2009 PG Jonathan Garza will lead Pflugerville
2010 G Chris Gramling will need a huge game if San Antonio MacArthur hopes to upset heavily favored Pflugerville.
2010 Paul Garnica leads San Antonio Lee into the playoffs v Austin Westlake.
2010 PG Cody Doolin leads Austin Westlake
Texas Basketball Inc. will be at Hay Lehman HS tonight for the 1st Round Playoff Doubleheader where we'll audio stream the games over the web. 6PM Pflugerville v San Antonio MacArthur
PREVIEW
MacArthur has lived all year by the stall game, to the point where it seems they'd rather pass up a layup to maintain possession and mik the clock. If ever there was a poster child for the shot clock in the high school game in the State of Texas, this is it. For MacArthur to win, the game would have to stay in the low 30's. Pflugerville will simply not let that happen. 2010 PG Chris Gramling will have his hands full with the Panthers pressure and only a superlative effort on his part along with a career performance from unsigned senior post Stephen Miller will keep the score respectable let alone notch the upset.
Pflugerville has a deep squad and it's got 4 D-1 talents on the roster. They'll be led by a pair of Lamar signees; PG Jonathan Garza & 6'8" Osas Ebomwonyi. Ebomwonyi, who suffered a broken leg prior to the season is back at full strength and is the most intimidating shot blocker this side of Kileen High's 6'9" Cory Jefferson. 2010 W 6'5" Demetrious "Cleveland" Smith gives the Panthers additional inside/outside help while Super Soph Deion Mitchell is as smooth a 2011 G as there is in the Cen Tex. He can get to the rack or burn you deep.
GAME Pflugerville 66 San Antonio MacArthur 43
Pflugerville controlled this game from the beginning. It was never totally one sided but it never got close either. The intense pressure on the ball by the Pflugerville guards was the difference as MacArthur suffered double digit turnovers. PG Jonathan Garza showed great leadership by distributing the ball at the right times, leading his team in scoring with 18 points and his energetic on the ball defense. For MacArthur, Stephen Miller finished his high school career with 11 and a hard fought effort.
8PM Austin Westlake v San Antonio Lee
PREVIEW
Hard to top last night's OT thriller where San Antonio Madison edged Austin Akins 55-54 but this matchup just might do it. Neither team gears itself defensively to stopping any one player so this could be a track meet. What makes this one so intriguing is that it has a lot of personal drama within the team game. Both teams PG's lead their cities in scoring. Austin Westlake's Cody Doolin (19.6PPG) will take on San Antonio Lee's Paul Garnica who leads the entire Cen Tex/San Antonio area in scoring (26.2 PPG). Adding to the storyline is that these two 2010 players are pals and summer team mates in the backcourt with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors.
Doolin already has one D-1 offer under his belt as a soph this past summer from the University of San Francisco. Garnica is now drawing interest from the likes of Baylor. This could be a doozy. Doolin's high game this year was 43, while Garnica's was 53. Both HATE to lose.
Each team has a very good second option as well. Lee brings 2010 6'2" G Ryan Pierce at you. He was also top 10 in San Antonio in PPG with a nice shot and explosive moves to the rack. Westlake counters with 2010 6'6" Conner Kemper who can shoot it lights out from the perimeter as well as help on the boards. This one is tough to call. I'm personally vested in the game and hate that one team has to lose. I'll give the slightest of edges to Westlake because of their height advantage. However, when the game's on the line expect Garnica & Doolin to be taking the shots and anything could happen.
GAME Austin Westlake 86 San Antonio Lee 63
This one was never competitive as Cody Doolin scored 12 points in the first 3 minutes, staking Westlake to a 15-5 lead. Garnica was limited in his opportunities with his 4 first half points coming from the free throw line. (He finished with 12 for the game). 2010 G Ryan Pierce showed great athleticism as he led Lee with 23 points.
The story of the game though was too much Doolin & 2010 W Conner Kemper. Kemper usually causes most of his damage from the perimeter but he scored 20 last night, mostly from under the goal. He battled hard on the boards all night and was the recipient of some great looks from Doolin. 2010 PG Doolin scored 30, had 10 assists & 9 rebounds just missing his double double. I was also impressed as the freshman 6'6" Drew Wikelius gave the Chaps quality minutes and looks to have a great high school & potential college career ahead of him.
