“I have been looking forward to this game for three years,” Deloach said. “This was actually one of my goals I set early in my high school career. It was good to come out here and play with some of the guys that I have always competed against.”

The South, led by the play of Paul Baxter (Bowie) got out to an early 8-5 lead following a Baxter layup. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Colin Hart (San Marcos) helped increase the South lead to 22-14. Later in the half, led by the play of Waters, the North tied the game at 33-33 following a Waters’ basket. A basket by Deloach gave the North their first lead of the game at 43-42. However, the South scored the final basket of the half to take 44-43 lead.

A basket by Tevin Bellinger (Hutto) at the start of the second half gave the North a 45-44 advantage. They increased their lead to 52-48 after Andrew Berry (Leander) scored off an offensive rebound. Led by the play of Baxter, Hart, Ken Delley Jr. (Lanier), and Hayden Graham (Anderson), the South went on a 16-0 run to take control of the game giving the South a 64-52 lead following a Delley basket. Consecutive baskets by Deloach cut the South’s lead to 67-56.

During the final 10 minutes of the game, the South asserted its dominance. Baxter, a Sam Houston State signee, dazzled the crowd with his ball handling and ability to get to the basket. A dunk and a driving layup by Baxter gave the South a commanding 90-71 lead.

“This was a valuable experience to play alongside the best players in central Texas,” Pimpton said. “We just played and had a good time.”

Baxter, the MVP of the game, finished with 20 points to lead all scorers. The North was led by Bellinger, who finished with 17 points.

Waters led all local players with 12 points, while Deloach and Worrell contributed 10 points each.

The inaugural event takes place today (Saturday) at John B. Connally High School in Austin at 7 p.m., with proceeds generated by the game benefitting The Settlement Home – a local organization that cares for kids.

In addition to Deloach (Mary Hardin-Baylor) eight other players on this this year’s roster have signed to play college basketball next year. Michael Hardge (Tarleton State), Hayden Graham (Air Force Academy), RJ Rowan (Wayland Baptist), Paul Baxter (Sam Houston State), Mareik Issom (Arkansas Little Rock), Drew Nikolovski (Hendrix College) and Colin Hart (John Brown University). Jacorey McQueen, a starting guard on the Manor team that advanced to this year’s regional tournament, signed at Midwestern State to play football.

“Judging by all of the kids who have already signed to play basketball at the next level, we are confident that we have the best players in the area in our game,” Marshall Sanders, head coach at Connally and a member of the Central Texas coach’s board that put the game together said. “Quite a few more of the kids that are playing in the game are being recruited and will sign in the next few weeks. There will also be college coaches from schools all over Texas at the game to take a look at them.”

For more information on the event go to chshoops.com.

Harvey comes to Connally after the Cougars current coach, Laura Zouzalik recently announced her retirement. She brings with her an impressive pedigree. She led Timberview to the 4A state title in 2010 after taking the team to the state championship game in 2009. Prior to serving as Timberview’s coach, Harvey was the head coach of the WNBA’s San Antonio team in 2003 and the coach of the Utah franchise in 2001-2002. She served as the head coach at Texas A&M University from 1994-98. Prior to that she was the head coach at Tulane University in New Orleans from 1990-1994.

Taylor, who will play her college ball at North Texas, led the Panthers to a 39-0 mark before they were defeated in the region quarterfinal rounds of the playoffs.

The Cougars were the lone local players on the first team. However, Hendrickson’s Isaak Gonzales and Datrick Edwards and Cougar Adrian Williams were second-team picks. The Hawks Chance Waz, Gonzales and Josh King were academic all-district selections.

Manor’s Tyler Johnson was named the district MVP. Hutto’s Tevin Bellinger was the offensive player of the year while Bastrop’s John Thorne was the defensive player of the year. Cedar Ridge’s DeAndre Davis was the newcomer of the year and Manor’s Robert Andrews was named coach of the year.

Pflugerville’s Taylor Ross, Ari Booth, Diana Omozee and Jasmyn Booker were all first-team selections. Second-team honors went to Brenisha Payne.

