Katy Tournament
WHAT A WEEKEND IN KATY
Out of all the basketball that I’ve watched over the years, this has got to be the strangest one and actually strange isn’t a bad thing. Hightower looked impressive coming back from a State Runner-Up finish last season and started out ranked #1. Flying by everyone, they were upended in the Fort Bend Tourney by then unknown Katy Taylor and later that same day by even more unknown Seven Lakes. Hightower got their revenge on Taylor first and cranked it up a notch on Friday by blowing out Seven Lakes and then Elsik who had just beaten new #1 Cy Falls who beat Elsik at home on Tuesday, going up by over 30 at one point. North Shore was down by 6 to Cy Creek with 30 seconds left and won that game in overtime. Atascocita squeezed by Mansfield Timberview and were taken to overtime by Cinco Ranch. Did I mention “The Taz” was ranked #2 in the state and lost to Katy Taylor on Tuesday? Katy Taylor has knocked off the #1 and #2 teams this season; however they lost to Cy Fair and all of this set the stage for an even crazier Saturday in Katy.
Courtney Williams and Cassie Peoples are the two best players in the city, both will go down as two of the best players to come out of here and it was only fitting they were dueling once again. If you look at numbers, People won the battle because she was simply unstoppable, scoring 35 points on an assortment of shots, including 5 three pointers as Cy Fair led for most of the game and Peoples offense kept them in it. Williams won the war, but to be fair, she has more help on the offensive side which saw 4 North Shore players score in double figures, led by Williams with 18, Monique Bedford 12, TJ Jefferson 11 and Karina Williams added 10.
Hightower looked unstoppable on Friday, just simply amazing, while Atascocita could have easily been playing a guaranteed game. Let me say this, as far as individual performances go, Rachel Mitchell impressed me so much in the first quarter that I was tempted to call A&M Coach Gary Blair, however they were taking care of Cal and he probably didn’t have time to take the call on National TV. Mitchell scored 11 that opening period on a variety of pull-ups and mid-range jumpers, plus her rebounding and shot blocking had Hightower somewhat bewildered as she completely dominated the first quarter. She finished the day with 15, while Curtyce Knox, who had been carrying the team offensively, added 14 as they won going away against the Hurricanes.
The good news was Crishauna Parker’s sore shoulder seemed just fine as this beast of a player had her way, doing whatever she wanted,whether it was throwing 30 foot bounce passes on the money, igniting the break going to coast to coast Drexler style or pounding folks on the inside Barkley style, she had a tremendous day scoring 17. Even more good news was Lauren Price and let me tell you something, the Price was definitely right, that will never get old folks. Lauren was hitting jumpers from behind the three point line, short jumpers, mid-range jumpers, under the basket put-backs, rebounding, you name, she did it as she led all scorers with 20.
The Taz looked like the best team in the state, just like Hightower did the previous night and so the championship between North Shore and Atascocita was going to be just like the season has gone as the Shore won in double overtime. Williams led the way with 24, Jefferson 12 and Bedford 11. For the Taz, Parker scored 26 while Knox added 21.This has been an exciting season so far and you better be prepared both on and off the court because on any given day……