it shows in their early record. 

With a lot of basketball left to be played the McNeil Boys have made an early stateman letting the competition know that this season they will be a team to recon with.  With early wins over Del Valle who put up 93 points against a strong Hendrickson team, and Bowie High School who has two Division 1 commitments on their roster Coach Hagemann has made McNeil a team to look out for this season and our early favorite to win the 5A Region 2 championship.  Hoping to spoil their goal will be a regular into the playoffs Pflugerville High and Round Rock.  Both teams have playoff experience and an excellent team, but if Coach Hagemann can keep his team focused on the prize I just can't see anyone getting in the Mavs way.

Players on the Mavs team to keep a close eye on will be Seniors Robert Waters averaging 17.2 ppg, Jocob Jiongo 12.6 ppg and sophomore standout Trey Dilworth averages 14.6 ppg.  Along with these three players you can add five additional seniors, three juniors and a sophomore all players who are finding ways to contribute to the Mavs early success.  Below you will find a list of McNeil's preseason games, we wish the Mavs and Coach Hagemann a lot of success this season and look forward to seeing you in the playoffs.           

• Nov 28, 2011 - McNeil 65, Belton 40
• Nov 22, 2011 - McNeil 84, Bowie 80
• Nov 21, 2011 - McNeil 64, Cedar Park 48
• Nov 18, 2011 - McNeil 77, Del Valle 70
• Nov 15, 2011 - Anderson 86, McNeil 77

Pflugerville vs Westlake

With the loss of Senior Point Guard Deon Mitchell and his 25 points per game Pflugerville will have to find other players to step up and take that scoring out put between them.  While Westlake struggled last season this year looks to be a good chance at making the playoffs once again. With eight seniors on the roster and all with varsity experience they should have enough leaders on board to get them back on track this season. 


Westlake did a great job of matching Pflugerville point for point through the third quarter.  In the first Westlake dropped 10 points to Pflugerville's 9 and things didn't change much in the second.  Westlake put up 17 points to Pflugerville's 19 and at the end of the third both teams were tied at 44.  Going into the fourth you could see that Westlake's players were running out of gas. They spent so much energy during the first three quarters they just didn't have much left to finish the game.  This is where Pflugerville stepped up and took advantage scoring 21 points to Westlake's 13, and with that the Chaps dropped their season opener to the Panthers.


If Westlake can find a way to stay consistent for four quarters their going to make it difficult for many teams this season and might even find themselves back in the playoff run this year. 


Pflugerville did a great job of staying in the game and making a run at the right time. Moss lead the Panthers in scoring with 21 points, Onyewe, and Williams both scored in double figures helping push the Panthers past the Chaps in their first outing. 


Pflugerville 65, Westlake 57

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Westlake	10	17	17	13	—	57
Pflugerville	9	19	16	21	—	65

WHS: DeBlasio 4, Morse 24, Rowan 8, Carlton 3, Upton 2, Pazeral 2, Severt 1, Wikelius 13
PHS: Brooks 9, Onyewe 13, Williams 10, Bostic 6, Bierbower 6, Moss 21
Records: P: 1-0, W: 0-1.

Cedar Park vs Leander

This game looked to be a exciting game from the start.  With Cedar Park and Leander being next door neighbors this has become a local rivalry which separates neighbors and families.  While both schools have traditionally been football schools, in the past few years their basketball rivalry has become just as exciting.  The first quarter started like most area games it was slow offensively with Cedar Park scoring 14 to Leander's 7 points.  While both defenses worked hard to stop the other, it was the inconsistency of the offensive shooters that keep the scoring down.  At the end of the second quarter Cedar Park was leading 24 to 18 and Leander was left looking for a way to get points on the board.

At the start of the third Leander was still struggling offensively.  Coach Bradley managed to find opportunities for his team to get open looks but the shot just were not dropping for them, at the end of three Cedar Park extended their lead to 11 points.  In the fourth Leander's offense found its grove and were able to put up 16 points, unfortunately Cedar Park was able to match them point for point scoring 15 of their own.  In the end Cedar Park held off Leander and pulled off a 10 point victory.

Both teams have a lot to work on on both sides of the court.  Consistency seems to be the biggest problem on the offensive side of the court.  This is something that both teams will have taken care of once conference play starts up so I expect some really good games throughout the season. 

Cedar Park 53, Leander 43

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Cedar Park	14	10	14	15	—	53
Leander	7	11	9	16	—	43

CPHS: Lachowsky 8, Terrell 6, Xia 9, Guebert 12, Price 14, Spyker 4
LHS: Mahoney 2, McClatcher 14, Harper 10, Dodd 2, Obe 2, Berry 8, Wilson 5
Records: L: 0-1, CP: 1-0.

St. Michael's Academy vs Stony Point

Stony Point was a tough draw for St. Michael's Academy's second game of the season.  With some players still playing football  holding off Stony Point was going to be a tough task.  The first quarter was pretty even both teams finished the quarter with 15 points.  The second quarter is where Stony Point made their run scoring 20 points and holding St. Michael's to 13, at the end of the first half Stony Point lead 35 to 28. 

The action slowed down in the third quarter with Stony Point putting up 17 points to St Michael's 10 and extending their lead to 14 points.  But St. Michael's was not rolling over, at the start of the fourth quarter St. Michael's defense began doing a great job against Stony Point's offense holding them to only 13 points.  With such a huge defense effort St Michael's offense suffered.  It looked like the defensive effort just took to much out of the Crusader's who were only able to put up 15 points of their own and not enough to over come the Stony Point lead.

St. Michael's defense did a great job holding 6'9" Sr. John Cornett to only 11 points and 6'10" Sr. Nate Anderson to only 2. The Crusader's Garza lead the scoring with 15 points, not far behind Sr. Seth Blanke had 13 and Sr. Jack Kiser 11. Its good to see St. Michael's team scoring so evenly divided this year. If the Crusader's can work on keeping their scoring to 12 to 15 points per quarter. I can see them defeating a lot of their opponents especially in their TAPPS Conference. 

Stony Point's defense needs to go back to the drawing board and find out what they need to correct prior to conference play.  With two seven footers on the court there's no reason why a team like St. Michael's Academy should put up 53 points.  With eight Seniors and two Juniors this Stony Point team should be clicking on all cylinders right now.  A two point outing for 6'10" Nate Anderson should be unacceptable for coach Route. Anderson should be looking at a 12 to 15 point average this season, and I think before the season is over he will be in that area.

Stony Point 65, St. Michael's 53

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Stony Point	15	20	17	13	—	65
St. Michael's	15	13	10	15	—	53

SPHS: Arnold 6, Moore 3, White 15, Kampe 9, Allen 8, Cornett 11, Russell 11, Anderson 2
SM: Garza 15, Allen 6, Kiser 11, Blanke 13, Sexton 8
Records: SM: 0-2, SP: 1-0.