The Panthers finished the year as the district champions and did not lose a game until falling in the regional quarterfinal round of the state playoffs. They were 39-1 on the season and were ranked 10th in the final TGCA poll.

Rolling into the game on a 39-game winning streak, Pflugerville knew it would have its hands full with the much taller team from The Woodlands. While the Panthers have no players over 6-feet tall, the Highlanders feature five players over that mark including the imposing 6-foot-4-inch Kelsey Lang. Despite the height disadvantage, Pflugerville actually led for most of the game before finally succumbing in the fourth quarter and falling 51-43.

The two teams played to a virtual standstill for most of the contest and that was the case as they entered the final quarter of play as the game was tied 41-41. The Panthers quickly grabbed a 43-41 lead thanks to a bucket from Taylor Ross (eight points) just 11 seconds into the frame, but, unfortunately for Pflugerville, it would be the final basket the team would score this season. Anna Strickland dropped in two baskets for the Highlanders, sandwiched around a bucket from Lang and The Woodlands led 47-43 with just over three minutes left in the game. The Panthers subsequently turned the ball over twice, not getting a shot on either possession and were forced to turn to the foul to stop the Highlanders from running out the clock. The Woodlands actually missed more free throws than they made down the stretch, but Pflugerville could not capitalize. The Panthers missed five 3-pointers in the final minute of the game as they watched their perfect season slip away.

The fourth quarter was not really indicative of the way Pflugerville played in the first three. Diana Omozee and Ari Booth scored back-to-back buckets to open the game and the Panthers were off and running with a 4-0 lead. The Woodlands battled back, tying the contest at 4-4 and 6-6, but Pflugerville seemed to always have another run. Omozee converted a couple free throws and Jasmyn Booker buried a 3-pointer to put the Panthers up 11-9 and a Brenisha Payne (who led Pflugerville with 11 points) trey put them up 18-16 at the end of the first.

The Panthers biggest lead of the game came in the middle of the second when Ross and Booth scored back-to-back baskets to put them up 28-22 with two minutes to play in the half. However, the Highlanders fought back, closing the second with an 8-3 charge that tied cut Pflugerville’s halftime lead to 31-30.

The two teams continued to trade baskets through the third quarter. Booth got the Panthers on the board first but Strickland answered for the Highlanders. The biggest margin either team could get in the frame was when an Omozee bucket put Pflugerville up 35-32 at the 5:58 mark. The Woodlands held a 39-37 lead following a 3-pointer from Paige Bradley, but Payne knocked down a couple of free throws to tie the game at 39-39. Strickland scored a layup late in the quarter for the Highlanders but again the Panthers answered as Ross made a steal and drove the length of the court for a layup of her own, sending the game into the final quarter tied 41-41.

Pflugerville finishes the year 39-1 with district, bi-district and area round championships to their credit. The Woodlands advances to the Region semi-finals in Waco on Friday.

While Pflugerville was first to score on the night, Anderson quickly grabbed the lead playing a very strong defense.

Staying in the game athletically, Pflugerville kept the pressure on offensively, however by the end of the first quarter Anderson was ahead 19-14.

Pflugerville’s Darian Bostic was able to score a 3-pointer in the first few seconds of the second quarter, as Anderson continued to crowd the basket forcing Pflugerville to shoot from the outside.

Not willing to give in just yet, Pflugerville added more defensive pressure to Anderson, with both teams turning over the ball.

Pflugerville was able to start gaining some momentum towards the end of the first half by playing more aggressively but it was not enough to overcome the Trojans as they ended the second quarter 41-34.

“It was all about our defense tonight,” Anderson head coach Leal Anderson said. “We knew that all year long we had to rebound and get the stops that we needed. We did just that.”

As Anderson came back from the half more determined to play more aggressive defense, Pflugerville struggled to maintain control of the ball. Towards the end of the third quarter, however, Anderson started to pull away from Pflugerville, gaining an eight point lead 55-47.

Anderson kept the pressure during the fourth quarter as they continued the domination, even hitting a 12-point lead over Pflugerville with just under six minutes left on the clock.

“To their credit, they came in and attacked us. They were the aggressor tonight,” Pflugerville head coach David Raigosa said. “They are long and coming into the game we knew it was going to cause us some problems.”

