Wylie East junior Josiah Ward (20) dribbles the ball around a Naaman Forest defender. Photo by Elijah Kloepping / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The Wylie East boys and girls basketball teams are peaking at the right time.
With the regular season winding down, both squads are looking to finish strong as they prepare for the postseason after each earned playoff victories last season.
The Lady Raiders have already secured a playoff berth. Now, it’s simply a matter of where Wylie East will finish in the District 9-6A standings.
Wylie East (12-3 District 9-6A) will finish either second or third in the district, a determination that hinged on the results of Tuesday’s games involving both the Lady Raiders and Sachse (12-3). Wylie East hosted Wylie in the Crosstown Showdown, while Sachse closed the regular season at home against Rowlett. Final results were unavailable at press time.
The Lady Raiders guaranteed a top-three district finish with a 40-26 road victory over Garland last Friday.
A strong first half on both ends of the court fueled Wylie East’s fourth consecutive win. The Lady Raiders led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, then held Garland to just one point in the second quarter while scoring 10 of their own to take a 24-8 halftime lead.
Morgan Jennings led a balanced scoring effort with 11 points, followed by Sharmayne Jones with nine, Sidney Sanders with six and Cori’yon Bolden, Gracie Edge and Khloe Cherry with four apiece.
On the boys side, Wylie East (15-11 overall, 9-5 district) defeated Garland 60-55 to win for the seventh time in its last eight games.
In a tightly contested game throughout, the difference was a strong second half by the Raiders, who outscored the Owls 32-26 over the final two quarters after the game was tied 28-28 at halftime.
Senior Preston Samuels led all scorers with 28 points for Wylie East. Josiah Ward added eight points, followed by Praise Olufemi with seven, Mikiyas Abiy with six, Ayden Biscarro-Davila with three, Marcus Smith and Samuel Haastrup with two apiece and Amir Porter with one.
With the victory, the Raiders remained in contention for the district title. Wylie East can still claim the District 9-6A championship by winning its final two games against Wylie and Lakeview Centennial, combined with at least two losses by Wylie (10-3) and one loss by Sachse to either Garland, Rowlett or Wylie.
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