District play starts Friday!!

[AggiesAreWe]

District play gets tipped off this Friday for three of our coverage area districts. 18-5A, 19-4A and 22-3A start district play.

Here are some first district game key match ups:

 

18-5A

I would consider all three games as key but the big game is Kingwood Park at Crosby. KP is the defending champ, Crosby was #2 seed last year. I think these are the two best teams again and the likely DC will come from these two. Other two games are Porter at Dayton and Splendora at West Fork. Porter/Dayton will be a battle while West Fork finally has a full roster to contend with for a playoff spot. Pasadena has the district off this Friday.

 

19-4A

Again, all these games are key match ups but the marquee game is Hardin-Jefferson at Hamshire-Fannett. HJ missed the playoffs last year while HF was the runner up in district to Huffman. HJ has looked very solid over the last 6-7 games. They want to prove last year was a fluke. HF has lost several games the last week and are looking to right the ship. Other two games has Livingston at Liberty (Livingston looking really good, will be heavily favored in this one) and Shepherd at Tarkington. Tarkington finished 3rd last season and this will be a key start for them to keep that playoff streak alive.

 

22-3A

IMO, this district is just a two horse race with East Chambers and Orangefield. So I expect blow out wins for those two this Friday. There are two other games that look interesting. Anahuac at Buna and Hardin at Kountze. Buna looks to be the third best team in this district and an early win over Anahuac can get them started to a good district season. Anahuac lost out to Buna last year for that final playoff spot. Kountze is really struggling this year and if they want a shot of making the playoffs, these are the games they have to win. Hardin is looking for some of that football mojo to rub off on the basketball court. IMO, this game is vital to each team.

 

Let me hear your thoughts on any or all these match ups.

[Cu Chulainn]

You're usually dead on, so Id tend to agree with your assessment.

I can't speak on 5A because I am not familiar with those teams mentioned above. 

I would think HJ would handle HF pretty well from what I have seen in their recently reported scores. I would also think Livingston is way too strong for Liberty. Livingston looked really good in the Bill Tennison Tournament and I was disappointed that our paths didn't cross. Shepherd wasn't strong at all when we saw them, so I'd have to believe Tarkington would be better.

In 3A where we cut our teeth, I full on agree with you that it is Orangefield and EC at the top and everyone else will be fighting for those last two Playoff spots. It is somewhat confusing that EC didn't beat LCM by more than they did. I would have expected at least a win by 20 or more even if they were letting off the gas. LCM isn't strong this year at all, or at least when we saw them, they weren't. As far as Buna goes, they struggled a lot with Jasper when I watched their first half, and we destroyed Jasper in a cake walk last night. If that is any indication of Buna's strength, then I'd think they wont be able to even keep it close against us or EC, however they may be better than the rest of the District and that third yet very distant spot from 1 & 2 will be theirs. Coach Joubert in Kountze will make improvements as their season goes, but I just don't think they have the talent to actually compete. I further agree with you that Hardin could be interesting to see since they had such a good football year, but they haven't been strong at all on the court in the years that I have seen them play. Kirbyville could be a sleeper for the 3rd & 4th Playoff spot. They have a decent guard who can shoot (only goes right though), but they havent had much more through these last four years. I am not looking forward to District Play for us in Orangefield, its tough to stay sharp and be ready for a playoff run when your playing in blowout games. Yeah, it gives everyone a chance to play, but builds a false sense of reality of what is out there waiting on you in your EC's, Onalaska's, Mexia's, etc. I wish we could play some bigger games at tournaments or something during District play to stay sharp, but I guess its a problem all strong teams deal with. Kountze definitely would have had to find ways to stay sharp last year. Either way, Im looking forward to the battles this season has and I look for Orangefield and EC to really make some noise in the Playoffs, until they have to match up with us, lol.