Cy Fair Ogwumike ahead of schedule at March Fest

DUNCANVILLE, Texas- What do you do for an encore after winning Nike Nationals? Well since that question has been posed for Houston based Cy Fair Ogwumike, after watching them perform in the DFW Elite March Fest, they’re probably ahead of schedule and their performance this past weekend cements what I just said. Losing a couple of McDonald’s All Americans in Ariel Atkins and Brooke McCarty, two of the top players in the country, certainly was going to be hurdle they would encounter however the emergence of youngsters Deauzya Richards and Chasity Patterson, a couple of 2017 performers that are going to make MDAA runs of their own, helped them make the jump successfully, especially with several new additions. Robin Beck is one of those new additions, she’s a gifted player that moved in to Manvel from Desoto and also happens to be one of the top sophomores in the country. Two other sophomores are in the running for MDAA, Natalie Chou and Nancy Mulkey, and although Mulkey wasn’t in attendance this weekend, which makes what this team did even more impressive, Chou looked splendid as she blended in nicely with her new club. The rest of the players are juniors, Erica Ogwumike and Kennedy Leonard were key elements in last season’s run and they know what it takes to get there. Mackenzie Ellis, an out of state player from Oklahoma adds yet another dimension to the team, along with Emily Townsend. A couple of other juniors Jordan Hosey and Lashaan Higgs are MDAA locks, well in my mind and it “ain’t playing tricks on me.” Hosey, coming fresh off a state title at Manvel, wants to go out with a bang and when you talk about bang, Higgs was bang, bang, bang as she put on one of the best offensive performances in a half that I’ve seen this century.