About 60 Weatherford Express players from six teams participated in the 22nd annual Texas Home School State Basketball Championships the last weekend in February in Frisco.
Each Express team played four to five games from Thursday through Saturday against other home-schooled teams from across the state."It’s a great opportunity for all homeschool families to take part in a state tournament like the public schools," said Glenn Sutton, head coach of the 12-and-under or elementary boys’ team.About 170 teams from cities including Houston, Paris, Lubbock, Amarillo and Odessa participated – totaling about 1,380 players. The THSSBC tournament is second only to the national tournament that will take place in Springfield, Mo.., in March.The teams played in two different locations, Frisco and Carrolton, including a building housing 11 courts in one room."It’s the culmination of our season," Express Athletics Director Rob Paulukaitis said of the tournament, which he said Express has taken part in since before his family joined the program about eight years ago.Each game started with the teams and coaches reading a Bible verse and praying for the game and its players."The whole purpose of our program is to give homeschooled kids in Parker County and the area a chance to play sports in a Christian environment,” Paulukaitis said.After losing their first game, forcing them out of the championship division, the elementary boys won four straight to win the bronze division.Their third win came only after they tied the game with about 10 seconds left in regulation and then controlled much of the three-minute overtime to win by five points.They beat the Lake Houston Conquerors by just three points to win the division. Despite playing a much larger team, Sutton said his team out-hustled them to take the trophy in their last game on Saturday."It’s just a great ending to a hard-working season," Sutton said. "They rose to the challenge."The age 14-and-under boys’ team also won their bronze division with a 64-12 win over the Hawks for their final game, going 3-2 for the weekend.The varsity boys and varsity girls – the girls having to play despite some injuries – also won their final games, going 1-3 and 2-3 for the weekend, respectively. The 10-and-under boys won one of four games.Starting Friday, the tournament also held a three-point shooting competition. Each team could nominate two players to participate.Express players Aaron Paulukaitis, 11, and Jonathan Tyer, 16, made it to the final three for each of their age groups out of the 84 boys participating.Tyer won his division, and out-shot all participants, by making eight of 12 shots in 30 seconds. He made his last four attempts, the final a buzzer-beater, to beat the second place player by one.Paulukaitis and Sutton both said they look forward to the next season as players move to older teams while younger ones join in."I think next year’s gonna be even better than this year," Paulukaitis said. "I think we’re gonna have a really good season."Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
