Following the wild winter week that struck Texas, the girls basketball playoffs were going to be fast and furious this week with multiple playoff games being played within just a few days.
On Wednesday night, the majority of Regional Quarterfinal showdowns took place across the city, eventually setting up the Regional Semifinal matchups.
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No. 18 Katy Tompkins continued its amazing season knocking off previously undefeated and 10th-ranked Fort Bend Dulles, 55-40, inside the Merrell Center. McDonald's All-American finalist Crystal Smith finished with 15 points, while fellow senior MacKenzie Durnford finished with 15 as well.
"It's huge," Katy Tompkins coach Tamatha Ray said. "[Dulles] beat teams that we got beat by. They beat George Ranch twice, we lost to George Ranch. They beat Heights, we lost to Heights ... It's hard to keep going undefeated. Period, end of story. It's hard to do. To the team that's not undefeated, it's an intangible."
VYPE Highlight 🎥: @TompkinsGBB advances to Regional Semifinals for first time since 2016 | @C1_Crystal_ had 15 and MacKenzie Durnford also had 15 | @TXHSGBB @KPRC2Ari @KPRC2RandyMc @HTownHSS @KatyISDAthletic @OTHSABClub @katyisd @AdeleyeFiyin @othsfalconfb #txhshoops pic.twitter.com/DSWpEVYwO1
— vypehouston (@vypehouston) February 25, 2021
Tompkins advances to the Regional Semifinals for only the second time in program history, where it will face Shadow Creek, which defeated Atascocita 59-51.
Even though they just upended Dulles' pursuit of the perfect season, Smith will make sure this group is refocused by the time they face the Sharks.
"We keep them level-headed," Smith said about the seniors to the rest of the team. "After the game we celebrate big in the locker room but once we go out we have to get ready for the next game. We're having fun but we just want to keep going."
Click through the Photo Gallery Below to See More Regional Quarterfinal Scores
Cypress Creek 59, Heights 31
Cypress Creek advances to its fourth-straight Regional Semifinal. The Cougars will face Summer Creek in the next round, which is a rematch from 2019 in the very same round. That year, Summer Creek won 65-54 and eventually advanced to its first-ever state tournament appearance. The defense of Cypress Creek has been most notable these playoffs, holding teams to an average of 32.6 points per game and hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 38. Cypress Creek entered the 2020-2021 season as VYPE's preseason No. 1 team in the city.
Region III-6A Semifinal: Cypress Creek vs Summer Creek
Summer Creek 37, Clear Creek 32
Summer Creek is in the Regional Semifinals for a fourth-straight season following the five-point win over Clear Creek. This is big for Summer Creek, which entered this season as one of VYPE's teams to watch and has proven the doubters wrong after the Lady Bulldogs graduated a solid senior class in 2020. Summer Creek will now try and rekindle the magic from 2019, which saw them take their lone trip to the Alamodome in program history.
Regional Semifinal: Summer Creek vs Cypress Creek
Shadow Creek 59, Atascocita 51
Heading into the season we knew Shadow Creek would be good. Making the jump from Class 5A to 6A hasn't slowed down this machine. The Sharks advanced to their first-ever Regional Semifinal as a 6A program on Wednesday with an eight-point victory over Houston power, Atascocita. Shadow Creek was led by Oklahoma-signee Bre'Yon White's 18 points in the win. R'Mani Taylor's 13 points and DaNae Williams' 10 points. Entering the year, VYPE put Shadow Creek as the preseason No. 4 team in the city. This is the program's second-straight Regional Semifinal appearance and with a win they would make history.
Regional Semifinal: Shadow Creek vs Katy Tompkins
Langham Creek 76, Tomball Memorial 38
Here come the Lobos! For the first time since 2017, Langham Creek is heading to the Regional Semifinals. This team had the roster to make this run as they entered the season as VYPE's preseason No. 6 team in the city. Now, they will have a chance to make history by reaching their first-ever Regional Final.
Regional Semifinal: Langham Creek vs Sachse/DeSoto (They play Thursday Night)
Regional Quarterfinals: Cypress Springs vs Klein Oak (Thursday, February 24)
Winner will move on to face Duncanville or Cedar Hill in the Regional Semifinals.
Regional Semifinals: Foster vs College Station
Foster was set to face Friendswood in the Regional Quarterfinals on Wednesday but due to COVID-19 issues in the Friendswood program, that game did not happen. Instead, Foster moved on automatically. Now, with College Station ending Kingwood Park's undefeated season, the Falcons have their next round matchup.
Foster will take on College Station on Friday at Katy ISD's Merrell Center in the Regional Semifinal with a time to be decided. Foster is in the fourth round of the playoffs for the first time in program history.