VYPE caught up with Malik Presley San Marcos Boys Basketball at their VYPE Winter 2022 Media day talking about last year, up coming season and more!!
Check out the interview below!!
VYPE caught up with Malik Presley San Marcos Boys Basketball at their VYPE Winter 2022 Media day talking about last year, up coming season and more!!
Check out the interview below!!
This past Friday night the Georgetown Eagles girls Soccer team knocked off the Bastrop Bears 4-0 in the final district match-up of the year.
VYPE caught the highlights presented by Sun & Ski Sports of this district game below!
All is right with the Universe. The Cedar Park Lady Timberwolves are back in the UIL 5A Girls Basketball State Tournament.
Cedar Park, under new Head Coach Kami Williamson, vaulted into the 5A Final Four with a scintillating 45-44 overtime win over district – and fellow Leander ISD – rival Glenn last Saturday (2/24) at San Antonio’s NISD Northside Gym.
The return trip down IH-35 to San Antonio was far from a given heading into the new season. Yes, Cedar Park was only one season removed from back-to-back state championships and a record-setting winning streak under former Head Coach Donny Ott; yes, the Lady T’wolves have long been a perennial playoff powerhouse under both Ott and his predecessor, Mark Myers.
But Ott departed the suburban Austin-area school for Summer Creek after last season, elevating Williamson to the top spot after six years as his assistant. And Cedar Park was coming off a 17-17 season that saw them get knocked out in the Bi-district round by 34 points. Could the Lady Timberwolves bounce back?
Known to her players and the Cedar Park community as “Coach K,” Williamson inherited a veteran squad filled with players back from last season’s .500 squad, reinforced by newcomers up from last year’s JV squad. A 22-11 regular season mark and 3rd-place finish behind Liberty Hill and Glenn in the uber competitive District 25-5A was decent, but Cedar Park didn’t appear to be the juggernaut of recent years past.
“Our district is very tough,” Williamson understated. “At some point this season, we had all four of the (district’s) playoff teams in the Top 25 rankings, and of course Glenn and Liberty Hill were staples in the Top 10. It is a very competitive District. I think it helps prepare for the playoff run because you are playing quality programs each and every night.”
Though modest on its face, the regular season provided tantalizing hints of the Lady Timberwolves’ post-season success against their district foes and others. They lost twice to Liberty Hill but in very competitive games and had split their season with Glenn. Cedar Park was definitely in the mix.
“We knew there was a good chance that we would run into our own District teams deep in the playoffs,” Williamson stated.
Sure enough, when the road to San Antonio led to Liberty Hill in the Regional Quarterfinals, Cedar Park knocked off Liberty Hill 42-37. The Lady Panthers won 35 games and had previously lost only twice all season, both times to Glenn. Cedar Park dispatched Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial in the Regional Semis to set up the rubber match with 35-win Glenn for the right to advance to State.
“Any of those programs could be sitting here in our position,” Williamson said of her defeated District foes. “We are just blessed the basketball rolled the way it did and that we have the chance to represent our District and Region at State.”
They got there on a day drenched with drama. After a 3-hour delay and a venue change due to a power outage, Cedar Park clawed back from nine points down to send the game into overtime on junior Hope Edwards’ 3-pointer at the buzzer. They then held on as the Lady Grizzlies’ potential game-winner glanced off the rim, propelling Cedar Park back to State for the third time in four seasons.
"I am so proud of our kids for the resiliency that they showed against Glenn in the Regional finals,” Willamson declared. “Things didn't quite go our way early, but we fought through that adversity and stayed true to our game plan and each other and worked our way into a position to have a chance. In the final moments of the 4th (quarter), we got the ball into Hope (Edwards) and she made a fantastic move and got a good look for a 3 and sunk it. We had some key defensive stops and blocks in overtime and made the game-winning free throw to punch our ticket to the State Tournament."
The Lady Timberwolves have just gotten better as the season wore on. And while this year’s team might not have a flashy 30+ win record like past Cedar Park teams, Coach Kami Williamson’s squad earned legit wins against quality teams when it mattered most on their return trip to Sate.
“Our girls had a vision of what they wanted to do and where they wanted to be this season, and obviously making it to the State tournament was at the top of that list,” Williamson said before Thursday’s (2/29) semifinal matchup with another group of Lady Timberwolves from Mansfield Summit.
“I am so proud that this group has the opportunity to get back to San Antonio and compete for a State Championship.”
UIL Realignment is the most popular parlor game in the state of Texas, perhaps no more so than in the Greater Austin area. As Texas’ newest “big city,” Austin’s explosive growth has resulted in some of the wildest whiplash-inducing classification swings in the state.
