2009-2010 Neighborhood High School Roundup Review...

NEIGHBORHOOD HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP
Youngsters power The Village School
By JEFF JENKINS CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
Feb. 5, 2010, 2:08PM

Shaq has taken his high-flying act to Houston — well sort of.

Shaquille O'Neal, one of the best centers in NBA history, hasn't left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Houston Rockets. But his younger namesake is already wreaking havoc on basketball courts across the area. Shaquille Cleare, a 6-foot-9, 270-pound sophomore, reminds many of the 7-1 O'Neal. Cleare, a sophomore at The Village School, is averaging 21 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks per game for the Vikings, a rising second-year program. “Shaquille Is already, in my opinion, the best big man in Texas,” said Don Harvey, head boys basketball coach at The Village School, a private school in west Houston. “He's only a 10th-grader, but he's already being recruited by a bunch of colleges. He's a dominant force in the middle.” Among the colleges trying to lure Cleare, a native of The Bahamas, to their respective campuses are Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Wake Forest. And, if Cleare continues to perform like he did in last week's 67-60 loss to highly touted Humble Christian Life (23 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks), the list is sure to grow. Cleare's play inside the paint is just one reason why The Village School, which plays an independent schedule but is headed to TAPPS next season, is becoming widely respected on the local hoops scene. The Vikings, 13-6 overall, have notched victories over more-established programs such as Beaumont Kelly, John Cooper, St. John's and St. Pius. “We've faced most of the top private schools in Houston and have been very competitive,” Harvey said. “We're a young team with all freshmen and sophomores. By the time these sophomores are seniors, we'll be a team to be reckoned with.” More on story @

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/memorial/sports/6853209.html

2009-10 Houston Junior Preparatory Conference Tournament Finals

2009-10 The Year in Review - The Village School has now entered another arena, after having a great junior high season, Coach Margo Graham and her Lady Vikings and what's left from last year’s team has greater task at hand. They have lost some key players, but also gained some new ones. Winning the Houston Junior Prep Conference and Tournament was nothing compared to high school varsity basketball where you will be playing with seasoned and experienced athletes that have played varsity for more than 2 years and for some maybe more. From Coach Graham views, she's not looking for a winning season yet, but to get the girls ready for the coming years. But of course she wants to win, but being realistic makes more sense. She believes that her team will be very competitive but will need a lot of maturity which comes from playing against the best competitions. The Village as a whole is full of excitement for the great progressions of its athletics and looking forward to its berth in the field of high school basketball.

Home Sweet Home... Westbury Christian School

Sylvana Okde - class of 2012 and former Dulles high school starting point guard made a bold move and transferred to Westbury Christian to wear the wildcats’ uniform for the upcoming 2010-2011 season. Okde plays for Cy Fair Nike Elite summer team under the direction of Al Coleman. This move solidifies the wildcats’ roster. It’s a guarantee that they will hit the road for another state title this year and by the time the basketball season starts, we may have more news about the wildcats’ transformation to a TAPPS 4A powerhouse in the state. So stay tuned and hold on to your seats. Houston basketball is getting a lot of recognition for both boys and girls nationwide and it’s just the beginning. H-TOWN WE GOT NEXT?

Westbury Christian Lands another GREAT Athlete

Briana Turner 6'4" Class of 2014 of Nolan Ryan middle school from Alvin Texas will attend Westbury Christian high school this year. ESPN hoopgurlz TOP recruit for 2014 will bring a lot to the wildcats roster that currently include one of the ESPN top rated point guard Amber Orrange committed to Stanford University. Both played summer basketball for Coach George Washington of the DFW Elite/Houston Heat basketball program. Lookout for the lady wildcats to dominate this coming 2010-2011 season. Come out and see the new WCS Wildcats!

He’s back and he’s stronger…

Village High School point guard Garry Smith (2012) is back after suffering from a hand injury and missing the last few games of 2009-2010 school season. Smith the scoring point guard who averages 15 points and 7 assists per game was truly missed by the Vikings who depended on a shooting guard Trevion Williams (2012) to take over the point guard spot to finish the season last year. Smith recently played and had a great summer AAU basketball season with the Houston Elite one of the few well known grassroots basketball programs in the city of Houston. He looks forward to having a great 2010-2011 basketball season for The Village High School. He will join one the best middle man and highly recruited big man in the nation Shaquille Cleare (2012) and another lengthy guard/forward Chris Mathews (2012) who has matured tremendously in his sophomore year. The Vikings is not a young team anymore and this year will be the year they will change the way everyone looks at the Village High School basketball program. More on Vikings basketball @ http://thevillagevikings1.shutterfly.com/

