DFW Boys Basketball: UIL State Preview

6A State Championship

Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Saturday, March 13
Location: Alamodome (San Antonio)

The City of Champions is looking to hoist its second (outright) state title in three seasons. To do so, it has to go against a team that has been playing lights off this year but making its first-ever trip to the title game.

Duncanville's road back to the state title game has been littered with state-ranked teams through the playoffs and in the regular season, including No. 1 Waxahachie twice and No. 3 Richardson, 5A No. 5 Fort Worth Wyatt and so on. And of course, being the last played defending state champion means the best will come out of the opponent to knock you down.

There is talent up and down both lineups for both teams, including Duncanville seniors Damon Nichols - the player that had meaningful contribution to the 2019 state title team - Zhuric Phelps and Juan Reyna. For Westlake, the big contributors are K.J. Adams and Eain Mowat.

5A State Championship

Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Friday, March 12
Location: Alamodome (San Antonio)

Dallas Kimball is one of two teams ranked outside their respective classification's Top 10 that are left to play for a state title. And after knocking off the No. 1 5A team and district rival Lancaster two rounds ago and then the No. 6-ranked team last time out, it only has to play the No. 2-ranked team Beaumont United, which is looking to cap off an undefeated season. The last boys team to do that was in 2001 by 4A Beaumont Ozen.

Kimball is a team that has won - and lost - in all fashions. They've been a team that has held big leads only to see them be squandered away, or they've been the team to mount a comeback and win. They've been in tight games all the way through and made enough plays to win in crunch time as well as have a couple of hiccups and lose that close game.

It all goes to say that Kimball is battle tested in a wide gamut of styles, and the bulk of Kimball's work has come from a bevvy of juniors - Arterio Morris, Kyron Henderon and Chauncey Gibson. In contrast, Beaumont United has only played one game this year that finished with a single-digit difference.

The differences don't end there. Kimball is rich in State history, making its 12th trip to State and looking for its eight championship - both for the first time since 2014. Beaumont United is in its first State appearance in program history.

4A State Championship

Time: 2 p.m.
Date: Saturday, March 13
Location: Alamodome (San Antonio)

A year after getting onto the doorstep of the State title game, Argyle will finally get a chance to recapture a championship for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

Argyle is on a 27-game win streak and has been winning at a ridiculous clip. Granted, there have been a handful of close games during that ride - six games inside of 10 points - but the other 21 games saw Argyle win by an average of a 30 points per game.

Defense is the Argyle calling card this year, which has only allowed four teams to hit 50 or more points this year and only nine other teams to score 40 or more points. During the playoffs, Argyle's defense has stayed consistent, giving up just 38.7 points per game, which is nearly a point less than the regular season average.

Huffman Hargrave is in its first-ever State run and subsequent title game. Huffman started the year by winning its first 19 games before an 18-point setback to Hardin-Jefferson. It has won 12 straight, which included avenging that loss to Hardin-Jefferson with a 1-point win in the season finale.

In terms of playoff runs, Argyle has played four straight state-ranked teams while Huffman has only played two in six games.

1A State Championship

Time: 10 a.m.
Date: Friday, March 12
Location: Alamodome (San Antonio)

It's been quite the run for Slidell, which is at State for the third straight year and looking for its second straight (played) State Title after 63-year drought.

Slidell has been the prohibitive favorite all season long, being at or near the top of the 1A State rankings. Slidell has been on a tear since its loss to Kennedale. The closest score in that 19-game run was by 11 points, twice, both during the playoffs. For Slidell, this will be the third straight 1A Top 5 matchup, having knocked off No. 2 Graford and No. 3 Rocksprings with relative ease.

Texline is at State for the first time since 2015, which is the last time it won it all and making its third overall. Texline entered the playoffs with a 35-point loss to Clarendon in the season finale only to run through the playoffs winning by an average 24.5 points per game, although two of the last three games have been decided by two points but against teams ranked in the state.