Boys state basketball championships: Which Texas high schools will take home titles?

The 2024 UIL boys high school basketball state tournament is here.

Championship games are all day on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Check back here for updates, stats, recaps and more.

Plano East wins rematch of No. 1 vs. No. 2, this time for the 6A championship

Plano East and Rock Rock Stony Point came into their Class 6A championship game with a combined record of 77-1. And that one loss for No. 2 Stony Point came at the hands of top-ranked Plano East.

The rematch was for all the marbles.

Plano East got the lead early and kept the Tigers at arms length the entire game in a 53-41 victory to cap a perfect season in the Class 6A state championship game on Saturday at the Alamodome.

“It means the world to us,” said Plano East guard Jordan Mizell, one of 11 seniors on the Panthers’ roster. “Just to know that all of our hard work has paid off and we made history and have done something that has never been done before and it’s with the guys we been with since almost birth. It means the world to me.”

Plano East (40-0) had never won a state title in a UIL team sport, boys or girls, until now. The Panthers only other trip to the tournament came 30 years ago when East lost to Sugar Land Willowridge in the 1994 Class 5A championship game.

“It means everything,” said Plano East senior guard Narit Chotikavanic. “We put in so much work and practiced so hard. It means the world to all these fans who came out here to support us. It means the world to us.”

Stony Points season ends at 38-2 with both losses coming at the hands of the Panthers.

Plano East defeated Stony Point, 55-50, in late December in the championship game of The Championship Tournament held at Mansfield Legacy High School, and this game was much like the first one.

Both teams shot well, both teams played hard and Plano East came out on top.

Plano East took an early 13-6 lead behind star forward DJ Hall who scored the first nine points for the Panthers. Hall finished with 18 points and six rebounds to earn the Championship Game Most Valuable Player.

Stony Point managed to cut the lead to two points, but Plano East followed with a 10-0 to make it 23-11 with 5:46 left before halftime.

“It was pretty much the exact same,” said senior guard Rachard Angton on the previous meeting with Stony Point. “We had a five point lead in this game at the half and I’m pretty sure we had a three point lead going in to halftime in the last game so it was a very similar situation. We knew we had to make some adjustments to pull away further and we did those and did great.”

Despite a 9-0 run that followed by the Tigers, Plano East was able to keep the lead and keep Stony Point at arms length never leading by more than seven or less than three until the fourth quarter.

Angton, who added 13 points for the Panthers, opened the final frame for Plano East with a three that pushed the lead to nine at 44-35. Stony Point was never able to cut the lead to less than eight the rest of the way.

“Our chemistry, we’ve been playing with each other since fourth grade so chemistry buys into this,” said Hall of winning with a team loaded with seniors. “If you don’t play as a team I don’t feel like you can do this. I just feel like I did my part the right way. All of them play hard and all of them know their role.”

Isaiah Brewington didn’t score, but had six steals and two assists for Plano East. Mizell added eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and three steals for the Panthers. Plano East recorded 13 steals as a team.

Only three of 14 players on Plano East’s roster are not seniors with Hall being the only non-senior to see action in the championship game.

“We have a lot of really, really good basketball players who know nothing but winning,” said Plano East head coach Matt Wester, of his senior laden squad. “Everything they do well translates to the next level.”

Josiah Moseley led Stony Point with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Stony Point was playing in its first state tournament and title game in its 24-year school history.

Lancaster thrashes Killeen Ellison to claim 5A title

No. 1 Lancaster entered the Class 5A state championship looking to win its first title since the 2016 season.

The Dallas-area powerhouse delivered at the Alamodome on Saturday, defeating Killeen Ellison 59-30 to become three time champions. Lancaster’s forward Dillon Battie, a three star Temple commit, was named the state championship most valuable player with 17 points and 19 rebounds.

“It means everything,” Battie said of the victory.

The difference maker was Lancaster’s rebounding. The Tigers won the rebounding battle 43-25, limiting Ellison’s scoring opportunities.

Lancaster started the game on a 9-0 run and Ellison never responded, failing to lead at any point in the contest. The Tigers took a 15-7 lead into the second quarter, and it only continued to grow.

Lancaster led 27-15 at the half and completely blew open the lead in the third quarter, taking a sizable 46-22 advantage. Battie scored six points in the frame to lead the offense.

The Tiger defense smothered the Eagles, forcing them to shoot 26% from the field and 9% from 3-point range.

Lancaster head coach Ferrin Douglas said his team stuck to the game plan and executed. The Tigers broke a Class 5A record in the state semifinal with 31 points allowed and broke it again in the final, allowing 30 points.

“We try to identify their strong players,” Douglas said. “Try to make them work. Not let them catch the ball, make them feel uncomfortable. We’ve got some great defensive guys too.”

Lancaster, in the state semifinal, stalled at half court for one minute and 30 seconds. Douglas said his team could play at any pace depending on what the defense allowed, and he was right; the Tigers increased the tempo and recorded a 29-point victory.

Lancaster is making the move to Class 6A next season. Douglas said the program will embrace the challenge.

“I’m just glad we got it done,” Douglas said. “I know 6A is definitely going to be a challenge but one thing about Lancaster basketball – We’ll be up for it. I think we’ll be fine.”

Faith Family blows past Silsbee to three-peat in Class 4A

Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy raced out to a 22-point lead at the half then coasted to a 80-66 win over Silsbee in the Class 4A state championship game on Saturday at the Alamodome.

The win makes No. 1 Faith Family (25-11) only the sixth team in the state of Texas to win three consecutive state basketball championships. The Eagles, which have four titles overall, will play in Class 5A next season.

