Neches/Moulton state semifinal chat

What a day

Days like tomorrow (Friday) are why I love so deeply what I get paid to do on a daily basis. If you're a basketball fan, you'll like it just as much.

With so many local teams having successful playoff runs in this year's basketball playoffs, I've got a full slate scheduled for tomorrow.

At 10 a.m., I'll be at Tyler Junior College's Wagstaff Gym to watch two-time state champion Neches take on Savoy in an 1A, D-II girls regional semifinal.

After a little break, I'll be back at Wagstaff at 3 p.m. for the 1A, D-I semifinal between Slocum and Martin's Mill, after which I'll hop into my car.

I'll head up Hwy. 64 to Wills Point to watch the Cayuga boys take on Bland in the area round of the playoffs, after which I'll write about them all and then call it a day.

Don't want to make the drive to Bland? Lovelady and Sam Rayburn play at 5 p.m. at Wagstaff in the second 1A, D-I semifinal, and Grapeland takes on Gary at 7 p.m. at Whitehouse High School as well.

So, that's five relatively local games all within about an hour of each other.

Saturday has the possibility of two regional finals and baseball tournament final as well.

If you don't like live sports, then this certainly isn't for you. But if you're like me, get ready for a great weekend.

East Texas owns 1A boys basketball, says TABC

As the playoffs for boys basketball get set to begin (or, already began I guess), the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches released its final polls Monday.

The prevailing result: East Texas dominates 1A, D-I basketball.

Three of the state's top-four teams hail from Region III, the UIL region that is predominantly East Texas. Clarksville is No. 1, Cayuga No. 3 and Tenaha No. 4.

Expanding further, Grapeland is No. 8, LaPoynor No. 12 and Lovelady is No. 15.

So, of the top 15 teams is Class 1A, D-I according to the coaches who obviously know the game, six are from East Texas. Not bad I'd say.

We can also expand even further with Broaddus (24). That's even leaving out Kerens (16), Big Sandy (19) and Evadale (20), three schools that could easily be considered part of East Texas but aren't in Region III.

So, it's not inconceivable that when four teams gather at Tyler Junior College's Wagstaff Gym next weekend for the regional tournament, all four could be in the top-10 and it's even more likely they'll all be in the top 15.

Not bad at all.

It's been a week, huh?

I just realized that it's been a week since I've posted a blog, which is a failure on my part.

Normally in this spot, I'd post the weekly Inside the Polls blog post, but for the life of me can't get the TABC Web site to load so I can get the actual rankings.

It's about to get crazy in the sports world, with softball ball beginning this week and baseball next, not to mention the little thing called the basketball playoffs gearing up as we speak.

In talking with the Grapeland Messenger's Chris Boothe the other day, we decided it's probably the busiest time of the year to be a small-town sports editor. But man if it also isn't the funnest.

With multiple teams capable of making runs to at least the regional if not state basketball tournaments, it'll probably be a little while before I'm able to dive deep into baseball. Plus, soccer's district schedule is in full swing.

If you're a sports fan, now is your time. Hang on for a great ride.

A whole new meaning

At this time last week, tonight's Palestine/Westwood basketball games were nothing more than season finales for the girls and late-season games for the boys.

Sure, I thought, there might be some playoff implications (there's one, the Westwood boys can't lose this one, and they shouldn't) but nothing more than that.

Boy was I wrong.

Inside the Polls (2/7/12)

The latest edition of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) polls have hit the Internet, and they look pretty much the same as last weeks.

On the girls' side, Slocum remains No. 18 in Class 1A, Division I, while Neches remained at No. 2 in 1A, Division II.

On the boys side, the only movement locally was backwards, as Slocum fell from No. 22 to out of the top-25 after beating Latexo on Tuesday but falling to No. 8 Grapeland on Saturday.

Above the eighth-ranked Sandies sits No. 3 Cayuga, with Class 1A, Division I's other top teams from Region III, Clarksville and Tenaha, remaining at No. 1 and No. 4, respectively.

For the full girls' poll, click here. For the boys', here.

2012-2014 UIL Realignment cutoff numbers

Here are the cutoff numbers the UIL used to determine the classifications for this latest realignment

5A: 2090+ (245 schools)
4A: 2089-1005 (250)
3A: 1004-450 (190)
2A: 449-200 (235)
1A/6M: >199.