Houston scooping HOOPS

Cy Fair Nike Elite - Bianca Winslow (2012) of Bellaire High School is scooping her way to the hoops against team Michigan Crossover. Bianca was one of the original girls from the 2005 Team NCI Elite that I had followed closely and believed then that she will become one special basketball player as the rest of the girls in that NCI team. A lot have doubts about what I was saying at the time and said that it was too early to determine if any of the girls will even make it past middle school basketball. I was right all along, because all these girls are now in high school and all have played varsity basketball in their freshman year and are now making names for themselves. Bianca is the daughter of former U of H and NBA player Rickie Winslow. She will be fun to watch teaming up with one of the top point guard in the nation AJ Alix (2013) and the sharpshooter Raven Burns (2012) for the Lady Cardinals this coming school season. More on 2005 Team NCI Elite @ http://www.wizardsbasketball.us/nci_players.html

2012 Flaming JAZ is hot!

2012 Jazmin Guerrero of Dobie high school soon to be a junior this fall is heating up the summer scene both with great defense and offense and shows no cooling down to open up and light some fire this coming school season. Playing for the Houston Flames she continues to show great improvements in her all around game. See a few of her summer game highlights!

@ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fRgmQROM8o

Vikings are coming back BIG for 2010-2011 Season

With everyone coming back healthy and with some new addition, Coach Don Harvey can't think of anything else but positive results for the upcoming 2010-2011 season. Most of his players have developed and matured. Six of his players already have offers from known college programs, but have not made any commitments at this time. It's looking good for the young Village High School having both boys and girls basketball programs at the rise. Shaquille Cleare now a junior will be a known force in the middle with great support from Chris Matthews, Dylan Pack, Devion Whetstone and Sebastian Leal The backcourt duo Garry Smith and Trevion Williams is also coming back from a great summer AAU basketball season. All freshmen from last year Kevin Zea, Thierry Tchenko and Joshua Butler were all broken in and ready to go for their second season too.

No Pain No Gain...

The Village High School incoming freshman Hannah Cambel limp as she walks to claim her 3 awards Sunday. She not only took home three awards but learned to understand and gain more knowledge about the game from head coach Greg Williams and the lady owls players from Rice University basketball position camp held June 25-27th. Two lady owls Houstonians Zoe Rogers and Brianna Hypolite did very well assisting and coaching the campers. The camp was filled with great athletes with ages ranging from 8th to 12th grade this coming fall. In his closing speech coach Greg Williams encourage all the youngsters to focus on their academics and to keep working on their games because "HARD WORK PAYS"

See video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO2w0uo3Mqs

2014 Reflections...

Briana Turner - Class of 2014

It mirrors the REFLECTIONS of two great athletes that gave her life and endless possibilities. Howard and Kellye Turner the proud parents that instilled humility and great character to their only child and daughter has been successful in doing so. She’s also surrounded by great coaches that pushes her to aspire for excellence. Playing under Coach George Washington of the DFW Elite club, Briana will most probably be the next highly recruited basketball athlete for the class of 2014 coming out of Houston on the womens side. She played two undefeated season for the Nolan Ryan middle school in Alvin Texas that only adds sparkle to her early basketball career. As an incoming freshman for the Mavs of Manvel High School, Coach Fleceia Comeaux has a lot to look forward to not only for the coming 2010-2011 basketball season, but for the next four years that Briana will be playing under her directions. The Manvel Mavericks will be one of the exciting team to watch this coming school season. For more on Briana, please see link to InsideWomensBasketball @

http://www.insidewomensbasketball.com/summer2010/index.php#Brianna_Turner

Reaching The Unreachable...

Britney Grinner is making HOUSTON PROUD! 2008-2009 was the year of the BIG’s in Houston when Grinner and Bone met at the Texas 5A State Regional’s and ending the Dulles Vikings and Kelsey Bone’s last chance to go to Austin for the BIG DANCE. Grinner took Nimitz to the Texas 5A State Finals but failed and lost to Summit. Now she returns back to the stage trying to reach a national recognition… the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Division I Title. Will she reach for it? The Houstonians says she will after showing up big and ending Tennessee’s road to the FINAL FOUR. The Baylor Lady Bears will face Duke and hoping to rescind the outcome of what happened on their men’s program losing to Duke recently. Duke have forward/guard junior Karima Christmas also a Houstonian from Dobie HS class of 2006. Whatever happens, Houston will always be proud of all the Houstonians. May the best team wins.

