All four Wimberley junior high and high school gyms were filled on Wednesday, Dec. 28, as 31 teams competed for championships at Hoopfest ’22.
The tournament lasted three days with 16 gentlemen’s teams and 15 ladies’ teams vying for various trophies and medals. Teams traveled across the Lone Star State, including a few from deep East Texas and the greater Dallas- Fort Worth metroplex.
The Lady Texans found themselves in a scrappy pool play schedule that included St. Michael’s Catholic Academy, Austin’s McCallum High School, San Antonio’s Pieper High School and Brock High School. The team dispatched both St. Michael’s — 6459 — and McCallum — 59-44 — with little trouble but found stumbling blocks against Brock and Pieper. Brock ranks near the top ten in 3A and went undefeated in the round-robin phase, including an exciting one point victory over Pieper, before handing the home team their first loss 34-46.
“We faced a good system team in Brock. They run screens and picks until there’s a defensive gap then take high percentage shots,” Coach Caleb Hall said. “We showed great hustle and fought hard but missed our opportunities. We put them on the foul line 39 times, and they converted 30 free throws. They made only seven shots from the field for the game.”
The Lady Texans next met a 5A Pieper team driven by sophomore phenom Alisha Peavy — who leads in every statistical category except assists for the Warriors. The Lady Texans found themselves down by six points at the end of the first quarter with the lead swelling to 12 by halftime. The deficit remained through the third quarter but was cut down to six at the buzzer, 54-48.
“We’re allowing teams to build momentum early in games. We’ve got a young team without senior leadership that can push the ‘every turnover counts, every free throw counts’ mentality,” Hall explained. “We’re a very strong second half team which is commendable but we’re playing from a deficit. I’m hoping we learned that we need to win every quarter and that the early minutes count as much as the late ones.”
The ladies soundly beat Rowlett by 10 to advance against Georgetown’s East View High School in the silver bracket final. The Lady Texans were down early in the contest by as much as 18 points, finishing the first half with an 11-point deficit. Coach Hall’s team continued whittling away at the lead through the second half, drawing within two points. The last three minutes were an exciting, tense and emotionally frustrating experience. The Patriots retained the lead by hitting free-throws down the stretch in response to the Lady Texan offense, scoring to finish 52-50.
“The girls stayed in this one and fought back. Kylee (Garner) scored 10 to lead us, cementing a deserved all-tournament nod,” Hall said, adding, “She’s really stepped up and works hard to improve each week. Laney plays great defense and gets it. She’s turning into a very good basketball player. All of them should feel fully prepared to get back into district play.”
The Texan men’s team found a different path.
Paired with Great Hearts Northern Oaks, Austin’s Navarro High School and Duncanville’s Village Tech Schools in pool play, the Texans used their system of strong defense and transition play to their advantage. They bested Northern Oaks 10460 in their early game Wednesday and backed it up with an 81-32 victory over Navarro that evening. The Texans rounded out pool play with an 89-40 win against Village Tech Thursday morning to earn their spot in the championship bracket.
The tournament saw the return of players from the Texan football squad, including seniors Nate Brooks, Drew Brasher, Cayden Heatly and Dane Hennessee. The addition brought a different physicality to the team.
“Coming from football, I was playing a lot of defense and I did a lot of banging around and hitting people. I’m ready to get back into basketball because of how much I played and helped the team last year,” shared Hennessee. “Coaches are expecting us to play hard, play fast, and to get up and down the court as quickly as possible. I’m not quite into basketball shape yet but we’ll get there.”
Head coach Mike Whitten agreed with Hennessee’s assessment.
“There’s a different dynamic that goes on with our incoming football players,” Whitten explained.
“They’ve been playing aggressively on the field and will bring some of that over. They’ll also bring some unity and team spirit into it. They’ve been watching these guys on the court and want to get in there with them and help. It will have a positive impact on all of us.”
Texan basketball posted a fast start to the season, building a 17-4 record. In the process, Miles Schleder notched achievements in career points — now over 1,000 — and hit the century mark in three-pointers this season during the game against Northern Oaks. His team season record of 120 looks to fall this year.
“Miles is knocking down three pointers this year like crazy. Luke (Adams) has stepped up his game and is pushing the offense hard and having Colin (Fisher-Swan) back makes such a difference,” Hennessee said. “The team core is already solid but bringing in a bunch of guys who are just athletes to add depth helps us out.”
Schleder spoke about his excitement for what football players migrating over to the hardwood means for the team. “You can tell people don’t really want to drive on us. Being more physical just helps overall… it helps our toughness physically and mentally. They (football) had a great run and brought their spirit, energy and wanting success into basketball. That’s gonna help us.”
The team moved into the championship bracket round Thursday evening versus a solid Marion Bulldog team coming out of pool 3 against Canyon Lake, San Diego and Lago Vista. The Texans forced multiple turnovers and played fast break basketball to win going away 60-34 to set up the championship matchup against East View.
East View is a strong 5A team with tall and athletic players and a couple of very familiar coaches. The Patriots are led by a pair of Mc-Dormans — head coach Drew and his father, assistant coach Jeff — tied almost inseparably with Wimberley athletics.
The Texans hung close in the first period at 1314 but were outscored 11 to 18 in the second. East View’s athleticism and height began to stretch the advantage in the second half and took the lead to 16. The Patriots took a last second three pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 4968 to take the championship trophy.
“I think our guys maintained calm in a difficult circumstance. They kept it close and kept coming out and taking a swing at it,” commented Whitten. “Dane (Hennessee) is still in football mode and getting used to the defensive scheme. He manned up big on the offensive end for us tonight. Luke (Adams,) Miles (Schleder) and Colin (Fisher-Swan) played so hard. We can depend on them to work the ball into position for good shots and play hard on defense. Thomas Watson is smooth. He’s a great kid with smarts for the game and a heart for this team. We’ll grow from this and be better for district, hungrier to win it.”
“Everyone’s just happy to be here, together. It’s a good group of guys and we’re more friends off the court,” reflected Schleder. “Cayden (Heatly) hears a guy talking trash about one of our guys and Cayden steps in to stand up for him. That’s the bond we have and how we’re growing close as a team.”
The Lady Texans play Friday, Jan. 6, at home against Harper High School in a non-district game then are home Tuesday, Jan. 10, versus district foe Navarro High School. Junior varsity begins at 5 p.m. with varsity following at 6:30 p.m. The Texans played Boerne High School at home on Tuesday, Jan. 3, and are away at Navarro on Jan. 10 before a return to Texan Gym on Friday, Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. versus Canyon Lake High School.
