Looking ahead at this week’s boys and girls high school sports action:

Boys basketball

Showtime! For Fossil Ridge and Western Hills, it doesn’t get much bigger than Tuesday. Both teams took care of business Friday to keep the showdown intact: Western Hills (20-6, 10-1 District 6-4A) at Fossil Ridge (24-4, 12-0), 7:30 p.m. “It’s a big one, its for the district championship probably,” Western Hills coach Jim Wall said. With Azle a distant third place at 7-5, the winner will have a leg up on the district crown. Fossil Ridge can virtually wrap things up with a win since it defeated the Cougars 57-52 on Dec. 21. Both teams are 10-1 since. Fossil Ridge will have three games left afterwards, with those opponents all under .500 for the year. Of Western Hills’ four remaining games, only Azle (13-10) is over .500.

Summit could be on its way. As it stands, Mansfield Summit sits alone in the fourth and final playoff spot in District 4-5A with a 7-4 record. After this week, the Jaguars are going to have a much better understanding if there will be basketball to play after the regular season ends Feb. 12 at Granbury. Summit faces North Crowley (27-1, 12-0) on Tuesday and second-place Mansfield Timberview (9-3) on Friday. Summit played North Crowley to a six-point game earlier and lost to Timberview by only two on Jan. 2. Couple those games with a game at third-place Weatherford Feb. 5 and you could say Summit has something to play for. Don’t you think?

What a mess. District 7-5A is about as dysfunctional as a Jerry Springer show. Dallas Jesuit and South Grand Prairie are leading at 7-2, but Hurst L.D. Bell and Irving are right behind at 6-3. Euless Trinity (11-14, 4-5) has the most to gain this week. Currently in fifth, the Trojans host Irving on Tuesday and go to South Grand Prairie on Friday.

Just go to Wilkerson-Greines on Tuesday. Just do it. At 6 p.m., District 7-4A leading Fort Worth Southwest (10-2) faces second-place FW Eastern Hills (9-2). Right after, third-place FW Dunbar (8-3) battles fourth-place FW Polytechnic (8-4). Remember only three teams from each 4A district go to the playoffs.

Other key games to watch:

Cleburne, second in 8-4A at 8-1, goes to undefeated Crowley (9-0) at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

FW Wyatt (7-4 in 7-4A) vs. FW Eastern Hills at Wilkerson-Greines at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Wyatt beat second-place Eastern Hills by seven on Jan. 3.

Girls basketball

Takes two to tango. Timberview (12-1 in District 4-5A) and Mansfield Summit (12-1) are heading for a potential “district championship” game Friday if both teams take care of business Tuesday. No. 2 in 5A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, Timberview has the tougher test vs. Mansfield (9-4). No. 13 Summit faces North Crowley (6-8). Timberview defeated Summit 56-50 on Jan. 2 with Keena May’s 17 points.

Seguin trying to hold on. At 23-8 and 8-1 in District 15-4A, Arlington Seguin is one game up in the loss column on Lancaster with three games left. The teams split the season series. Seguin faces Ennis on Tuesday and Corsicana on Friday before wrapping up the regular season at Red Oak on Feb. 5. Lancaster has two games left.

Home-court advantage? While the top three playoff seeds in 8-5A seem to be wrapped up, the final playoff spot is being determined by a game of hot potato. Cedar Hill and Arlington Sam Houston are both 5-6. They’ll play each other Friday at Sam Houston. Martin is still in it at 5-5,but has home games against No. 3 DeSoto (10-1) on Tuesday and against No. 7 Duncanville (9-2) on Friday.

Swimming

In the water. Regional meets for swimming and diving are Feb. 8-9. Here’s a quick glance at how area teams fared in last week’s district meets: Mansfield’s boys won their seventh consecutive District 4-5A championship at Mansfield ISD Natatorium Thursday. The Lady Tigers won their fifth district title in six seasons with six wins, including two relays. Legacy placed second. North Crowley’s Francisco Nieves won titles in the 50 and 100 freestyles for the fourth consecutive season. Freshman Lauren Richey won three district championships, including two individual races, to help Arlington Martin win the 5-5A title. Arlington Lamar won the boys championship with only six swimmers. Western Hills swept the boys and girls titles at the District 7-4A championships. It was the sixth straight for the girls, and it was the boys' fourth in seven years. Euless Trinity defended its District 7-5A title by winning three relays and four individual events. Hurst L.D. Bell was second. Bell’s Chelsea Savage earned 331.50 points to win the 1-meter diving competition for the fourth straight year.

