The Best Region In The State
ARIEL ATKINS
Over the past two seasons, the state champion in Girl’s 5A Basketball has come from Region 1 in fact last year there possibly could have been two or maybe even three teams that would have won state had they represented the region. This season might not be any different as the best two teams may not only be in that same region but in the same district. Duncanville put on one of the best exhibitions in Austin last season that I have seen since I started paying attention to GBB shortly after the turn of the century.
After coming to Houston earlier in the season and beating two of the area’s top three teams, they handle R3 representative Cy Falls with ease in the semifinal game and after that game, I knew they were going to win state, it was only the matter of by how much as they sent a message winning 64-40. Less than 24 hours later, that message was received loud and clear as they were up on the top team from the area, Dekaney, 42-9 at the half and won going away 69-31.
Do I honestly think Duncanville was 20 points better than both teams? Absolutely not however when you get into the final two parts of the season, district and playoffs, it’s a totally different ball game and the only two teams that were even close to the Pantherettes during those final two parts were Irving MacArthur, who were the defending state champions and the team that might have the edge on winning it all this season, Cedar Hill.
First let me tell you why I think Duncanville, even with the loss of Empress Davenport and Morgan Bolton has a legitimate shot at repeating. Duncanville’s “Big Three” of Tasia Foman, Kiara Perry and Ariel Atkins are going to create some problems for a lot of people. Foman was the leading scorer in the state championship game, Perry has expanded her game so well that she at times played all five positions for her club team while Atkins, well I recognized her on my tip sheet for Fullcourt.com, but all three were simply amazing. These three are not the only reasons I feel they can have the same results so many sequels fail to produce but they are the main reasons. By the way, the whole Duncanville pulled an I-Mac and played together in club ball and did very well.
CANDACE ADAMS
Cedar Hill on the other hand has the luxury of having three players listed on many Top 100 lists and I’m talking national and although these lists mean absolutely nothing when you step on the floor, it sends a message on what type of talent this high school team has. I mentioned that Jada Terry was the top post in the state from the 2013 class after her performance in the Big State Flava Jam for her DFW T-Jack team and she too made one of my tip sheets for Fullcourt.com however the performances by her Cedar Hill teammates who played for United Basketball in the same tournament skyrocketed them toward the top in my GPR Texas Top 100, okay they do matter, this one for sure.
ANTONIA ROBINSON
Candace Adams was the top guard in the state when she was a freshman however two ACL’s surgeries later, she’s had to bounce back and she has with flying colors and believe me, before it’s all said and done, it’s going to be interesting, especially at North Texas where she, Duncanville’s Perry and another Duncanville player, underrated Antonia Robinson will suit up together.Labrittney Jones is their third Top 100 player and also their third D1 commit and with her athleticism and skill set, she Adams and Terry would have been enough however thanks to heads up from my man, DFW’s Corey Hegwood, on can’t misses entering high school. He hit it on the head with 2016, let me label her Top 100 now, Joyner Holmes, who I featured on yet another Fullcourt.com tip sheet this one from Basketball on the Bayou. I called her a Top 100 so I’m sure many might be wondering how high she can go, so let me close this what I said in the tip sheet. “There were times in which she appeared as if she was going to take off from the line and dunk it”