Fort Bend Bush Broncos Won 5A State Title

It can be done and they did it! "The Broncos Did". They conquered the State 5A Title after long years of drought Fort Bend Bush got it made this year. Its Houston's time to shine with Yates conquering the Boys 4A championships and CyFair claiming the 5A state title in girls basketball. We can now look forward for what Houston will become next season moving forward with all the talents they currently have and the ones that are just coming in as freshmen. The future is bright! Soon the 2010-2011 basketball season will be here. Congratulations to all the seniors that are continuing to follow their dreams and will play at the next level. Good luck to your new journey and keep making Houston PROUD!

Yates Lions Repeats!

The Yates Lions ROARED LOUD in Austin, beating Lancaster in the State Class 4A Tiltle. Last year's title was great, but this year was very special setting records and breaking 100 marks in most games. See highlight here. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid68496070001?bclid=894333136&bctid=71875281001

Village Up For BIG AND BROADER Challenges

After beating Kinkaid School in the HJPC Conference Tournament and having a successful junior high season, Hannah Cambel and Alexis Onigbanjo of the Lady Vikings will now move to a higher level of competition next year. Though it will not be the first time for both Cambel and Onigbanjo playing up with the Village high school team, it will be a big change. Both played a few games with the JV team the past season. The new team will be very young that will have mostly freshmen and sophomores. Coach Margo Graham took the junior high Lady Vikings to a 2009-2010 undefeated season with a 22-0 record winning the HJPC Conference Championship and ending the season with the HJPC Tournament Title. Alexis Onigbanjo the recipient of the 2009-2010 MVP award from the Village School and the Houston Christian Middle School Shootout and Hannah Cambel received the TEAM Player Award from the Village School and the All-Tournament Player Award from the Houston Christian Middle School Shootout. They will both have a lot to work on this summer to prepare for a more challenging season that will be the first in their young careers. Coach Margo Graham will also move up to coach the Village high school team and looking forward to building a great basketball program parallel to the existing boys program.

Ft. Bend Bush To 5A State Final Four

After an emotional win over a nationally rank Bellaire Cardinals, the Broncos are now ready to face the toughest mission by far. They are two games away from Class 5A State Title. They will take it one game at a time under the leadership of head coach Ronnie Courtney. He knows the way, he’s been there twice and winning it in 2000 and 2001 with two McDonald All-Americans TJ Ford and Daniel Ewing. This time it will be his third and he’s confident enough that he has all the talents he needed to win it again. The Broncos are hungry and will sure put up a good fight like there is no tomorrow. They will face Flower Mound on Friday at Frank Erwin Center in Austin. ‘LET’S GO BOYS AND MAKE HOUSTON PROUD ONCE MORE!” Photo Courtesy of Houston Chronicle

Houston AAU & Club Basketball Just Around The Corner

Spring is here and summer is peeking at the gym doors. AAU and Club teams are getting geared for a long summer haul. With Spring tournaments starting early last weekend with Coast 2 Coast hosting their 1st Annual Ballin 4A Cure tournament dedicated to support cancer research. Houstonians will follow and host their tournament March 12th. There will be tons of tournaments happening around the city and listed below are some competition that will showcase a lot of talents to come for Houston Basketball boys and girls alike. On the girls side: Ft, Bend Stars (Mar 19th), Houston Insiders (Mar 26th), Cy-Fair (Apr 19th), H-Town Souljaz (May 7th), Houston Insiders (May 14th), HBA Texas Blazers (May 21st), Houston Hotshots (Jun 4th), Houston Cobras (Jun 11th). On the Boys we have Houston Hoops (Mar 26th) & (Apr 16th), RCS Spring Ice Breaker (Mar 20th), Kingwood Classic (Apr 18th), Houston Select (Jun 7th) and many more… SO STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES!

State 5A Girls Finals-All Houston

It is rare for two same city teams to face off in the Class 5A state championship and for only the second time in the history of the UIL girls’ basketball state tournament, The Cy Fair bobcats and Fort Bend Hightower hurricanes meet for the Class 5A state Finals. Cy Fair with the top player of the nation Chiney Ogwumike showed why she is the number one player, supported by a great point guard in Cassie Peoples makes it more difficult for Hightower to compete, Hightower’s inexperience makes a big difference compared to Cy Fair’s fourth straight time appearance in Austin. I know this is just the beginning for the Houston area teams. Houston has a lot to offer and plenty of young talents both boys and girls that are about to change the state and the nations view of the city’s basketball talents. View more pictures @ 5A All Houston Finals

http://www.slide.com/r/5v_tmtwo0D9iSfPlGTFyIN3RWvESwjjo