Boys wrestling

District 9 Championship (boys only): at Wilkerson-Greines, Thursday, Jan. 31. Arlington Heights, Carter-Riverside, Paschal, Polytechnic, Trimble Tech, Western Hills, Wyatt.

District 10 Championship: at Grapevine HS. Saturday, Feb. 2. Colleyville Heritage, Euless Trinity, Grapevine, Hurst L.D. Bell, Keller, Keller Central, Keller Fossil Ridge, Southlake Carroll.

District 12 Championship: at Coppell HS. Friday, Feb. 1. Coppell, Grand Prairie, Irving, MacArthur, Irving Nimitz, Midlothian, South Grand Prairie.

District 13 Championship: at Arlington Sam Houston High School. Saturday, Feb. 2., 10 a.m. Arlington, Bowie, Sam Houston, Lamar, Martin, Seguin.

Another banner year? The prestigious banners hang high above Colleyville Heritage’s gym, emblazoned in red, crisp-looking. The Panthers wrestling program has had at least one state champion every year since 2004 and Jeremy Sandoval is responsible for the last two years, winning titles at 112 pounds in 2006 and at 130 last season. So guess what coach David Traver said when asked if that streak could be continued this season? “I’ve got Jeremy Sandoval,” he said. That’s all he said, but his point was surely recognized. With the District 10 meet looming on Saturday at Colleyville Heritage, Sandoval is the obvious favorite to win the 130-pound class again. “He’s just a real hard worker that has a natural ability to wrestle,” Traver said. “He’s extremely quick.” Look out for Heritage freshman Adam Courtney competing in the 103-pound class with a 20-9 record. “He’s just a hard worker,” Traver said. Courtney has fought back from a shoulder surgery he sustained in football in eighth grade and couldn’t wrestle all of last season. “He’s come on really strong and made up for lost time,” Traver said. Senior Jordan Adams is one to pay attention to in the 112-pound class for the Panthers.

Be wary of Carroll’s Prigmore. While Southlake Carroll might find it difficult to win the District 10 team title, individual honors are likely on the way. Senior Robert Prigmore (189-pound class) finished with the silver medal at state last season, falling one point shy of the championship. Ben Carroll (215), Stephen McPeak (160) and Matt Riley (135) accompanied Prigmore to regionals in 2007. McPeak was the only one to join Prigmore at state, finishing sixth as a freshman. Entering this season, he ranked eighth in the nation among freshman and sophomores by USA Wrestling Magazine.

Grapevine takes aim at District 10 crown. Grapevine coach Albert ''Thumper'' Lujan will count on a talented sophomore and a veteran senior to improve on last season’s fourth-place finish in district. Joe Andrews was a state qualifier in the 103-pound class as a freshman, where he went 1-2. “He has a little bit of wrestler's experience and did a really good job for us as a freshman, coming in and qualifying for state,” said Lujan, a three-time New Mexico state high school finalist. Cameron Schaefer, a senior captain, wrestles in the 152-pound class. His leadership will be tested in a district meet that Lujan figures to be well balanced. “He has been in the program for four years and knows the expectations of the team,” Lujan said. Grapevine finished behind champion Euless Trinity, Keller and Colleyville last season. “Obviously I think Trinity is still the team to beat, they are doing pretty good,” he said. “I also think that Keller Central has some good-looking kids. “It’s a wide-open race. I think everybody is a lot more balanced than in the past when we just had one dominant team. Everybody says that we have the most depth, but I disagree. I think everyone is pretty even. Whoever brings their A game will win it.” In the Trinity Trojan Classic held on Jan. 12, Grapevine brought its A game and won the meet with 214 points. Trinity finished second with 198.5, and Colleyville came in fourth with 147 points. “We just need to make sure everyone is prepared and is wrestling on all cylinders,” Lujan said.

