Texas Invitational
I’m a basketball junkie in the worst way, wait scratch that. I’m a junkie for watching good basketball and Friday’s action at the Texas McDonalds Invitational was second to none. After Day 1, I said the best teams in the tournament were Irving Macarthur, Duncanville and North Crowley and to be perfectly honest with you, I still feel they are. Since I’ve been doing this for many years, I have come to figure out that in basketball or any other sport, the best teams don’t always win, you just have to be the best that day. This statement can be applied to all levels, but the kids from the Houston area put together a show on Day 2. After seeing North Crowley Friday, I figured the best game to watch was Cy Falls vs Woodlands as opposed to Klein Collins against North Crowley, but after the way everything played out, I couldn’t go wrong with either game. Cy Falls defeated the Woodlands, 40-33, on the backs of Larissa Scott and three members of “Da Bomb Squad”, Sedalia Ellis, Kit Metoyer and Macy Moore.
Scott is another one of the top posts in the area Class of 2011, and to my surprise, she hasn’t signed yet. Let me say this, after beating Duncanville, a team that features seven kids 5’10 or better, by the score of 71-69, that should give recruiters an idea on how much of a workhorse player she is for Cy Falls and yes, that was a plug, the kid can play at the next level.
The other option I had was watching North Crowley beat Klein Collins. After all, Crowley has TCU bound Natalie Ventress and highly touted 2012 guard Chelsea Jennings, not to mention the fact that they just whipped up on two of our top area teams with ease on Friday. Klein Collins on the other hand had already lost to Cy Falls in the season opener and Cy Fair in pool play, not to mention they were missing a couple of starters from the time I saw them in the Spring Fall League, so in my mind, I’m thinking possible blowout. Well, at home I have U-verse and sometimes there are problems with my HD, ironically before I left home for the games, the HD was working just fine. It was working even better for Klein Collins as Veja Hamilton and Dominique Dillingham were nothing short of spectacular. Hamilton, Dillingham, HD, get it?
Anyway knocking off North Crowley 53-49, in a game in which many, well me, considered a fluke, I didn’t know what to expect. As I waited for the showdown between Klein Collins against my choice as the top team in the state, Irving Macarthur, I figured KC had to be out of gas. I-Mac also features the young lady I consider the top player in the country from the Class of 2012 , Alexis Jones and I figured Collins has little or no chance to even hang in there for more that a half.
Well evidently those kids aren’t mind readers, and you can chalk that up to being young and not knowing you’re supposed to lose, you can chalk it up to running off adrenaline from knocking off Crowley, but you really chalk it up to seperating yourself from those who PLAY basketball and those who are basketball PLAYERS. Watching Hamilton and Dillingham do what they did on center stage, shows me they have arrived as and should be mentioned with the top kids in the area. Jones scored 17 points in a little over 17 minutes for Macarthur, however she was plagued by foul trouble and actually fouled out with a little over four minutes left in the game. I won’t share my thoughts on that but I will say this. The fans and college coaches come to see the “players” play. Even though I-Mac stayed in it, KC had not only was live and in HD but they also had the “Sunshine Band” as well to hang on and win 66-61. Dillingham led the way with 24 points while Hamilton added 21. Texas Invitational Gold Final should be a dandy as KC hopes to avenge a double digit loss at home in the season opener against Cy Falls. This was a very well organized tournament, I put it up there with the best of them and I look forward to coming back next year.
UPDATE!!!!
Cy Falls defeats Klein Collins in Texas Invitational Championship
Katy Taylor defeats Elsik in FBISD Championship