Playoff basketball is here as the first day of the Bi-District round of the UIL girls brackets unfolded Monday night with the second day of opening-round playoffs to play Tuesday night.
Bi-District Blowouts...Again
The Bi-District round usually lends itself to lots of blowouts as district champions are often paired against teams that maybe struggled to get into the playoffs. On the second night of the Bi-District round, that was the case again as at least half a dozen games were decided by 15 points or more.
The biggest one on Tuesday night went to the state's No. 2-ranked 6A team, DeSoto, which annihilated Richardson Pearce 97-18 to advance. DeSoto fell a game short of claiming the state championship last year, so opening with a 79-point win is an emphatic statement at is begins its march to finishing the fight in 2020.
Haltom's Wild Finish
Despite finding itself down 34-26 in the third quarter thanks to just a three-point effort in the frame, Haltom finished the game on a 23-6 run to take down Fort Worth Trimble Tech for the program's first playoff win since 2009. Back-to-back 3-pointers gave Haltom the lead it would not relinquish as it closed out the game on a 7-0 run over the last 2-plus minutes.
Another Drought Finished
Lake Dallas ended a 12-year playoff drought with a 20-point win over Azle on Tuesday night, despite getting behind by seven a few times early in the game. Lake Dallas outscored Azle by 22 in the second half thanks to scoring 20 points in both the third and fourth quarter also while shutting down Azle's
Best Area Matchups
While we can't acknowledge every Area matchup through all classifications in this space, there are a handful to keep an eye out on as the playoffs continue to unfold.
DeSoto vs. Southlake Carroll sets up a matchup with two teams with 25 wins or more. DeSoto is ranked second in 6A in the state, and looked very impressive to open the playoffs. Carroll was in a tussle with Flower Mound, so will need to be on its A-game to match with one of the best teams in the state.
It happens, and it's a bummer when it does, but a state-ranked matchup in the Area Round is what will take place in 5A with No. 5 Mansfield Timberview and No. 17 Denton Braswell. Each team has 26 or more wins, but one (Timberview) comes with a litany of experience with deep playoff runs while the other (Braswell) just secured its program's first-ever playoff win.
The best matchup in the area in 4A will be between No. 15 Dallas Pinkston and No. 22 Kennedale. Both are in the midst of double-digit win streaks and both won big in their opening-round matchups. Although, nobody won quite as big as Kennedale with its 89-point win over North Hills Prep.