And here are the division breaks for 2A and 1A. Anything above the number is Division I, below is D-II
2A 297.5
1A 11-Man 150.5
1A 6-Man 53.5

Finally, here are what our area schools turned in on snap-shot day:
Palestine: 802
Westwood: 448.5
Elkhart: 339
Frankston: 206
Cayuga: 199
Grapeland: 154
Oakwood: 59
Neches/Slocum: N/A

UIL Realignment

The numbers are in and district's are out. There will be plenty of time to figure out what it means later today, but for now here are the area's new districts:

Class 3A (all sports)
District 19 (Region III)
FAIRFIELD HS
GROESBECK HS
MEXIA HS
PALESTINE HS
RUSK HS

Class 2A, Division I (football)
District 11
CROCKETT HS
ELKHART HS
FRANKLIN HS
PALESTINE WESTWOOD HS
TEAGUE HS
TRINITY HS

Class 2A, Division I (all other sports)
District 19
CROCKETT HS
ELKHART HS
GARRISON HS
GROVETON HS
NACOGDOCHES CENTRAL HEIGHTS HS
PALESTINE WESTWOOD HS
WODEN HS

Inside the Polls (1/31/12)

It's Tuesday, which means a new batch of state polls have been released into the Internet.

In the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) latest girls poll, not much change locally. Slocum remains at No. 18 in Class 1A, Division I after a 1-1 week, while Neches remains at No. 2 in 1A, D-II.

As far as district rivals go, 20-3A members Madisonville (18) and Fairfield (25) are ranked, but no Class 2A teams are.

In 1A, Lovelady stayed at No. 7.

On the boys side, all three ranked teams from last week stayed at their respective rankings: Cayuga at No. 3, Grapeland at No. 8 and Slocum at No. 22.

In 20-3A, Mexia is the lone representative at No. 15, while LaPoynor comes in at No. 12 and Lovelady No. 14 in 1A, D-I.

The full polls can be found here (Boys) and here (Girls).

This weeks 'View From the Cheap Seats'

This week on the 'View From the Cheap Seats' podcast, I talked with Westwood junior forward Dra Ross, who has had a huge impact on Westwood's success in 2011-2012.

The Panthers don't have anyone on their roster over 5'11", and that's Ross. But, he plays way bigger than his listed height.

Because of his ability to both rebound and defend the paint, despite his short stature, Westwood's guards have had a presence inside with which to feed the basketball. As he grew into his game last year, he didn't always provide that type of inside threat.

Anyway, here's the link to the podcast. Also, to check out all the past podcasts, go here.

Final thoughts from Austin and moving forward

Well, the whirlwind past few weeks that have been the boys' and girls' state basketball playoffs are over, capping with another title for the Neches girls' basketball team and a stunning loss by Cayuga in the regional semifinals to upstart Tenaha.

My weekend in Austin was an eventful one, and one that will certainly live in my memory for a while. From talking Roddricka Patton with a handful of nationwide high school scouts to listening in on the press conference of Canyon head coach Joe Lombard after winning another state title, finishing a perfect season and winning his1,100 career game...all on his birthday, it was a great experience.

As I said in a column in the PHP today, I expect to go back next season as well, what with Neches returning all its players from this year's team.

Another playoff scenario, another possible UIL flub

In the past week, I found myself doing something that I rarely ever do. I defended the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body of Texas High School sports.

The UIL was under fire from Yahoo! Sports High School blog Prep Rally for having Class 3A's No. 1 girls basketball team, Kennedale, travel to Lubbock for a regional tournament where it played a team from Lubbock and a team from Abilene.

The boys basketball regional tournament's begin this weekend, and Region I, the region in which Kennedale plays, is again on the hot seat. This time, however, the UIL has time to make the right call, as first suggested by CBS 11's Bill Jones (@cbsdollarbill) on Twitter.

The Region I tournament is scheduled for Snyder on Friday and Saturday. Snyder is in West Texas. The problem? All four teams who've qualified for the tournament are teams from the Dallas/Fort Worth area (Denton Ryan, FW Arlington Heights, Trimble Tech and The Colony).

UIL again under fire from Yahoo

The Yahoo! high school sports blog Prep Rally, which I routinely link here at The Baseline, isn't very fond of some decisions the University Interscholastic League (UIL) has made in recent months.

The blog criticized the UIL for allowing Longview and Mesquite to play a football playoff game in Louisiana, just to name one.

Now, the blog is after the UIL because Kennedale—who entered the girls' basketball playoffs as the state's No. 1 team in Class 3A—lost in the regional finals to Abiliene Wylie, 59-53.

