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Monday, November 10, 2008
Guardians of H-Town
Houston, TX
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You could call it the “Year of the Point Guard.”
While the NBA is having a renaissance of sorts with great point guard play, the Houston area also appears to have some great talent in the backcourt and many of the teams that would like to call themselves “state title contenders” could have their fates decided by the young men in charge of running the offense.
From seniors down to sophomores, Houston is stocked with talent at the point guard position, and it all starts with Madison’s Tommy Mason-Griffin.
The Marlins, who went 24-10 and all the way to the Region III-5A championship game before falling to eventual state finalist Dulles, return their superstar floor general in hopes of making another run at it this year.
Mason-Griffin, an Oklahoma commitment, has shown an uncanny ability to raise his game when it matters most, averaging over 30 points per game in each of his last two postseasons and twice going over the 40-point barrier in upset wins. In his sophomore year, it was 47-point effort that got the Marlins past Katy Taylor in the early rounds; last year, a 43-point showing, including a 25-point outburst in the fourth quarter, pushed Madison past favored Hastings in the area round of the playoffs. Mason-Griffin will look to carry the Marlins even further this year.
And while Madison may have the area’s best player, that doesn’t make the Marlins the favorite. That title belongs to a team the Marlins dismissed in the Region III-5A semifinals, the Hightower Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes are loaded with talent, to the tune of four Division I prospects (Garlon Green, J.J. Richardson, Daryell Taylor, Joshua Wesley), three of which have already pledged to colleges (Green to TCU, Richardson to Pittsburgh, Wesley to Lamar). They are the team that everyone in the area has their eyes on heading into the 2008-09 season. With that combination of experience and talent, they should make a serious run at making it to Austin for the first time since 2003.
After Hightower, there are a host of talented teams that have the makings of a regional champion. Bellaire, who went a perfect 16-0 in District 20-5A last year, brings back all its starters (they had an entire lineup of underclassmen last year), led by the junior trio of forward Tobi Oyedeji, guard Jamel Outler and point guard Jonathan Evans.
La Porte is another team to keep an eye on. They too have a talented junior trio led by point guard in Drew Parker and forwards Randy Collins and Cedric Jones. The three have been gaining experience since they were freshmen on varsity and could be poised to lead the Bulldogs on a deep playoff run.
Strake Jesuit is another team to watch out for. Notre Dame-commit Joey Brooks (6-5 forward) leads the way with the help of the talented backcourt of Tim Frazier and Steven Rogers.
To return to the point guard theme, there’s a pair that will lead teams that could be considered “sleepers” in Region III: Jamal Fenton at Chavez and Ray Penn at Fort Bend Travis. Fenton, a New Mexico pledge, led Chavez to the regional tournament last year, where the Lobos lost to Dulles. Travis went 17-16 led by Penn, a super scorer who is committed to Oklahoma State. The Tigers will be in their second varsity season in District 23-5A, one of the toughest districts in the state.
And who can forget about Dulles? The “little team that could” is the defending Region III-5A champion. Though they graduated the Galliguez twins, Abel and Thomas, they do return two starters including the young man who was arguably their best player last year - forward Dre Harrison. Harrison, who averaged 16 points per game last year, and junior post Adrian Kuyinu, who started as a sophomore, will anchor a squad that can’t be counted out, thanks to its Princeton-style offense installed by coach Mike Carrabine.
In Class 4A, Houston ISD rules the roost. Yates, Wheatley and Jones will fight it out to be at the top. Yates graduated All-Greater Houston first-teamer Anthony Jones, but still brings back a wealth of talent, including the backcourt of Brandon “Snap” Peters and Darius Gardner, not to mention Joseph Young, the son of former Yates and University of Houston star Michael Young.
Wheatley, the defending Region III-4A champion, pulled off what many thought the Wildcats couldn’t by taking down Yates in the regional championship game last year. Returning for the pride of Fifth Ward are guards Carlos Cook, DeAndre Daniels and Josef Brown, as well as post Robert Stokes, a 6-5 junior who will provide an inside presence.
Jones has a new coach (former Jones girls coach Quincy Shelton) and brings back all five starters and virtually its entire squad. Senior 6-8 forward Ray Turner (committed to Texas A&M) leads the way for the experienced Falcons. The wild card in Region III could be Beaumont Ozen, a team just outside the Houston-area from District 20-4A. The Panthers made it to the regional tournament last year, dropping a close one to Yates but they have a lethal scorer in junior point guard DeCarlos Frank.
Who will emerge from the pack and make it to Austin is anyone’s guess, but those teams that do will have traveled quite a road and surely earned it.
5 Must See Players
Tommy Mason-Griffin, Madison - If you haven’t seen him play, make sure you do. This senior point guard is the best player in the Houston area, no questions asked. He’s a lethal scorer (23 points per game last year) and a great passer (seven assists per game). The Oklahoma commit has the ability to carry a team, which he did with the Marlins in 2007-08 - all the way to the Class 5A Region III championship game.
Erik Williams, Cypress Springs - The senior forward is possibly the best dunker the Houston area has to offer, but that’s not all he does. He’s 6-7, 190 pounds, committed to Marquette and can do a little of everything - play inside, play outside, run and finish (averaged 18.4 points per game last season). If a broken foot hadn’t ended his season in January, we might have been talking about Cypress Springs toting around the Class 5A state championship.
Joey Brooks, Strake Jesuit - The 6-5, 215-pound Notre Dame commit is long, strong and a versatile threat. As a junior, he averaged 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists a game. He won’t camp outside - Brooks is a slasher who looks to finish near the bucket as often as possible. He can run the floor and if you get in his way, well, you’re probably making a mistake.
Ray Penn, Fort Bend Travis - The 5-9 senior point guard is one of the area’s best scorers (23 points per game) then exploded in the summer at the Reebok Summer Championships in Las Vegas, where he averaged 35.8 points a game against some of the top talent in the nation. The Oklahoma State pledge is the area’s best point after Mason-Griffin, and can hit from long range and penetrate.
Jamal Fenton, Chavez - The 5-9 senior is another one of Houston’s elite class of point guards. Like Mason-Griffin and Penn, he’s a scorer (19 points per game) and seems to step his game up in big games. Strake Jesuit found that out first hand when the New Mexico pledge led the Lobos to a come-from-behind, upset victory in the second round of the playoffs on the Crusaders’ home court last season.
Top 10
Class 5A
1. Hightower
2. Bellaire
3. Madison
4. La Porte
5. Strake Jesuit
6. Kingwood
7. College Park
8. Cypress Springs
9. Pearland
10. Chavez
Top 10
Class 4A
1. Yates
2. Wheatley
3. Jones
4. Huntsville
5. La Marque
6. Lamar Consolidated
7. Crosby
8. Angleton
9. Brenham
10. Friendswood
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