HS girls basketball: Top Houston-area teams to watch this season The Texas high school girls basketball season gets underway Friday, and several Houston-area teams have lofty aspirations for the new campaign. Here’s a look at some of the top squads to watch as they begin their quests for district titles and deep playoff runs. Summer Creek The Bulldogs are back for more success under head coach Carlesa Dixon after reaching the UIL state tournament last season. Dixon has sculpted Summer Creek into one of the top programs in the Houston area year after year, and the 2022-23 campaign should be no different. The Bulldogs came in at No. 5 in the state-wide preseason poll from the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Last year’s squad finished with a 38-3 overall record, falling to South Grand Prairie in the Class 6A semifinals in San Antonio. The road back to the Alamo City will have its challenges with several talented teams competing in Region III, but the Bulldogs are the prohibitive favorite as the season gets underway. Summer Creek lost its top player with the graduation of Kaitlyn Duhon, now at Auburn, but plenty of talent returns to the lineup. Senior forward Jorynn Ross leads the way, but the team has plenty of depth at the guard position with Torrian Deterville, Mychal White, Janiya Murphy and Allison Reese all returning. The Bulldogs also added transfer Zachara Perkins from St. Pius X, a junior guard/forward who averaged nearly 24 points and 12.5 rebounds per game last year. Jersey Village transfer Mariyah Brown and returning forward Cyniah Mercer should also contribute this season. Memorial The Mustangs are ranked No. 8 in the state following one of the best seasons in program history. Memorial finished its campaign with a 27-5 overall record and shared the District 17-6A title with Cypress Creek with a 13-1 mark. The season ended in the second round of the playoffs with a loss against Fort Bend Austin. Junior 6-foot forward Nicki Polocheck is the Mustangs’ top returning player after averaging 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game last season. Led by coach Jyusef Larry, Memorial will be looking to break through to the regional quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. Pearland The Oilers enter the season ranked No. 14 in the state after making a run to the regional championship in February. Pearland ultimately finished with a 28-10 overall record and lost to Summer Creek in their final game. It capped a historic campaign for the program, which reached the regional final for the first time since 1990 under coach Jere’ Adams. The Oilers should be a contender once again with the return of 6-foot-3 senior forward RyLee Grays. Grays was a force in the paint for the team last season, averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds per contest. Shadow Creek No. 16 Shadow Creek enters the season having to replace its top two scorers from last season following the graduation of R’Mani Taylor and Brooklin Brown. Those two dynamic guards combined for 46.7 percent of the team’s points. But the cupboard is never bare at Shadow Creek under coach LaToya Micheaux, and with several other experienced players returning to the fold, the Sharks will look to make another run at the District 23-6A title. They shared the crown with Pearland last season after posting an 11-1 mark and finished with a 29-5 overall record after falling to Summer Creek in the third round of the playoffs. Seven Lakes No. 19 Seven Lakes has been one of the top programs in the city under coach Angela Spurlock. The Spartans will be another contender in the vaunted Region III after reaching the regional semifinals last season. The team’s campaign came to a close with a tough 39-37 loss to Pearland. Seven Lakes finished with a 33-7 overall record and was the District 19-6A champion at 10-2. Look for more of the same this year with junior forward Justice Carlton staking her claim as the top player in the area. Carlton averaged 25.5 points and 10 rebounds per game as a sophomore for the Spartans. Other UIL teams to watch Tomball Memorial, Clear Brook, Fort Bend Austin, Cypress Creek, Cypress Springs, Cypress Ranch, North Shore, Dulles, Langham Creek, Manvel, Houston Sterling, Columbus. Private school teams to watch Houston Christian, Lutheran North, Legacy Prep, Second Baptist, Rosehill Christian, Episcopal, Cypress Covenant, St. Thomas Episcopal Preseason teams All-Greater Houston preseason team G - Bree Riley, Soph., Grand Oaks G - Macy Spencer, Sr., Tompkins F - Justice Carlton, Jr., Seven Lakes F - RyLee Grays, Sr., Pearland F - Katelyn Kabrich, Sr., Tomball Memorial Private School preseason team G - Dalanna Carter, Sr., Lutheran North G - Makynna Robbins, Jr., Lutheran South F - D'Asia Thomas, Sr., Houston Christian F - Loghan Johnson, Sr., Houston Christian F - Tobi Ademuwagun, Sr., The Village School HS girls basketball: Top Houston-area teams to watch this season
So for those who keep up with high school basketball who do y’all have in the final 4? The top two teams in the state are San Antonio Clark at #1 and Austin high school at #2 and Vice versa depending on which ranking you use. My predictions are(in no order) 1. Austin high 2. South Grand Prairie 3. Desoto 4. Pearland
Haven’t seen any of them. Help me with Austin High team. Read a lot about DeSoto and SGP. Either are good choices. If Tac hadn’t been hurt, SGP would be my favorite. Duncanville is #1 in north Texas but kicked out of playoffs. Last week it was announced that Duncanville coach and staff (last year’s that did the damage) is under a NEW investigation. She and others had been reassigned to middle school teaching/administration). I’m going to the Coppell vs Plano West game tonight. Coppell is 33-3 and has Jules Almandola who is signed with Indiana. Coppell is slightly behind SGP and DeSoto. This game is 1 mile from my home so no excuse to miss. I’ll record the Iowa State-Horns game that is tonight also. Ya’ll pull them through. Flower Mound is same time tonight but it’s in Denton. I’ll try and go see our 6’-9” girl in Friday game. I’m thinking Mansfield Timberview is my state favorite in 5A.
