Clements boys victorious in key hoops matchup

It seems as though the District 20-6A boys’ hoops race comes down to the wire just about every year in recent seasons. This season looks to be no different, and one local school picked up a key win to keep pace to finish the first half of district play last weekend.

The Clements Rangers pulled away late to beat the Bush Broncos 45-28 last Saturday, improving to 21-6 overall and 5-2 in District 20-6A. The teams had entered play Saturday as part of a four-way tie for second place.

Clements has already clinched its first winning season since 2014-2015, and enter the second half of district play looking to earn the program’s first playoff berth since that campaign. The Rangers overcame a slow first quarter Saturday against Bush, outscoring the Broncos 41-19 from the start of the second quarter on thanks to a couple of big-time performances.

Divine Ugochukwu led the way for the Rangers with 19 points, while Abdullah Olajuwon added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Aron Valentine led Bush (19-10, 4-3) with 12 points in the loss, while Kai’ree Murray added eight points for the Broncos.

Other boys action

On the Class 6A front, the Elkins Knights continued to reign supreme thus far in District 20-6A, beating Austin 58-47 on Saturday to move to 22-5 overall and 7-0 in district play.

Ethan To had 12 points in the loss for the Bulldogs (11-15, 1-6), while Davion Jackson added 12 points of his own.

In Class 5A action, the Marshall Buffalos continued their dominant run through District 24-5A, blowing out Richmond Foster by a score of 109-64 on Friday. Jaland Lowe poured in a season-high 47 points for the Buffalos (20-2, 9-0), while Chris Marshall had a season-high 37 points of his own.

The Hightower Hurricanes kept pace, however, with a pair of big wins last week. Led by 21 points from Jacory Chatman, five players scored in double digits for the Hurricanes (19-8,9-1) in a 100-33 win over Lamar Consolidated on Jan. 18. Hightower then defeated Fulshear by a score of 102-42 on Saturday.

Kempner snapped a two-game losing streak by beating Fulsher 58-55 on Jan. 18, then took down Rosenberg Terry 65-42 on Friday. Bryan Etumnu led the Cougars (14-13, 5-5) with 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Noel Ike had 14 points and five rebounds and Emad El-Refaei added 10 points.

Girls

In a rematch of District 20-6A’s top two girls’ teams so far this season, the Dulles Lady Vikings grinded out a 62-55 victory over the Austin Lady Bulldogs on Jan. 18 and beat George Ranch 57-51 on Saturday.

Dulles is 19-6 overall and moved into a first-place tie with Austin at 8-1 in district play with Saturday’s win. Peyton Overton 17 points led four Lady Vikings in double figures against Austin, while Nya Threatt had 16 points and 10 assists to go along with six rebounds.

Gabby Johnson had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs (22-5, 8-1) against Dulles, then followed it up with 16 points in a win over Elkins on Saturday. Andrea Sturdivant added 16 points against Elkins, while India Jackson had 12 points and Kelechi Dike had 10 of her own.

On the Class 5A front, the Hightower Lady Hurricanes beat Lamar Consolidated 73-39 on Jan. 18 before defeating Fulshear 47-31 on Friday. Jada Grigsby had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals for the Lady Hurricanes (20-7, 11-1) against Fulshear, while sophomore Daija Thomas led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds against Lamar Consolidated.