Duncanville returns to top of Class 6A, bests South Grand Prairie for 12th state title

SAN ANTONIO — With just over two minutes left in Saturday’s Class 6A state championship game, chants of “D-Ville” rang out from the Duncanville side of the arena. The chants got louder as Duncanville took out its starters a minute later to a standing ovation.

Those on hand at the Alamodome knew that the City of Champions had secured another state title. This one might be the sweetest yet.

In the final game of her high school career, senior forward Mariah Clayton overcame first-half foul trouble and scored 19 points — 15 in the second half — to lead Duncanville to a 59-41 win over South Grand Prairie. As the final buzzer sounded, Duncanville players rushed onto the court and did a dogpile near midcourt before heading to the stands to celebrate with their fans.

Duncanville won its 12th state title in girls basketball, third-most in UIL history behind Nazareth (25) and Canyon (20). In a school year that saw Duncanville also win its second straight football state championship, the school has now won 29 state titles in all sports since 1976.

“It means a lot,” said Neiman Ford, who took over as the girls head coach this season after serving as the interim head coach for the Duncanville boys last season. “When I first took the job, they were like why do you want to coach girls. I had offers from other 6A, 5A boys programs, but I said this is the best job in the country. When I walk into the gym, what I realize is that basketball doesn’t have a gender.”

For Duncanville, ranked No. 13 in the nation by ESPN’s HoopGurlz, this title required an arduous journey to ascend back to the top. The UIL banned Duncanville from the playoffs last year because of a rules violation, and coach LaJeanna Howard was suspended for the season.

All Ford did after replacing Howard was lead Duncanville to a 35-4 record and playoff wins over the No. 9, 1, 3 and 7 teams in the state in the last four games. It helped that he had Clayton, who hasn’t signed with a college but averaged 18.5 points at the state tournament in her second season at Duncanville after transferring from North Forney.

“She is the ultimate leader,” Ford said. “She is about 5-10, and she is not really muscular, but she is one of the most productive players in the state. Everybody is starting to see it. She has about 10 offers, and [college coaches] are calling me every day. They texted me this morning.”

It wasn’t the first state title for Ford. He joined the Duncanville boys program as the assistant head coach in 2018 and the team won championships in 2019 and 2021 before having its 2022 title stripped by the UIL for using an ineligible player.

Duncanville’s past six state championship girls teams featured a McDonald’s All-American — Deja Kelly in 2020, Zarielle Green in 2017, Green and Ciera Johnson in 2016, Ariel Atkins in 2013 and 2012 and Tiffany Jackson-Jones in 2003. There was no McDonald’s All-American girls game back in 1997, but that year’s Duncanville state championship team had the Naismith National Prep Player of the Year, Tamika Catchings, who is now in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This time it was a pair of McDonald’s All-American nominees — Clayton and Cincinnati signee Chloe Mann — who were the stars. Clayton was 6-for-13 from the field and had nine rebounds to earn the game’s MVP award, and Mann scored 13 points and was 8-for-12 from the free throw line.

“Being down one [at halftime], the calls weren’t going our way and we weren’t making shots,” Clayton said. “So we had to pick it up some way, and being the leader that I am, I had to help my team and let them know it was going to be OK.”

A foul-plagued first half ended with South Grand Prairie leading 18-17 despite scoring just two points in the second quarter on 0-for-3 shooting from the field with seven turnovers. Four-star Texas A&M signee Taliyah Parker scored six points during a game-opening 16-7 run by SGP, but she picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the half.

SGP was missing 6-3 San Diego signee Erica Carr, who was in a walking boot and didn’t play because of a foot injury suffered in Friday’s semifinal win. South Grand Prairie started 5-4 junior shooting guard Camille Mitchell in Carr’s place, and the team’s tallest player was the 6-1 Parker.

Despite not playing anyone taller than 5-10, Duncanville outrebounded SGP 38-21 and made a living at the free throw line, going 24-for-37 for the game and 15-for-22 in the second half. SGP shot just 15 free throws, making 11.

“The first half I thought we could have taken advantage of some things, but we were in foul trouble,” SGP coach Brion Raven said. “It’s tough to not go out with all of your big dogs. Erica Carr was missing. She was a starter all year.”

Four-star junior Taylor Barnes was spectacular for SGP (33-4) in Friday’s 53-42 win over San Antonio Brennan, scoring 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds. Duncanville held her to 14 points, and Parker scored 10 while being among six South Grand Prairie players to finish with at least four fouls.

Clayton picked up three fouls in the first half, but she hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third quarter to spark an 18-9 run that gave the Pantherettes a 35-27 lead going to the fourth quarter. Laila Coleman also hit a pair of critical 3-pointers in the quarter that saw Duncanville shoot 7-for-15 from the field after a 4-for-19 first half.

South Grand Prairie was playing in its second state championship game in three years and was denied its first state title. SGP lost 40-23 to DeSoto in the 2022 title game, shooting 24.3 % (9-for-37) from the field while scoring the fifth-fewest points in a state tournament game in UIL history in the state’s largest classification.

South Grand Prairie had five-star center Adhel Tac in that game. It was missing the 6-5 South Carolina signee on Saturday, as Tac suffered a season-ending knee injury in November.

SGP could have used her, as it shot just 37.5% from the field (15-for-40) while committing 18 turnovers against a relentless Duncanville full-court press. The fact that Barnes and Parker didn’t have big games — going a combined 12-for-27 from the field — continued a pattern of success for Duncanville’s defense against the state’s top recruits in the playoffs.

In the regional semifinal, Duncanville held four-star junior Ayla McDowell of Cypress Springs — the state’s No. 2-ranked player in the Class of 2025 — to 11 points on 3-for-14 shooting. In a 46-39 regional final win over state No. 1 DeSoto, Duncanville held a team that has four four-star recruits to its second-lowest point total of the season.

And in Friday’s state semifinal, Duncanville held 6-3 Rutgers signee Zachara Perkins of Humble Summer Creek to eight points on 3-for-10 shooting in a 39-31 overtime win.

More history: See photos from Duncanville's UIL 6A state championship celebration at San Antonio's Alamodome

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