GAMES
RANKINGS
Local hoopers nominated for 2023 McDonald's All-American Games
The first round of nominees for the prestigious 2023 McDonald's All American Games has been announced and 18 players total—5 boys and 13 girls—hail from the Greater Houston area.
The final rosters of the top 24 Boys and 24 Girls for the 2023 McDonald’s All American Games will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023 on NBA Today between 3-4 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The games will be played on March 28 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Local Nominees:
- BOYS:
- Corey Hadnot II, Cypress Creek High School, Houston
- Zion Harper, Lutheran North Academy, Houston
- Jace Posey, Strake Jesuit College Prep, Houston
- Jaland Lowe, Marshall High School, Missouri City
- Jamari McDowell, Manvel High School, Manvel
- GIRLS:
- Loghan Johnson, Houston Christian High School, Houston
- Dalanna Carter, Barbers Hill High School, Mont Belvieu
- Rylee Grays, Pearland High School, Pearland
- D’Asia Thomas, Houston Christian High School, Houston
- Riley McCloseky, Memorial High School, Houston
- Abigail Tomaski, Memorial High School, Houston
- Jorynn Ross, Summer Creek High School, Houston
- Kortlin Allen, Westside High School, Houston
- Kaitlynn Evans, Westside High School, Houston
- Makayla Evans, Westside High School, Houston
- Indiya Fields, Westside High School, Houston
- J’Riana Moore, Westside Highschool, Houston
- Arianah Lewis, Brenham High School, Brenham
VYPE Girls Basketball Rankings: January 7
With all the holiday tournaments over and teams in the midst of district play, it was time for VYPE to take a look at its basketball rankings and freshen them up.
VYPE's Preseason No. 1 team Cypress Creek has been unbelievable. The Cougars are 25-0 overall and are absolutely rolling. Behind them the rest of the city falls in line with some ultra-talented teams in the mix.
In the private school ranks, The Village School has been crazy good, going 23-5 so far. But that should be no surprise to anyone with the talent on that roster.
Check out the Top 10 Public School and Top 5 Private School girls basketball teams in the city below.
VYPE's TOP 10 - Public School
1. Cypress Creek Cougars (25-0) (Prev. 1)
- Cypress Creek has been absolutely rolling this season. The Cougars have been blowing the doors off opponents of late. In the last few games, Cypress Creek defeated Northbrook (72-17) and Spring Woods (67-10) and has been dominant.
2. Atascocita Eagles (23-3) (Prev. 4)
- Atascocita has been impressive this year, especially coming off a 65-48 victory over rival Summer Creek. That is a big district win for Atascocita.
3. Fort Bend Hightower Hurricanes (21-4) (Prev. 3)
- The Hurricanes got a nice win over Foster, 42-39, on December 31. Destini Lombard is leading the team in scoring, followed by Zaria Johnson. They have a big showdown against Shadow Creek tonight.
4. Cypress Ranch Mustangs (20-3) (Prev. 5)
- Cy Ranch has been solid, outscoring opponents 370-236 in district play to move to 7-0 thus far. The last two losses for Cy Ranch have been to Mansfield Legacy and Centennial, which came at the Spring Creek Invitational. Riane Burton is leading the team in scoring, followed by Shadiya Thomas.
5. Summer Creek Bulldogs (18-4) – (Prev. 2)
- Summer Creek is coming off its first district loss of the year, which came at the hands of Atascocita this past week. The Bulldogs should be able to right the ship against Sam Rayburn on Tuesday with South Houston next on Friday.
6. Clear Springs (18-6) – (Prev. Unranked)
- Clear Springs was impressive in the VYPE-Aldine ISD Holiday Hoops Classic, where they made it to the semifinals of the winners' bracket. A six-point loss to Heights prevented them from moving on to the title game of the tourney. Kylie Minter has been impressive, averaging 14.4 points per game, while Jermia Green is averaging 13.2 points per game.
7. Clear Falls (21-5) (Prev. Unranked)
- Clear Falls has been good this season, winning 21 games. In district before the holiday break they fell to Clear Springs, 62-56. Since then they are coming off three-straight wins over Clear Brook, Dawson and Dickinson. Clear Falls' scoring has been even between Alexis Clayborne (11.1 ppg/6 rpg), Niah Richard (11 ppg) and Josephine Adegbite (10.8 ppg). That is a triple-headed threat that if going all that same time will be hard to stop.
8. Oak Ridge (19-3) – (Prev. Unranked)
- Oak Ridge has been a bit of a surprise this year, the play of Mersadez Nephew has been key to their success. Nephew has been averaging 18.1 points per game and 5.1 rebounds. Behind her has been Nicole Petrakovitz, who is putting up 14.6 points per game This week will be a big test for Oak Ridge, facing Klein and Conroe, which is 6-0 in district play entering this week.
9. Barbers Hill (20-4) – (Prev. Unranked)
- First-year Barbers Hill coach Bryan Harris has his team rolling. The Eagles are 20-4 overall and 3-0 in district play. Harris came over from Manvel in the offseason and has brought a spark to a team that went 17-12 a year ago and eventually lost in the first round of the playoffs.
10. Shadow Creek (19-4) – (Prev. No. 6)
- This may be the showdown of the week in the city of Houston. Shadow Creek will try and take an undefeated district mark into its game against Fort Bend Hightower on Friday night. If that is a meeting of two undefeated district mates, that will be fun. Bre'yon White has been really good this year, averaging 12.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Behind her has been R'Mani Taylor, who is averaging 12.3 points per night.
Others to Watch: Magnolia West, Langham Creek, Waller
Private School Top 5
2. Fort Bend Christian Academy (14-5)
3. Episcopal (13-5)
4. Concordia Lutheran (12-11)
5. St. Agnes (12-11)
Others to Watch - Kinkaid, Lutheran North, John Cooper, Second Baptist, Lutheran South