Experienced Trojans head to Grapevine. Euless Trinity won District 10 last season, besting Keller and Colleyville Heritage. Plenty of returning experience should better its chances at repeating. The Trojans have three state qualifiers back. Senior DeAndrea Carter won district and took fourth in regionals. Sophomore Cody Bye finished second in district in the 125-class and placed third in regionals. And sophomore Joey Vogelsberg won the 112-pound class at district and finished second in regionals. Junior Daniel Hoenich also returns after winning the junior varsity state title in the 152-pound class.

Girls wrestling

Athon wrestling with target on back. For someone who questioned whether or not she’d continue to wrestle during her freshman year, Arlington’s Amanda Athon seems to have made the right choice. How good of a decision? She’s the defending state champion in the 215-pound class. “Her freshman season she was actually a backup to another young lady on our team and was just kind of raw,” coach Chris Scroggins said. “She wasn’t even sure if she was going to stick with it her freshman year. “Her sophomore year she had a little bit of success but not a lot. The end of that year she ended up going to the district tournament and ended up beating the top two girls for the district championship. That’s where her career turned around.” Athon, a senior, is finding the road toward repeating a lot tougher. She’s lost three times, more than all of last season. Scroggins isn’t worried about her desire anymore, but he is wary of the strength at 215. “She’s definitely hungry for it,” he said. "The weight class is a lot tougher than it has been in years past. This year she has had a target on her back. Girls put more effort into wrestling her.” Being the best wrestler in this area might be good enough to repeat. Area wrestlers took first, second and fourth at state last year. Scroggins hopes the entire team can come together and capture its fifth District 8-5A title at the district meet, held at Sam Houston, on Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. The Lady Colts won last year. “It’s been a race every year,” Scroggins said. “We had eight girls in the district tournament last year, the first time we didn’t have every weight class covered. We are still looking (this year). There are a couple of classes we need.” As for those schools that figure to give Arlington a tussle? “(Arlington Martin) is going to have four or five girls that have the ability to be district champs,” Scroggins said. “Lamar is strong again and Bowie has some strength that people don’t realize.”

Boys soccer

Rayburn a pleasant surprise. Chris Hamilton hasn’t been around to witness a lot as a head coach on a varsity team. He’s in his first year at Azle, a year and some change removed from playing soccer at Texas Wesleyan. It’s his first gig out of school. But he might be a grey-haired whistle blower the next time he sees something like what his goalkeeper Nick Rayburn is doing. Rayburn has helped Azle to a 5-4-2 record and has four shutouts already. Catch is, he’s never played before, and not just goalkeeping… but soccer. “It’s unreal, it really is,” Hamilton said. “He’s communicating a lot now and is actually learning how to play the game. My philosophy on soccer is you start a game in any sport 0-0. As long as no one scores on you, you can’t lose. “I’ve never seen anyone pick up anything so quickly. He asks a lot of questions and he always wants to get better. He didn’t even know how to dive.” Rayburn is going headfirst into a huge game on Tuesday against one of the District 7-4A favorites, Aledo. The Hornets have lost in regulation only twice, with one a 1-0 defeat. Their other loses came in shootouts.

Carroll’s defense of district crown begins. There wasn’t much that Southlake Carroll couldn’t handle from January to the middle of March last year. One year removed from the Region I championship game, the Dragons finished the year 19-3-3 to claim their second consecutive district title. But they dropped a 5-2 games to Hebron, the fourth-place seed out of 6-5A. Though seven seniors have moved on from 2007, the

Dragons seem to still have a hitch in their giddy-up. Carroll placed second at the Dragon Invitational on Oct. 12, and won the Garland Tournament last weekend. It entered Saturday’s Round Rock Tournament at 7-1 and with four shutouts. Carroll opens District 5-5A with a home match with Keller Central on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Girls soccer