Unwilling to go quietly, Pflugerville finally hit their stride in the last few minutes of the game, closing the gap with a few scores. With 29 seconds left, Panther Napoleon Onyeje was able to get a final 3-pointer in. However it just wasn’t enough to rally the team to a win.

“They were the better team tonight,” Raigosa said. “We just have to focus on being better next season. When the lights come on in the playoffs, we only have 32 minutes to settle the game.”

Leading the Panthers in scoring was TJ Williams with 20 points while Onyeje scored 19 and Bostic scored nine. Justin Moss gained seven points while Darren Henderson nabbed two.

Hayden Graham scored 21 points for the Trojans while Rasmus Bach scored 20. John Gramlich and Alex Frame each scored 10 points while Chad Crawford scored four. Bakari Henderson grabbed three points and Chris Vineyard scored two.

Anderson will now go on to play Spring Westfield in the next round of playoffs.

The Panthers fell behind 19-9 in the first quarter of the game but slowly chipped away at Collins’ lead, eventually tying the game at 57-57 at the end of regulation. Itiana Taylor led the way for Pflugerville with 20 points. Jasmyn Booker added 15. The Panthers are a perfect 39-0 on the season. They will face The Woodlands in the regional quarterfinal Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Consolidated.

Sherman 52, Connally 49

The Cougars season came to an end with a loss to Sherman in Glen Rose. Jamie Lamb led Connally with 10 points. Kara Babola had nine and six rebounds as did Xaviera Tucker. The Cougars finish the year 23-14.

The local boys entrants in to the playoffs will begin play on Tuesday. Pflugerville High hosts Anderson at 7 p.m. Connally travels to face Ennis at Waco Midway High with tip off at 7:30 p.m.

The Panthers certainly did not disappoint as they proceeded to connect on seven 3-point shots in the first quarter propelling them to a 73-59 victory over the host Dragons.

For the first eight minutes of play the Panthers seemed unstoppable as they fired away from beyond the arc. Darius Brooks started the onslaught giving the Panthers an early 3-0 lead. Round Rock battled back however and held a 4-3 lead with six minutes left in the quarter. Then it happened. The Panthers put on a shooting clinic and proceeded to outscore the Dragons 18-7 during the final six minutes. All of the Panthers scoring came from beyond the arc as Brooks, Napoleon Oneyeje, Spencer Jordan and Daniel Oschner drained three’s giving the Panthers a 21-11 lead after one quarter of play.

To Round Rock’s credit they did not let Pflugerville’s hot shooting get them down. The Dragons continued to plug away and play their game which began to pay off in the second quarter. Back-to-back fast break dunks by Sidney DeLoach and Cole Thoms slowed Pflugerville down and allowed the Dragons to close the gap to 26-20 with four minutes left until the half. Pflugerville withstood that run and responded by going on a 14-9 run to close out the quarter and push their lead back to double digits. Oneyeje, who was named the player of the game, led the charge as he added two more 3-point shots to finish the quarter with eight points in guiding the Panthers to a 40-29 halftime lead.

To counter Pflugerville’s hot shooting the Dragons looked to slow the pace and work the ball inside to their big man Leonard Allen. This was proving to be a productive strategy until early in the third quarter when Allen got tangled up under the basket playing defense and sustained what looked to be an ankle injury. Allen was assisted to the locker at the 5:15 mark of the third quarter and was out until he checked back into the game with two minutes remaining in the quarter. In his absence the Dragons turned to Colton Turner. Turner ended the quarter with 11 points, nine of which were the results of his three 3-point shots. With two minutes left in the third quarter the Dragons had cut Pflugerville’s lead to 49-42. The Dragons then proceeded to drain back-to-back three’s courtesy of Turner and Allen bringing the score to 51-48 in favor of Pflugerville.

Heading into the final quarter the Panthers maintained a 53-48 lead. During the final quarter Pflugerville’s Justin Moss became a key figure. On two separate trips down the floor Moss got the shot and a foul resulting in a six-point swing for the Panthers. With two minutes remaining in the game Pflugerville was up 67-54 and was able to finish off the Dragons at the line.