Wylie East senior guard Ayden Biscarro-Davila gets a hand on the ball as he attempts to make a steal during a game in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Boys Basketball Showcase. Photo by David Wolman / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The Wylie and Wylie East boys’ basketball teams experienced some ups and downs at the TABC Showcase. But what pleased Pirates head coach Stephen Pearce and Raiders head coach Kortney Smith the most is how their teams finished.
Wylie couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the Showcase. The Pirates dominated in a 71-42 win over Houston Bellaire to conclude the Showcase on June 28 at Duncanville High School – a result that came after the Pirates lost their first two games by a combined eight points.
Earlier in the day, the Pirates led the Mustangs by seven points with less than two minutes left. However, Cypress Ranch rallied to stun Wylie, 57-55. That loss came one day after the Pirates fell 57-51 to Katy Morton Ranch.
“The first couple of games, the main thing was to try to get the guys to figure some things out,” Pearce said. “We don’t have a lot of guys with experience. We’re young and haven’t had a lot of experience competing in close games and trying to close out a close game. The good thing is that the guys got to go through it and see the things that they needed to work on.”
As the Pirates prepare for the start of the 2026-27 season, Wylie – in search of a fifth district championship – will field a new starting lineup for the second year in a row.
Wylie captured the 9-6A title last season despite having to replace five starters. Pearce is hopeful a similar pattern will follow this year, though the Pirates will have just two seniors compared to nine last season.
Incoming junior Noah Dzurenko was in the starting lineup most of last season, while senior forward Zane Lewis, and junior guard Aaron Dominguez and sophomore guard/forward Tre Pierce gained valuable playing time at the varsity level.
“Those four have looked the most comfortable, the most confident of anybody this summer,” Pearce said.
With the exception of one game, Wylie East looked comfortable and confident at the TABC Showcase.
The Raiders built a double-digit lead in the first half over San Antonio McCollum before pulling away in the second half to earn a 62-42 win June 27 at Mansfield Summit High School.
Wylie East struggled on offense in a 37-15 loss to Bastrop the following afternoon but bounced back in a big way a couple of hours later, earning a 67-45 win over Saginaw.
“We didn’t pass the eye test in our second game, but we were ready to go in the third game,” Smith said. “We came ready to play.”
The biggest change Wylie East made between the Bastrop and Saginaw games was switching to a zone offense. That one change helped the Raiders increase their point total by 52.
“We had not worked really on our zone stuff,” Smith said. “. When we went into our zone offense, things took a change for the better. Also, I thought that we really shot the 3 really well in this event.”
Wylie East has made the playoffs in each of Smith’s first three seasons, and with the returners that the Raiders have, he believes that his team has the chance to do “something special” this upcoming season.
Incoming senior point guards Ayden Biscarro-Davila and Preston Samuels, and senior forwards Charlie Morton, Josiah Ward and Samuel Haastrip have all seen significant gains in the weight room, and their increased strength could make the Raiders one of the more physical teams in all of District 9-6A.
Sophomore 6-foot-6 forward Dexter Gbedemakou, an Irving Nimitz transfer, will provide Wylie East with another big body in the paint and can also initiate the fast break.
“Our returners have looked good,” Smith said. “As for Dexter, he is a special kid that has a chance to be more than a college player. The coach at Irving Nimitz told me he was their second-best player in the program’s history.”
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