Cy Ranch opens up area basketball sending a message
I was glancing across our local paper to try and see the best game in the closest proximity to tie in what I had going on for the evening and the bad thing about having only one paper in town…
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Continue ReadingI was glancing across our local paper to try and see the best game in the closest proximity to tie in what I had going on for the evening and the bad thing about having only one paper in town is that you just never know if the time or site will be correct, it’s been like that for over a decade but I’ve tried to explain that in the simplest way yet here we are. North Shore with an on the road upset over Hightower was probably the Game Of The Night but I had to see Cy Ranch vs Jersey Village because of three players from Ranch, seniors Riane Burton, Shadiya Thomas, and Shira Patton have all done exactly what I said they’d do in middle school and that’s land with D1 colleges.
Riane BurtonRiane Burton was an absolute beast and as I play things back in my head, she had to have a double-double scoring in the high teens. The Cincinnati commit was virtually unstoppable throughout the night as she battled on both ends for the boards, had countless putbacks and was a force on defense. I also had a chance to see a couple of freshmen play meaningful minutes and appear to be making the transition with ease. Chelsea Singleton who made my Tip Sheet this past summer filled in nicely in the starting rotation while Tracey Matindu made one of my Tip Sheets season before last when I commented on how fluid her midrange game was, those are a couple of names you will definitely be hearing about down road as well as another freshman, Xavier Hill who stands around “the magic number” once again, that’s 6’0
Shadiya ThomasShadiya Thomas (Air Force) set the tone early as she attacked from everywhere and watching her glide to the basket for numerous acrobatic layups as well as keeping the defense honest with her pull-up from mid to long-range. Thomas started her high school career off with a bang as she immediately became one of the teams leading scorers and this Cy Ranch squad is definitely one of the favorites to win their district in what will probably boil down to a fight with Langham Creek but more on that coming up down the road. Jersey Village has a different look after the Truong twins era, both are suiting up as freshmen for Gonzaga but that didn’t stop juniors Gia Adams and Briana Peguero from showing why they’re one of the top offensive duos in the area as both play the passing lanes quite well and score an abundance of ways
Shira PattonI can’t close without a picture of Shira Patton (Northern Arizona) and that picture-perfect jumper I have been watching her drop like, well forever. One of the most athletic players in the area, that can actually play basketball, Patton has also been one of the state’s most underrated players over the years, not by me. When you can elevate over players much taller than you, with ease, and score at a high percentage, certain things will fall into place and these three seniors from the Mustangs want to close it out with style. They’re competing in Region 2, which is definitely a tougher group as a whole once the playoffs start but I’ll catch them again week after next in the Texas Invitational