Austin’s 6A contingent has been primarily centered on District 25 and 26-6A in recent years and that largely remains the same this time around. District 25-6A remains anchored by the five Round Rock ISD schools – Round Rock, Stony Point, McNeil, Cedar Ridge and Westwood -- along with Austin Vandegrift and Cedar Park Vista Ridge. Manor also remains in the district for a second straight cycle while Hutto -- part of the district in 2020-22 – returns to form an extremely tough 9-team district.
Nine teams had been the norm for a District 26-6A dominated by perennial football powers Westlake and Lake Travis. Dripping Springs’ emergence left the larger Austin ISD schools – Austin High, Anderson, Bowie and Akins – along with Del Valle and Buda Johnson fighting for the final spot in multiple sports. With Anderson dropping down to 5A this cycle, however, and Johnson sliding south into District 29-6A to join schools between Austin and San Antonio like San Marcos, Cibolo Steele and Schertz Clemens, District 26-6A has shrunk to just seven teams.
With everyone in Austin remaining as part of Region IV and District 27-6A and 28-6A being comprised solely of San Antonio schools, the Austin-San Antonio rivalry will only intensify as the Capital City (25/26) and the River City (27/28) teams will clash in Area Round playoffs.
The shifting demographics caused the largest tectonic shifts in Conference 5A. Leander ISD schools Cedar Park, Rouse, Glenn and Leander, along with Georgetown and Georgetown East View anchor District 8-5A-1, joined somewhat randomly by newer schools Lake Belton and Killeen Chaparral. The big news there is the move to Region 2, meaning they’ll immediately head north to the DFW area for the Area Round and beyond.
On the other side of town, Pflugerville Weiss joins Austin Anderson in moving back down to 5A. Together, they’ll join the two 5A Hays CISD schools Hays and Lehman, Cedar Creek, Pflugerville Hendrickson, Lockhart, College Station and A&M Consolidated in a sprawling 12-5A-1. That Region 3 assignment points them all in the Houston direction for later in the playoffs.
The 5A schools along I-35 between Austin and SA -- Smithson Valley, New Braunfels and Seguin -- will join Boerne Champion and a smattering of San Antonio schools in District 13-5A-1 while Northside Jay and several newer southside San Antonio teams partner with Laredo-area schools in District 14-5A-1.
Liberty Hill joins the mid-size AISD schools – Crockett, LASA, McCallum and Navarro – plus Bastrop, Elgin and the two smaller PfISD schools Pflugerville and Pflugerville Connally in a tough District 11-5A-2.
It’s all much neater in 5A Basketball. All four PfISD schools join both Georgetown ISD schools and Elgin in District 23-5A; all six AISD 5A teams join both Bastrop ISD teams in 24-5A; and, the four 5A Leander ISD schools join Liberty Hill, Lockhart and Hays CISD’s Lehman and Hays in 25-5A.
Austin ISD schools Eastside, Johnson (LBJ), Northeast and Travis have moved down to 4A where they should all be much more competitive. They’ll join Austin Achieve, Manor New Tech and Taylor in
District 13-4A-1. Lago Vista, meanwhile, hangs on in 13-5A-2 for football and joins the AISD schools and New Tech in 25-4A for basketball.
Meanwhile, Taylor, Salado, Burnet and Lampasas go back in time to the last decade. Those longtime 4A rivals are back together again, anchoring 24-4A basketball where they’ll be joined by Georgetown Gateway Prep, Jarrell and Marble Falls.
The watercooler debates and online arguing about which districts work and which ones don’t; which are fair and which are gerrymandered beyond belief are just beginning. In just under eight months, the arguments move to the fields and the gymnasiums for the next two years.
REACTIONS
Hutto heads to 25-6A for the next 2 years. Hutto joins some familiar opponents in Round Rock, Leander, and Manor ISD Schools. The Hippos will look forward to closer drives in 25-6A compared to the last 2 years. This is a very competitive district, but I feel the Hippos fit in with the good competition. “There are some classy coaches and teams in 25-6A. All of the ADs in the district are hard-working, lead with integrity, and are a pleasure to work alongside,” said Brad LaPlante, Hutto ISD Athletic Director.
“Overall we are excited about where we landed in 5A Division I and 5A Division II for football and for our non-football sports. We will not be traveling near as far as we have been the last two years for either.Post season play in football Region 3 will be some travel, but when you are in the post season that typically isn’t a concern,” said James McEachern, Pflugerville ISD Athletic Director.
“We are excited about our new district. We'll have a lot less travel and more fans in the stands on Friday nights. Our new district will be tough and very athletic.”
- Kent Walker, Liberty Hill Athletic Coordinator, Head Football Coach.
“We have a very strong district. There will be no weeks off. Quality teams from top to bottom.”
- James Keller, Manor Athletic Coordinator, Head Football Coach
“The new district looks competitive and close by. I like the idea of playing schools closer as they get the communities more involved and create some rivalries and true Friday Night Lights. By removing some state powers, our district is much more competitive each week.”
- Michael Wall, East View Head Football Coach, Campus Coordinator
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