Chapel Hill makes first boys regional appearance, to take on sixth-ranked Ponder Friday

Chapel Hill makes first boys regional appearance, to take on sixth-ranked Ponder Friday News Staff Sat, 03/02/2024 - 05:40 Image

• Chapel Hill makes first boys regional appearance, to take on sixth-ranked Ponder Friday

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For the first time ever, the 3A Region II tournament will include the Chapel Hill Red Devils.

This year’s regional tournament will include two East Texas schools known for their prowess on the court, a school that has made eight appearances at the state tournament and won five titles and a school looking for its own first appearance at the state tournament.

A scouting report on the other three teams vying for the regional title this weekend:

Paradise Panthers

Record prior to regionals: 26-11 (12-2 in District 103A) Road to regionals: Life Oak Cliff (56-39), Pottsboro (51-47), Cedar Hill Trinity Leadership (56-32) Head Coach: Bo Rickner Assistant coaches: Barry Mathis, Aaron Walterscheid, Lane Wilson School colors: green and black Paradise comes into the regional tournament with 17 wins in their last 19 games. The team that beat them in that run of the schedule is also in the regional tournament as the Panthers finished second to Ponder in district play, losing at Ponder, 44-36, and at home, 45-35.

Paradise’s other nine losses came against Perrin- Whitt (who made the 1A regional quarterfinals), Idalou (who made the 2A regional quarterfinals), Decatur (who will play in their own regional tournament), Jim Ned (a regional quarterfinalist), Holliday (who defeated Jim Ned to reach the regional tournament), Addison Liberty Christian (who reached the TAPPS 6A state quarterfinals), Burkburnett (area qualifier), Aubrey (bi-district qualifier) and Amarillo Randall (who will play in their own regional tournament). The Panthers lost 11 times on the year, all to playoff teams and to three regional tournament participants and seven of those losses came by single digits.

The 16th-ranked Panthers held 18th-ranked Trinity Leadership to single digits in three out of four quarters and allowed no Tiger to score more than eight points for the game, holding Trinity Leadership to just one made three pointer. Only Randall scored more than 63 points against the Panthers this year. Panther senior Landon Holley also signed to play football at McMurry University.

Trivia: The city of Paradise was named because, according to tradition, the area was a “cowboy’s paradise.” Paradise ISD is known for their prowess in powerlifting, cross-country and track and field and the Panther band has received two superior and two excellent ratings across their history at the regional level.

Tatum Eagles

Record prior to regionals: 27-9 (12-1 in District 163A) Road to regionals: White Oak (94-23), Redwater (7938), Winnsboro (57-29) Head coach: Brett Carr Assistant coaches: Shane Myer, Nakia Smith, Ty Webb School colors: green and white Much like their regional tournament opponent, Paradise, all of Tatum’s losses this season came to playoff teams. The 17th-ranked Eagles also lost to three regional tournament teams – Ponder, Martins Mill (three times) and Kountze. Martins Mill, who made their own regional tournament, has four wins over teams in this regional tournament – three against Tatum and one against Chapel Hill.

Tatum avenged two of their losses over the course of the season: Sabine, winning the rematch by one after losing the first matchup by seven and Jefferson, winning the district tiebreaker by 32 after Jefferson won the district finale by one.

Tatum is the highest scoring team of the four in the regional tournament, scoring 2,542 points going into the regional tournament and scored 90 or more points seven times this season including eclipsing the 100-point mark once. The Eagles are led by 6’1 guard JaCorie Bradley and 6’3 forward Luke Sigler.

The Eagles have made the state tournament four times and made the championship game all four times, but lost in the title game each time, including a loss to Ponder in 2014. Tatum is looking to change that fact and lives by their basketball tradition, found near the locker room in their home gym: “What makes this family great is not one of us…but all of us! I believe!”

Trivia: Tatum was settled in 1840 by Albert Tatum, who at one time, owned 4,000 acres of land in and around what would become Tatum. One of the most recognizable athletic names of a Tatum athlete is Larry Centers, who played for the Eagles as a senior before going to college at Steven F. Austin then playing for four NFL teams in a 13-year career that included winning a Super Bowl and setting the NFL record for most career catches by a running back.

Ponder Lions

Record before regionals: 34-6 (12-0 in District 103A) Road to regionals: Village Tech (82-29), Gunter (58-30), Dallas Madison (50-29) Head Coach: J.D. Sullivan Assistant coaches: Michael Eddy, Terry Ryan School colors: red and white The sixth-ranked Ponder Lions have some unfinished business in the regional tournament, which seems odd to say about the team who has been to eight state tournaments and won it all five times. However, Ponder would like to finish the job and not lose to an East Texas school for the second consecutive year after the Lions lost to Hooks in double overtime last year in the regional semifinals. Ponder got past Dallas Madison, a recent rival, to reach the regional tournament. The Lions have played Madison in the playoffs three straight years in the regional quarterfinals and played them in the regional finals in 2017. The two teams have gone 2-2 in those meetings, but Ponder has claimed the last two.

Ponder has been to state six times since 2000, winning all five of their titles in that timeframe, but haven’t been to the state tournament since 2014 – also the last time the Lions won the title. The Lions are the second highest-ranked team at the regional tournament, have the second fewest losses on the year – both behind Chapel Hill – and have the longest winning streak with 17 consecutive wins. In their area win over Gunter, the Lions held the Tigers to three points in the first quarter and 12 for the first half.

Head Coach J.D. Sullivan described their defensive philosophy in an interview with the Denton Record- Chronicle’s John Fields: “That’s the key term or phrase, being locked in. How are you guarding who you’re guarding? What are his strengths, what are his weaknesses, how do you keep him from doing what he wants to do? Make the person we want to shoot the ball shoot the ball so that their best players don’t get what they want. Cut the head off the snake and the body will die.”

The Lions are led by 6’3 senior Carter Eddy, 6’1 senior Case Peacock and 6’2 senior Timber Crider.

Ponder’s school outlook has influenced every department at the school: “One Pride, One Mission.”

Trivia: The Ponder ISD includes the community of DISH. Originally named Clark, for its founder, Landis Clark, the town changed its name to DISH (in all capital letters) in 2005 as part of an agreement with Dish Network. In exchange, residents received free basic television service for 10 years and a free DVR from Dish Network.