Is Tac out for the rest of the year? I had no idea she was hurt. As far as Austin high goes they are a great team. They have Jade Clack who is a TCU commit and Aubrey and Shanel Reid who are commited to SMU and UT Arlington. Their entire lineup is committed to playing ball at the next level. They will be tough to beat. I did watch them against Coppell in the 2nd game of the season on which they lost by 7 but without Shanel Reid who is their best shooter and 2nd best player overall. She really didn’t comeback from injury until district play so they played some tough teams close without her so with her it’s going to be tough to beat them. Desoto is being overlooked in my opinion. Many polls have them at like #6 and farther but they are more than capable of making the title game.
Tac is out for season with knee surgery. Happened around Christmas. DeSoto is real young but talented. They sure will be tough to beat.
I haven’t followed her game at all so this is an honest question and not a judgement: How does 6’9” in high school only score 6?
Well……my best plans fizzled. Went to Coppell and Allen game and chose to wait to second round to see Boutilier and Flower Mound. Coppell won in OT so great game. But FM got beat by Denton Braswell 51-46. Boutilier had 2 points. Cox held to 13. So I’ll have to wait until her debut at Texas to see her play. THAT just might be 2025. VERY disappointing year for her. Injured and played only about a third of games. She is apparently even more of a “project” than thought.
Coppell is now 34-3 for the year. So a VERY nice high school team. Allen is the same. The difference is Jules Amendola. A 6’-1” guard/forward. She scored 25 out of 41 team points in 4 quarters plus an OT. She finished 5-18 from field but 15 of 17 free throws. She was double and triple teamed everywhere. Coppell is tiny as Amendola is tallest by far. Both teams were tremendous defensively. Offensively, Amendola was the only plus player on court. She is highly skilled and will be a nice college player at Indiana. Her quickness may hinder her some but the coach will be happy to have her. Coppell will play Highland Park next round. It should be a nice competitive game as they should play similar styles and have similar players. I believe either team will go out in third round.
Austin high shocked in the 2nd round by Cibilo Steele. I attended the game and I will say that was one of the worst officiated games I’ve ever seen. Steele came to play but definitely got a boost from the refs.
Some of our recruiting targets will be playing in the regional quarterfinals tonight and tomorrow. Tonight Desoto v Lake Ridge Recruiting targets: Amari Byles (#4 2026 HoopGurlz) and Rieyan Desouze (#7 2026 HoopGurlz) Cypress Springs v Langham Creek Recruiting target: Ayla McDowell (#23 2025 HoopGurlz) Liberty v Poteet: Recruiting target: Jacy Abii (#1 2026 HoopGurlz) Tuesday Night South Grand Prairie v Coppell Recruiting target: Taliyah Parker (#22 2024 HoopGurlz) and Adhel Tac (injured) (#12 2024 HoopGurlz) Lubbock Monterey v Amarillo Recruiting target: Aaliyah Chavez (#3 2025 HoopGurlz) On a related topic, 2024 Jaloni Cambridge’s team, Ensworth High School, Tennessee, was defeated in the regional tournament on Saturday night.
Just watched an epic game between Lubbock Monterey and Amarillo High. It went to 5 OTs!!! Monterey finally pulled away. Chavez didn’t have her best game, but had some nice plays. They have a freshman point guard that is very good as well.
In a mild upset, Coppell took down South Grsnd Prairie 43-39 tonight. Guess Coppell’s record 0f 36-3 is valid. Southlake Carroll vs Coppell in regionals. DeSoto won big.
Here are the results of the last round of the playoff games of some of our recruiting targets. 2025 Ayla McDowell: Cypress Springs defeated Langham Creek 55-50. McDowell had 27 points, 15 rebounds, 7 blocks, 3 steals and 5 turnovers. 2026 Jacy Abii: Liberty defeated Poteet 51-24. No stats were provided. 2024’s Taliyah Parker and Adhel Tac: South Grand Prairie lost to Coppell 39-43. No stats were provided. 2025 Aaliyah Chavez: Lubbock Monterey beat Amarillo 86-78 in 5 OT’s. No stats were provided 2026’s Amari Byles and Rieyan Desouze: DeSoto defeated Lake Ridge 65-49. No stats were provided. Next up in the Regional Semi Finals: Cypress Springs faces DeSoto Liberty meets Mount Pleasant Lubbock Monterey faces Mansfield Timberview
All those games should be fun. Monterey is ranked #1 in state. Mansfield Timberview is #2. MT won by 39 tonight. Also Parker had 17 of SGP’s 39 tonight.
That Amarillo vs Monterrey game sounds like it was something else. Amarillo hit buzzer beater 3’s at the end of the 3rd and 4th OT’s. Standing room only crowd
I’m looking forward to the Cypress Springs vs DeSoto matchup on Friday. It’s a battle of the young guns as Ayla McDowell (sophomore) leads Cypress Springs against the Amari Byles, Rieyan Desouze and Kamora Pruitt (all freshmen). It’s impressive that DeSoto HC Andrea Robinson has already reloaded after graduating 7 seniors from last year’s state championship team. Four seniors from the championship team are now playing for Division I colleges; Amina Muhammed (Texas), Sa’Myah Smith (LSU), Ayanna Thompson (Ole Miss) and Tionna Herron (KY).
She should be national coach of the year in HS she lost not 4 but 7 D1 athletes 2 guards are at Kstate and one is at SMU
DeSoto defeated Cypress Springs 63-34 to advance to the regional title game. DeSoto HC Andrea Robinson is making it look easy with the talented freshmen. It's DeSoto's fourth time in five years to make it to the regional title game.
