GAMES
RANKINGS
WINTER WRAP: Spartans, Mustangs Earn District Titles
BASKETBALL
THE 2021-2022 HOOPS CAMPAIGN WAS A STRONG ONE FOR SPRING BRANCH ISD.
Stratford’s boys shared the District 17-6A title with Cypress Creek, going 12-2 in district play. Stratford finished 27-6 overall, falling to Mayde Creek in the Area playoffs.
Spring Woods was 15-15 overall, Memorial went 10-25 and Northbrook finished 3-25.
Stratford was buoyed by a breakout season from junior guard Keanu Dawes, who will be one of the top talents to keep an eye on in the Class of 2023. Senior forward Luke Hatcher also enjoyed a stellar season for the Spartans.
On the girls’ side, Memorial had an outstanding year, finishing with a program-best 27 wins. The Mustangs shared the 17-6A title with Cypress Creek, going 13-1 in district play.
The prolific-shooting Mustangs were led by premier talents like junior guard Riley McCloskey, junior forward Abigail Tomaski, sophomore forward Nicki Polocheck, and senior center Giana Vlahakos. Memorial reached the Area round.
Stratford joined Memorial in the playoffs. The Spartans went 14-17 overall, 8-6 in district play, to make the postseason for the first time in seven years.
Stratford finished as an Area playoff finalist after routing Bellaire in its BiDistrict playoff game.
Spring Woods went 7-21 overall and Northbrook finished 9-22.
SWIMMING
SPRING BRANCH ISD SENT A STRONG CONTINGENT OF COMPETITORS TO THE UIL CLASS 6A STATE SWIMMING MEET THIS SPRING.
The district’s stars in Austin were the Memorial boys 200-yard medley relay team and Memorial sophomore Kassidy Kitchel.
The Mustangs’ 200 medley relay finished ninth overall with a time of 1:35.32. The team consisted of senior Luca Burns, sophomore Reid Vandervoort, senior Amaury Jayr and junior Oliver Grossman.
Kitchel finished seventh in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:04.21. She also finished 14th in the 100-yard butterfly with a mark of 56.28 seconds.
Burns also finished 15th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.91 seconds. Memorial’s 400- yard freestyle relay team of Jayr, Grossman, Burns and junior Romain Joubert finished 11th with a time of 3:08.20.
SOCCER
STARTFORD REPRESENTED SPRING BRANCH ISD WELL ON THE PITCH, WINNING THE DISTRICT 17-6A GIRLS TITLE IN DOMINANT FASHION.
Stratford went 13-1 in district play. The Spartans won six consecutive games entering the postseason. Once there, Stratford defeated Westside (12-0), Katy (5-0), Tompkins (3-2) and West Brook (1-1 (4-3 PKs) to advance to the Region III-6A Championship match. Stratford fell to Ridge Point and finished the season 20-4-4.
In 28 matches, the Spartans allowed 18 goals while scoring 77.
Memorial also booked a trip to the playoffs as the No. 3 seed out of 17-6A. The Mustangs went 11-3 in district. Memorial fell to Seven Lakes in the Area Round.
Spring Woods finished its season 8-14 overall, going 4-10 in district play and finished fifth in district. Northbrook went 8-11-3 overall.
On the boys side, Northbrook was the lone Spring Branch ISD representative in the playoffs. The Raiders finished fourth in district, going 6-5-3. They finished 8-10-4 overall.
Memorial, Spring Woods and Stratford all fell short of the playoffs. Memorial went 6-7-8 overall, Spring Woods went 7-10-5 overall and Stratford finished 6-11-4.
DREAMING BIG: Northbrook's Montero Perez Making Most of a Better Life
GADIEL MONTERO PEREZ’S FAMILY MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES FROM CUBA FOUR YEARS AGO TO GIVE HIM AND HIS OLDER BROTHER AN OPPORTUNITY AT A BETTER LIFE.
The Northbrook junior swimmer has made the most of it so far.
In two years, Montero Perez has broken five Northbrook records – 50 freestyle (22.61 seconds), 100 fly (54.76), 100 freestyle (49.85), 100 backstroke (54.16), 200 free relay (1:47.94) - many of which were 20-30 years old.
“What motivates me are my parents,” Montero Perez said. “For them, the ambition of being better. They encourage me to keep going and they lift me up. In swimming, I want to be the best one.”
Northbrook coach Amanda Robinson said Montero Perez has an integrity and maturity beyond his years.
“He’s very coachable and open-minded, which is needed to succeed in any sport,” Robinson said. “He has a lot of grit and doesn’t shy away from challenges, which has paid off in the classroom and the pool.
“He is one of the hardest working student-athletes that I guarantee Northbrook has ever seen.”
Montero Perez has been swimming since he was five years old, when he saw his older brother doing it.
“It’s about feeling free in the water,” he said.
While he has found home in the pool, Montero Perez is still acclimating to his home out of it.
He said his biggest growth in adjusting to the U.S. is understanding different points of view. In Robinson, Montero-Perez said he has found a second mother whom he can confide in and trust in athletics and his personal life.
It’s relationships like these that Robinson does not take for granted as she strives to build a program.
“I always make it a point to be the type of coach my athletes feel comfortable confiding in,” she said. “It is also my hope that this keeps my swimmers coming back year after year. Historically, Northbrook swimming has had a very high percentage of swimmer turnover, and I’m doing my best to try to lower that percentage and to keep our team growing.”
Montero Perez wants to swim in college. He is conscientious about getting better, especially coming off a sophomore season stunted by elbow injuries.
“Last year, I didn’t really swim a whole lot because of COVID and everything,” he said. “I’ve been swimming a lot more, and I’ll be even better. My technique has improved the most, as far as how I move through the water. I’m using my arms more.”
He’s also doing his part academically.
Montero Perez is a member of the National Honor Society. In August, he joined FFA and takes pride in taking care of his lamb, Freya, named after the goddess in the God of War video game.
“It’s really cool, but challenging,” he said. “I want to be a vet, so it was something I wanted to do. If I do something, I want to give it my all. I want to be proud of what I do and what I will become.”



















































