Duncanville Sends Message

EMPRESS DAVENPORT

Before the season started I did a preseason ranking of the Top 20 teams in the Houston area and on Thursday, the teams I picked at #1 (Clear Springs) and #3 (Cy Falls) were simply the best teams in the area, the loss of Taylor Gilbert dropped #2 (Hightower) a few spots. By the time two of our largest area tournaments were over, the best team in Houston happened to be from out of town, Duncanville. On the opening day of the Texas Invitational, the Panthers played Corpus Christi Ray, who was outmanned to say the least and I truly didn’t see all that the Panthers brought to the table or what they were truly capable of doing on the court.  I knew who Empress Davenport was, the ultra-athletic Texas signee who played on the powerhouse DFW Elite squad that won Nike Nationals over the summer.

ARIEL ATKINS, ANTONIO ROBINSON & MORGAN BOLTON

I also had briefly saw Ariel Atkins and Tasia Forman, a couple of players who have moved up significantly on my scouting service for the 2014 Best of Texas but what I didn’t realize was how good Arkansas Little Rock signee Morgan Bolton was, not to mention Kiara Perry who was simply amazing over the weekend. I called Dekaney the most athletic team in the city, they are but their athleticism is nowhere near that of the Panthers who came, saw and conquered four of the best area teams in the city starting off with Klein Collins and Bellaire and ending with Cy Falls and Clear Springs in the most competitve tournament in the area. To Bellaire’s credit, they were without Bianca Winslow (cut knee) and Lulu McKinney was injured during their game however at this stage of the season it’s doubtful if it mattered because this Duncanville team was clicking on all cylinders. In the finals, Davenport proved to be everything I always heard she was by dropping 30 points and leading her team to a (78-71) victory of Clear Springs. In that game, four Panthers scored in double figures, Forman (14), Perry (13) and Atkins (12) but the thing that got them going early was all five starters scored in the opening period as they led (22-18) after one.

COURTNEY LATHAM, TASIA FORMAN & AALIYAH BROWN

The lone scorers for Springs in the first period were Aaliyah Brown and Brooke McCarty, each with 9 and that’s not your typical Springs basketball. What is your typical Springs’ basketball is to never give up and when the Panthers were on the verge of blowing them out, the fight in these young ladies came out and they were still in the game with under two minutes left. McCarty finished with 25 while Brown added 23 and though both of the areas top two teams lost today, it will make them dig deep within themselves and show them what they have to do in order to get to state. Ironically Irving MacArthur placed third in the Gold last season in this very tournament and we all know how that turned out. Nevertheless, Duncanville made a lasting impression on me and I can’t wait to see them in the Sandra Meadows Classic.