This is Faith Family’s sixth trip to state and sixth in a row. The Eagles have only missed reaching the championship game once, when Argyle defeated FFA in the semifinals on its way to the 2021 state title.

There were no Class 4A games played at the tournament in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

“It feels good,” said Faith Family coach Brandon Thomas. “It was a long season and we probably had the most difficult schedule in the state of Texas this year. I’m just very proud of these guys.

“I can’t believe that we’re in the rare company that we’re in being one of six teams in Texas boys basketball history to win three in a row. I heard someone say yesterday that winning one is hard, winning two is very hard and winning three is almost impossible and we just did the impossible so I’m ecstatic.”

No. 6 Silsbee (29-10) never led in the game as Faith Family jumped on the Tigers from the start. Eagles’ guard Isaac Williams had 19 of his 32 points in the first half.

Williams went 14 of 14 from the field for the game to become the only player in the history of the UIL state tournament to shoot 100% from the floor with more than 12 field goals.

Williams scored 11 of Faith Family’s first 14 points as the Eagles raced out to a 16-5 lead with 4:07 left in the first quarter. Williams had 15 points in the first quarter alone helping the Eagles build a 22-9 lead by the end of the period.

Faith Family shot 76.9% from the floor in the first quarter hitting 10 of 13 shots including two of three from beyond the arc. The Eagles shot 56.9% for the game while Silsbee finished shooting a respectable 42.6%.

As quick as Silsbee is, the Tigers struggled with the quick hands of the Faith Family guards who deflected several passes resulting in steals or turnovers and points on the other end.

Doryan Onwuchekwa took over in the second quarter for Faith Family scoring eight of his 19 points. The Eagles’ lead continued to grow and reached 22 points, 44-22, by halftime.

Onwuchekwa added 14 rebounds to complete the double double and had two blocked shots.

Faith Family’s largest lead came with 6:30 left in the game when a three pointer by Tony Dixon made it 69-40.

The Tigers made it exciting at the end cutting the lead to 12 points, 74-62, with 1:11 left after a 22-5 run. But Faith Family put an end to it with a pair of made free throws by Kingston Willis and a dunk by Williams with 46 seconds left.

“We played and extremely good team today,” said Silsbee coach Joe Sigler. “I’m proud of the fact that we didn’t lay down even when it seemed like they were making every shot. We had enough pride and did some things in the second half.”

Jared Harris scored 10 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth-quarter comeback and also had four assists. Payton Jones had 15 points for Silsbee with Troy Rice adding 10 points.

Dre’lon Miller only scored six points, but had 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Tigers.

Silsbee was making its 10th appearance at the state tournament. The Tigers were back to back state champions in 2017 and 2018.

“Getting to the last day and playing in the last game is the ultimate goal,” said Sigler. “We got to experience that, but Faith Family was just better than us today.”

The Tigers have lost in the semifinals six times and to the eventual champion twice, including Kennedale in 2008. Silsbee lost in the title game in 2016 to Dallas Lincoln.

Jayton wins slug fest with Benjamin for 1A title

No. 2 Jayton and No. 3 Benjamin battled tooth and nail on Saturday, but in the end Jayton was able to make shots in the end that the Mustangs didn’t as the Jaybirds survived 60-53 in the Class 1A state championship game at the Alamodome.

It was the first state title for Jayton (38-3) which had lost in two overtimes to Graford in the title game last season as well as in the championship game in 2019 to Slidell.

This is Jayton’s fourth trip to state and the only time the Jaybirds didn’t reach the title game was in 2020 when Slidell won in the semifinals. No championship game was played because of the Covid pandemic.

The game was close throughout with neither team able to go up by more than six points until the final basket of the game. The game was tied four times and there were 12 lead changes.

Benjamin’s Grayson Rigdon hit a pair of free throws for the Mustangs with 2:52 left in the game to tie Jayton at 52-all. But from that point the Jaybirds took over.

Jayton’s Griff Real blocked the next two field goal attempts by Benjamin, the Mustangs missed on two shots and also hit only one of four free throws the rest of the way.

While Benjamin (24-2) was struggling, Jayton got a pair of made free throws and a jumper in the lane to go down by Championship Game MVP Colt Gentry. Sean Stanaland closed it out with a pair of layups for the Jaybirds.

Gentry led Jayton with 19 points and added six rebounds and four assists. Stanaland and Ayden Salazar had 14 points each with Stanaland contributing four assists.

Real had eight rebounds and the two blocked shots to lead the Jaybirds in both categories. Jayton had a 40-20 point advantage on points in the paint against Benjamin.

Rigdon led the Mustangs scoring 32 points with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jules Pugi had 15 points for Benjamin with Tallon Hayes pulling down eight rebounds, dishing out four assists and coming away with two steals.

Rigdon, a junior, scored 64 points in the two tournament games which is the second most in Class 1A state tournament history. Aaron Gutierrez of Texline had 67 in 2015.

Rigdon’s 32 points, which he had in each tournament game this weekend, also puts him in a fifth place tie for most points in a game at state.

Rigdon also starred on Benjamin’s Class 1A Division 2 state championship football team accounting for 10 total touchdowns in the title game.

The Mustangs were participating in their second state basketball tournament. Benjamin lost to eventual champion Graford in the semifinals last season.

Back-to-back: Lipan defeats Shelbyville for 2A title

Lipan completed the back-to-back behind freshman Court Gaylor’s 23 point performance.

For more in depth coverage of the game, click here.

Hitchcock rallies to down Ponder for 3A crown

No. 1 Hitchcock comes back from 10 points down at the half to defend its state title in the Class 3A state championship game on Saturday at the Alamodome.

For more in depth coverage of the game, click here.

This story was originally published March 9, 2024 at 12:59 PM.