The 2015-2016 high school girls basketball season kicked off with the Frisco Tip-Off Classic held November 12-14, 2015. Continue reading for a look at some of the teams and players that caught my eye.
Duncanville defeated Plano 96-47 in the championship game. Duncanville has one of the best inside-outside combos in the state in highly recruited 2018 Zarielle Green and 2016 Louisville commit Ciera Johnson. 2016 North Texas commit Madison Townley, 2016 Xavier (LA) commit Rosie Davis, and uncommitted 2016 Chrineisha Davis lead a complementary roster that goes 8-9 deep. Watch out for 2018 rising prospect point guard Aniya Thomas. Duncanville is the early favorite in the loaded 6A Region 1.
While a young, but very talented Plano team took a tough loss in the championship game, they had a very productive weekend going 4-1. Led by 2016 Louisiana-Monroe commit Carissa Moody, 2018 Lauren Davenport, Katie Ferrell, and Emma Halverson, Plano is showing continued growth and will be tough to deal with as the season progresses.
The headliner of the tournament was 2016 national #1 and Baylor commit Lauren Cox of Flower Mound. Cox displayed an ever-improving elbow jumper and her usual elite defensive rebounding and blocking skills. Once she shows a consistent shot from the three—especially on the trail—she is going to be special at Baylor. Other 2016s that showed well were Texas A&M commit Arleighshya McElroy (Richardson), Houston commit Dorian Branch (Richardson), Brianna Lester (Richardson), Peyton Padgett (Frisco), Kathleen Donovan (Frisco Wakeland), Utah State commit De’Anira Moore (Allen), Juliette Akinwole (Allen), Briana Heath (Allen), Makenzie Grill (Flower Mound), Celsi Caraway (Mansfield Summit), Morgan Hellyer (Flower Mound Marcus), Jocelyn Scott (McKinney North), and Mikayla Foy (Mckinney North).
The 2017 class is really starting to take shape as many standouts from this class were represented at the tournament. Here are some of the top recruits: Rebecca Lescay (Frisco Liberty), Jordan Hamilton (Frisco Liberty), Rice commit Temi Aloa (Allen), Haleigh Hill (Allen), Octavia Jackson (Lubbock Coronado), Breah Powell (McKinney North), Tia Wright (McKinney North), Hannah Reynolds (Prosper), Bailey Lightfoot (Prosper), and Louisiana Tech commit Madison Washington (Red Oak).
The 2018 class is deep with talent and some of these sophomores caught my eye at the Frisco Tip-Off Classic: Mallory Adams (Frisco Centennial), Addison Ryan (Frisco Wakeland), Jada Peacock (Allen), Sydney Hardeman (Allen), Jamie Means (Denton), Emilie Austin (Plano East), and Mackenzie Hewitt (Prosper).
The 2019 class got its first taste of varsity action. Here are some freshmen we will be watching for the next four years: Randi Thompson (Frisco Liberty), Nyah Green (Allen), Whitney Cox (Flower Mound), Tavy Diggs (Plano East), Jordyn Oliver (Prosper), Irie Razor (Richardson), and Noelle Yancy (Richardson).