The blog's editor Cameron Smith's problem is that Kennedale is seven hours away from Texas Tech's United Spirit Arena, where the Region I tournament was held. Conversely, it was a much shorter trip for both Wylie and for Kennedale's semifinal opponent, Lubbock Cooper, which actually plays there from time to time.

It may be time to shrink the playoffs in Texas

Over at Yahoo's Prep Rally blog, Cameron Smith examines an 81-5 victory by Dallas Lincoln over Seagoville...in the PLAYOFFS.

Now, in Class 4A and Class 5A, just like in football in those bigger classifications, four teams from each district make the playoffs. When that happens, things like an 81-5 beat down have a chance to happen. Seagoville entered the playoffs eight games under .500, while Lincoln entered as the No. 12 team in the state.

I've never personally understood the need for four playoff teams from a district, because of this very reason. It's bad enough that in smaller district's there are times when more than half of the teams in the district make the playoffs, as is the case in Slocum/Grapeland's five-team district.

I realize that there are times when district's are loaded and the three (or maybe four) teams that make the playoffs can all compete. But, more often than not that isn't really the case.

I think it's probably time for the UIL to shrink the size of the playoff fields, especially at the 4A and 5A level. I'm okay with three teams from each district making the playoffs, but four seems a bit excessive.

Inside the TABC polls (Week of 2/7/11)

It's getting down to the nitty-gritty time for high school basketball teams around the state this week. Girls regular-season play wraps up tonight, while the boys will finish things up with games tonight, Friday and next Tuesday.

For local squads, there wasn't loads of movement in the polls this week, as has been the norm for most of the season. That being said, many local teams still find themselves considered some of the top 20 or so squads in their respective classes in the state.

Let's dive in.

Inside the TABC polls (Week of 1/31/10)

We're entering the final month of regular season basketball, and a lot of the local squads are beginning to heat up as the playoffs approach.

Granted, these rankings have no bearing on making the playoffs (like Arizona's rankings system does), but it is a somewhat accurate gauge of where team's stand against the rest of the state.

So, without further adieu, let's dive in to this week's polls.

Another arguement for a H.S. shot clock

I wrote a column back in December about why I felt like H.S. basketball needed a shot clock after Robert E. Lee stalled for much of the fourth quarter to beat the Palestine girls' basketball team. (READ HERE)

In the D/FW area last night, another reason has emerged. Nationally ranked Flower Mound Marcus (No. 12 in Yahoo's Rivals 100) topped Plano West 38-31, IN TRIPLE OVERTIME.

Why the low score? Well, since Marcus had blown out West earlier in the season, West decided the best strategy was to be very, very deliberate with its offensive possessions. What that resulted in was the low-scoring, three OT affair.

According to Yahoo's Prep Rally blog (Read the full story HERE), West averaged more than one minute per possession on offense.

No offense to West, because it was a strategy that worked brilliantly, but is this really what we want basketball to be about at the high school level?

This week's 'Monday Lookback'

For those that don't follow us on Twitter but do check the blog—there's bound to be one of y'all, right?—here's the link to yesterday's 'Monday Lookback' podcast on 'View From the Cheap Seats.'

I talk Westwood/Palestine rivalry games, as well as a little Palestine boys' soccer.

We'll have a chat with good friend Kyle Fuller (@pimpinkal) posted on Thursday, where we look back at the season that was in the NFL, and specifically in Cowboy land. We'll give you our MVPs, Rookies of the Year and biggest surprises/disappointments. Bet you can't guess who one—or both—of us chooses for that last one, huh?

Anyway, check it out HERE

Great, great story out of Houston

Sports are fun. Fun to play, fun to watch and fun to cover.

This story out of Houston is one of the exact reasons why:

One-handed girls hoops star inspires outside of Houston

(Via Yahoo's Prep Rally/Houston Chronicle)

Inside the TABC polls (Week of 1/17/10)

I've learned something about basketball here in the Dogwood Circle as we near the halfway mark for district play in the area: We've got some teams that can ball.

As it currently stands, there are seven local squads (four boys/three girls) that sit inside the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) Top-25. Oddly enough, all of them are in the state's smallest two classifications, Class 1A, Div. I and Class 1A,  Div. II.

So, with that being said—and with squads from area districts also being ranked—from here on out during the basketball season we'll dive into the polls weekly to see where the movement, if any, has been for the local squads.