As the playoffs roll right along, it's always interesting to see how things unfold. As the case with most sports, matchups are key. Simply put, you cannot look at a record and decide that team has the decided advantage over the other.
With the conclusion of Wednesday night's games, there are a number of interesting situations unfolding. We'll take a look at three of them here ahead of Thursday night's action, which could completely render this article moot by the end of the night.
[insert shrug emoji]
Here we go.
Frisco Liberty Won't Quit
After winning it all in 2019-20, Frisco Liberty has received the best from each of its opponents this year. Frisco Liberty climbed the mountain for the first time in its program's history after falling in the state finals the year before and in 2015-16.
Despite a solid 13-4 record in 9-5A play, the defending 5A state champs only got to third in the district standings, a half-game better than Frisco Centennial.
Still, Frisco Liberty has shown its championship mettle as it one of two schools in classes 6A-3A to be a third-place team in the Regional Semifinals round and is the only 9-5A team remaining after beating district mate Frisco Memorial in the Regional Quarterfinals as well as Frisco Lone Star falling to Wylie East.
SGPs Flying High
Year-in and year-out the Duncanvilles, DeSotos and Mansfield Timberviews - both boys and girls teams - make great runs through the playoffs. This little corner of the internet is directed at the great seasons both South Grand Prairie teams are having this year.
First off, the girls squad is in the Regional Quarterfinals for the first time since 2018-19 after it took down state power Plano. The team has rattled off 18 straight wins since it suffered a 61-37 setback to begin the month of December - three whole months without a loss.
Not to be outdone, the boys team remains the only undefeated team in the state after it advanced to the Regional Quarterfinals with a big win over Denton Braswell. The win sets up a highly-anticipated matchup between state-ranked teams in #3 Richardson (23-1) and #4 South Grand Prairie (21-0).
Between the two squads, SGP basketball is 44-2 this season.
3's Company
One of my favorite things to see is to how well a collective district does once it gets into the playoffs. Some are generally stronger than others, but as it usually goes in the playoffs, not all district mates can advance - somebody's gotta lose.
In the boys space, there are two districts in 5A that have three squads remaining that have advanced to the Regional Quarterfinals.
In 8-5A, Mansfield Timberview, Mansfield Legacy and Mansfield Summit all moved on at the expense of the 6-5A teams. In 12-5A, Lancaster, Dallas South Oak Cliff and Dallas Kimball all took out the 9-5A teams.
On the horizon for whatever shakes out on Thursday, 11-6A could have the same thing if Waxahachie beats Rockwall and Mansfield downs Garland.
As an aside, if Mansfield does win, all four Mansfield ISD schools would still be in the playoffs, and that's a pretty rare feat, especially three rounds deep across two classifications.