Young guns face tall order. With more freshman starters (3) than senior starters (2), Fort Worth Southwest will begin its defense of its District 6-4A title with a much different cast than last season. Coach Billy Beckham is looking to bend as much out of this young core as possible after the departure ofseven senior starters. “It’s a rebuilding year,” he said. The Lady Raiders begin district play at Carter-Riverside on Tuesday with an 8 p.m. start and will face Polytechnic on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Galvan Soccer Complex. Rest assured, that as long as reigning district MVP Whitney Sceppel is on the field, Southwest will have a chance at repeating. Freshman midfielder Marykatherine Lapointe has been a pleasant addition. “She has really just stepped up in place of our seniors that have left,” Beckham said. So has junior goalkeeper Kelsei Landgredre. As for whom to look out for in 6-4A? “South Hills and Tremble Tech have really stepped up and Carter-Riverside is always good,” Beckham said. “We are just going to try to squeeze in somewhere.” Southwest lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2007.

Trinity holding its own. The Lady Trojans certainly aren’t cake-walking into district play. They were 6-3 as of Friday with their losses coming to the top two teams in 5A, according to the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches poll. They lost to No. 1 Allen 4-1 and to No. 2 Flower Mound Marcus 2-1 on Jan. 17 and 18, respectively. Trinity’s other loss came to Arlington Lamar in a shootout of the Arlington Tournament’s championship game. Trinity is coming off a 2007 bidistrict championship campaign in which coach Kurt Clawson led them to their first playoff win since 1992. The bidistrict title was the school's first since 1996. With eight returning starters, Trinity should have no problem returning to the playoffs for the fourth straight year. But it’s a pair of sisters, Natalie Reeves and Nicole Reeves, that are really turning heads, according to Clawson. Nicole, a freshman, has seven goals in nine games. Natalie has seven assists. What makes her even more intriguing is that she is one of the state’s top golfers. She shot a 146 at state to tie for seventh in 5A last year as a freshman. She won six tournaments, including the 7-5A championship.

Softball

Regular season begins Feb. 11.

Canion grand for Aledo. Whitney Canion will be a mainstay for the Baylor Bears softball program for years to come. Fortunately for Aledo coach Kevin Cook, that venture won’t start for another year. Canion won “30-plus” games for Aledo last season and led the Ladycats to a regional final appearance where they lost for the second straight season. But with five starters accompanying Canion from last year, this may be the season Aledo ends its season in Austin at the state tournament.

Senior shortstop Lyndi Samuelson returns. She’s committed to North Texas. One of Cook’s bigger obstacles will be to find someone to play first base, vacated by current Texas State volleyball player AJ Watlington. “She was our leading home run hitter,” Cook said. “That’s been our primary focus, to replace our first basemen, second baseman and one outfield position.” He’s got 12 girls returning from last season. The experience of senior outfielders Katie Benny and Hillary Brann and senior third baseman Haylee Bell can only help.

Dulling the double-edged sword. To take a page from Queen and David Bowie, Keller was “Under Pressure” last season. A lot. With the tradition of high expectations built by past teams, the Lady Indians did the instinctive deed and tried to live up to a program that won a 5A state title in 2005 and got to the title game in 2006. It resulted in a regional quarterfinals defeat, an admirable feat in itself. But coach Maureen Fritz thinks a more relaxed team, which they’ve shown in practice, can lead Keller back to the promised land. “Things are going to be much different,” she said. “I started three freshman last year and just assumed they wouldn’t (put that pressure on themselves), but they did.” One of those players was ace pitcher Sydney Willard. “Her confidence last year was, ‘Oh my god I have to live up to the Keller tradition,’ and this year she has a lot more confidence,” Fritz said of her 20-plus game winner. “It will benefit us going into the season.” Keller lost only three starters and gained a junior transfer from Houston, Teri Lyles, that will play second and help out on the mound. The Lady Indians have home scrimmages with McKinney and Plano East on Tuesday and scrimmage Weatherford at Aledo on Saturday.

Baseball

Get your peanuts and cracker jacks ready. Practices for all schools started Friday with the season set to get underway on Feb. 18. First day for scrimmages is Feb. 4.