Games of the night
South Grand Prairie rides blowout to district championship
GRAND PRAIRIE — After being a state-title favorite before the year began, the South Grand Prairie girls basketball team has played most of the season without its two star players.
Five-star junior center Adhel Tac, the Dallas area’s top recruit in the Class of 2024, is expected to miss the rest of the season with an undisclosed injury that was suffered Dec. 8. Four-star guard Taliyah Parker, rated the 22nd-best junior in the country, missed nearly two months with an injury and was playing just her third game since returning Tuesday night.
But South Grand Prairie is the District 8-6A champion after routing Arlington Bowie 70-33 behind eight made 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Taylor Barnes scored a game-high 19 points, including 17 in the first half as SGP built a 36-16 lead.
Joy Madison-Key with another assist, this one to Taylor Barnes, who has 21 points. South Grand Prairie leads Arlington Bowie 57-27 in fourth quarter.@SportsDayHS @grandprairieisd @Tabchoops pic.twitter.com/SeAibVwpPw
— Greg Riddle (@DMNGregRiddle) February 8, 2023
Tulane signee Joy Madison-Key added 11 points and a couple of impressive no-look assists for South Grand Prairie (25-6, 12-0), and Parker and Laila Jackson scored eight points apiece. Bowie (22-9, 10-2) could have earned a share of the district title with a win.
“It feels pretty good. Not the year we wanted health-wise, but we had good results, and the kids are getting better. I’m excited that hopefully the district title leads to good things in the playoffs,” SGP coach Brion Raven said. “Even before Taliyah came back, I thought we could have a long playoff run. Now that she is back I obviously feel the same way. We’ve dealt with adversity, we’ve dealt with injuries, and now we’re starting to get healthy.”
SGP, the Class 6A state runner-up last season, is ranked No. 3 in the state despite its injury woes. It has won 10 in a row and has outscored the opposition by an average of 42.6 points per game during its winning streak.
— Greg Riddle
Lancaster boys win key District 14-5A game
LANCASTER — It took Lancaster’s boys basketball team four quarters and then some to beat Forney the last time the two played. Forney, the state’s sixth-ranked 5A team, beat seventh-ranked Forney 70-66 in overtime on Jan. 13.
This time around? A little more breathing room.
Lancaster (19-7, 9-1 District 14-5A) beat Forney 74-59 on Tuesday night to take a one-game lead in the district standings. Senior Joseph Mayberry scored a team-high 18 points while Jordan Williams (15 points), Dillon Battie (14 points) and Kade Douglas (13 points) each scored in double figures.
.@TigersLhs with an all-time postgame win celebration. pic.twitter.com/cXlG5QFGjE
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) February 8, 2023
“I know [Forney] had marked this game on their calendar,” Lancaster coach Ferrin Douglas said. “For our guys to come in and fight against that, hats off to us.”
Forney (26-4, 8-2) led 15-14 after the first quarter, but Lancaster used a 16-0 run which spanned the first and second periods to take a 38-27 halftime lead.
Jaden Jefferson scored a game-high 19 points for Forney.
Spotlight
Hillcrest honors 18-year NBA vet
Kurt Thomas, a former star at TCU, a veteran of 18 NBA seasons and a graduate of Hillcrest (Class of 1990), was honored by his high school in a ceremony that included the retirement of his jersey No. 33 prior to the start of a game against Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday night at Hillcrest Competition Gym.
A banner of the jersey with “Thomas’' above the No. 33 now hangs on the east wall of the gym.
“The two years I played here, so many great memories,’’ Thomas told the crowd after becoming the school’s first to have his jersey retired. “It’s an honor to be recognized. I am so happy.’’
Thomas’ son, Kurt, is a junior on Hillcrest’s basketball team.
— Randy Jennings
Longtime Irving MacArthur coach has gym renamed in her honor
Elsewhere across the metroplex, Irving MacArthur renamed its basketball gymnasium after Suzie Oelschlegel, who coached MacArthur for 41 years.
Oelschlegel, who played basketball and softball at Baylor, retired retired in 2022 with 885 career victories. She led MacArthur to a 5A state championship in 2011 and was selected as the national coach of the year by the National Federation of High School Sports that year.
Tuesday’s top performers
Boys
Aric Demings, Duncanville: The senior guard scored 25 points in Duncanville’s 110-57 rout over Skyline. Five-star Texas signee Ron Holland added 16 points for Duncanville, ranked No. 3 in ESPN’s national boys basketball rankings.
Phill Thomas Jr., Madison: Thomas was one five Madison players to score in double digits in its 90-49 win over Cedar Hill Trinity Leadership. Thomas scored a team-best 21 points for Madison, the state’s top-ranked 3A team and the reigning state champions.
Damondre McKnight, McKinney Boyd: McKnight scored 24 points in Boyd’s 64-59 win over Denton Guyer. He kept it balanced, with 12 points in the first half and another 12 in the second.
King Grace, Waxahachie: Grace scored a team-high 27 points in Waxahachie’s 67-50 win over Mansfield. Grace, a four-star recruit in the class of 2025, holds scholarship offers from TCU, Texas Tech, LSU and others.
M.J. Thomas, Denton: Thomas posted a double-double in Denton’s 37-36 win over Argyle. The 6-7 forward had 11 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.
Girls
Amarachi Kimpson and Shiloh Kimpson, Little Elm: The two combined for 46 points in Little Elm’s 69-53 win over Allen. Amarachi Kimpson scored 24 points while Shiloh Kimpson scored 22 points for Little Elm, the state’s 20th-ranked 6A team.
Kaelyn Hamilton, McKinney North: The junior guard scored 30 points in McKinney North’s 63-28 win over Melissa. Hamilton single handily outscored Melissa in the first half, 17-14, and scored 15 points in the first quarter alone thanks to three 3-pointers. McKinney North is ranked No. 14 in the state for 5A teams.
Milania Jordan, Southlake Carroll: Jordan scored 28 points in Southlake Carroll’s 66-48 win over Keller Fossil Ridge. She was one of three players to score in the double digits for Carroll (which is 14-0 in District 4-6A play), joining Army pledge Camryn Tade (18 points) and Natalia Jordan (12 points).
Madison Crawford and Savannah Catalon, Mansfield Legacy: The two combined for 48 points in Legacy’s 55-44 win over Mansfield Lake Ridge. Crawford scored a game-high 26 points while Catalon added 22. Texas A&M signee Kylie Marshall, the state’s top girls basketball recruit in the class of 2023, scored 11 points for Lake Ridge.
Julianna LaMendola, Coppell: The Indiana signee scored 21 points in Coppell’s 85-66 win over Plano. She was one of four Coppell players with double digit points, and helped withstand a 33-point outing from Plano’s Salese Blow.
Stat sheet
2,705
The number of career points that Trophy Club Byron Nelson senior Finley Bizjack has. The three-star Butler signee scored 21 points in a 59-46 win over Northwest Eaton on Tuesday night, and has scored 30-plus points in 19 games this season.
3
The number of first-half points which Sachse held North Garland to in its 73-18 win on on Tuesday night. CC Thompson and Crislyn Rose each scored 14 points for Sachse.
1
The number of times that W.T. White girls basketball team has won its district championship as of Tuesday. W.T. White (18-6, 15-1 District 11-5A) beat Molina 42-33 on Monday night to clinch the program’s first-ever girls basketball district title.
On Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn
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