Private School Hoops
Concordia, Second Baptist & TWCA win a trio of TAPPS ‘ships
Thomas Bingham
Mar 7, 2018, 1:01 pm
The Woodlands Christian Academy edged Arlington Grace Prep for a 79-76 double overtime victory vype.com
On Friday, Concordia Lutheran, Second Baptist and The Woodlands Christian Academy added a trio of state championships to an already special boys basketball season for Houston-area squads. They join Houston Christian, who topped SPC in February.
The game of the night at the TAPPS’ state tournament was between Second Baptist and Cedar Hill Trinity Christian in the 5A title game. The Eagles battled with the Tigers throughout the match, but ultimately prevailed 60-57 on VYPE Player of the Game Max Modica’s game-winning three with 5.5 seconds left.
“I wasn’t really knocking down many shots early, but I know whenever it came down to crunch time that my team needed me,” the senior said. “I was happy that I was able to deliver that for them.”
Modica scored all his points in the final three quarters, and finished with 11. He was joined by the team’s leader in points Miles Goodman and Donovan Dastmalchian. Both added 14 in the win. Uzoma Dibiamaka and Cameron Fontenot also had important performances, adding nine and seven respectively. The team effort was too much for even the game’s leading scorer. Tyreek Smith led Trinity Christian with 23 points in the loss.
Right before that game, The Woodlands Christian Academy edged Arlington Grace Prep for a 79-76 double overtime victory in the 4A state title game. The Warriors stormed back in the second half to force the extra periods. VYPE Player of the Game Bakari LaStrap lifted his program to its fifth state championship with five critical points after regulation.
“That’s mesmerizing,” LaStrap said of the connection between his overtime point total and his program’s new title count. “Words can’t explain. That’s crazy!”
As important as LaStrap was, he couldn’t do it alone. Zach Baker recorded four in the extra periods, and Zach Golaszewski and Dawson Libonati added three each.
In the nightcap, Concordia Lutheran had an early cushion after a pair of runs (7-0 and 10-0) against district foe St. Pius X. The Crusaders kept a double-digit lead for most of the game, and breezed to a 70-48 TAPPS 6A state championship win.
VYPE Player of the Game Pierce Hellums finished with a game-high 23 points, and also had two important answers in the fourth. Pius had cut the Crusaders’ lead to nine in the early minutes of the period, but his back-to-back three-point plays were the final stand they needed to wrap up a 43-1 season, and complete the three-game sweep of the Panthers.
Hellums will be back to lead SaderNation in 2018-2019, but a number of his teammates won’t. Seniors Joshua Davis, Yosani Clay and Jaylen Reed contributed 10 points each.
“God blessed me with the greatest teammates I could have ever played with this year, and we’ve created a bond that will never be broken,” Hellums said. “We’ve created a legacy at Concordia now, and I’m going to really miss those guys next year. I don’t know what I’m going to do without ‘em.”
If you enjoyed the state coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEPrivates) on Twitter.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
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