It'll be Cypress Creek vs. Duncanville in the 6A final, but Rori Harmon didn't play for Creek in today's semifinal due to a team rules violation. It looks unlikely that she'll play in the final. If that's the case, Duncanvillle's press will absolutely eat Cy Creek alive without Harmon there to handle the ball.
It’s on TV tonight on Fox.I was interested in seeing Harmon vs Kelly. That “team rules violation” could be anything. In the 6A football championship game, the North Shore top player was held out for the same general reason. Turns out the player wouldn’t give up his cell phone the night before. Not going to speculate on the reason on Harmon but sure puts her team in a bind. I’ll still watch.
It's a real shame. It would have been a fantastic showdown. But I can't see how Cy Creek can protect the ball without her against Dville's swarming pressure.
Sometimes we try the "Let's Make A Deal" routine and trade what's in the box for what's behind the curtain and get zonked... trying to trade one for two and end up going oh-for-three. Any common FOOL knows one in hand is better than two in the bush. Just sayin'...
Hunter had 24 points. She is really good. Still haven’t seen Harmon play. In DMNEWS today, it mentioned Harmon being suspended but no additional information. Assuming Harmon is as good as advertised, I think C.C. could have made the game exciting. Sad for all. Going forward, it will be interesting to watch what happens at C.C. next fall. If Harmon comes back, it is probable they will be back at State. Even more interesting will be the recruiting of Hunter and Harmon.
I watched Harmon and Cy Creek in person when they just completely dismantled 5th ranked Summer Creek. There's no doubt in my mind it would've been a great game with her on the court. To call her a game changer would be an understatement. I didn't watch the final, but I can only imagine that ball security and turnovers were a major problem for CC against Duncanville's swarming press.
Yes the turnovers were an issue although I don’t remember the number. More than that was just Duncanville’s in your face pressure all over the court took C.C. out of their offense. Losing your star point guard was THE game changer.
Deja Kelly "opened up" her recruitment after her Mom moved her to from San Antonio to Duncanville the summer before her junior season in order to be at the same high school as her boyfriend; great parenting. Later, we learn about the improprieties (through Hannah Gusters' Mom whistle-blowing) Cathy Self and some other handler were involved in getting Kelly's Mom a job in the area for which she was not qualified, simply to get Deja into Duncanville under the cover of a parent moving into the district for job reasons . Self gets fired, Gusters has to sit out a season at Irving MacArthur, but Deja Kelly comes out of it completely unscathed (never had to sit out a transfer season, and no other penalties for all that is wrong with high school athletics). Kelly took unofficial trips to Notre Dame and Oregon and a few others. Somehow she ends up signing with North Carolina, a school which won't even be in the NCAA tourney this year. Yeah, something sure smells in that saga.
I'm pretty sure the UIL did their due diligence regarding the situation. In the end, Kelly and Duncanville win a state championship while Gusters and Andrews crash and burn in the second round. Kelly is the state tourney MVP and Texas Gatorade Player of the Year. We end up with none of the aforementioned recruits. #GameOver
Yet, somehow, the Texas Player of the Year has to go all the way to North Carolina for college as no regional school or school in the Top 25 wants anything to do with her or her Mom.
Hoopgurlz lists Notre Dame, Minnesota, Duke and Texas A&M for what it's worth. I also know that many other top programs offered as well. Whatever the case, it doesn't change the fact that we laid an egg with the top recruits in Texas in the 2020 class. I do believe though that S. Holley is going to be a good one.
Moooo reminded me of all the drama with Duncanville and McArthur and players and coaches. Still a gap in my memory is WHY she decommited. Seems like her boyfriend was committed to or later committed to Texas Tech so that might have been a factor. But Self was a former UT player and supporter. I remember Richards high level comments that she didn’t like the quick hook substitution patterns from Aston. However, I don’t remember any specific reason why Kelly decommited. Perhaps Aston didnt like the helicopter mom routine and pulled the offer. Maybe there wasn’t only one. Maybe it was just a general need to rethink her decision. But at some point Kelly didn’t even list UT as an option. It’s ok for any or all to be the reason, but for personal closure it would be convenient for me to hear a simple reason. Especially since she was a legacy and long time commitment. If no one knows, then I am ready to forget Kelly and wish her well at NC. Wish there was an “exit interview” process for decommits like in corporate world.
I'll be interested to see how Holley does. I watched her play a couple of games, and while she certainly has good versatility and IQ and she shines at the high school level, I'm not sure she has the speed and athleticism that you need as a wing at the elite level of D-1. She's not a Celeste Taylor, not yet anyway.
Hoping we will have a coach who can coach up the talent, and come up with offensive sets that optimizes the players' individual strengths. Defenses can be adjusted to somewhat compensate for a lack of quickness. We've seen these things done year after year at places like ISU, KSU, TCU, etc.
