Katy had its best season in decades last year.

The Tigers earned 21 wins, made the playoffs and achieved almost every goal they set for themselves in the process in Michael Elizondo’s first season as head coach, achieving their best result on the hardwood since the early 2000’s.

But the Tigers come into this year hungry and wanting more. They aren’t satisfied with their success last season. The goal this year is to take a step further.

So far, that mission is coming to fruition. The Tigers have stormed out the gates this season to a 12-2 record and have earned some big wins during that stretch. The team's growth showed on Friday, as they took down a strong Cy-Woods team 77-52 and continued one of the best starts to the season that this Tigers program has seen in a long period.

“We just have a lot of continuity from last year and we’ve been able to build on that,” said senior guard Michael Hernandez. “We have depth and our bench has been great for us. We added size and even aside from the physical stuff, I think we’ve just grown a lot as varsity athletes. Last year was a lot of our first varsity seasons and I think there’s a comfort level now this year.”

The Tigers returners have stepped up and it’s helped improve the team this year. From being coaches on the court during practice to communicating and fixing things themselves without a timeout during games and knowing the level it takes day in and day out, this group has figured out what it takes to succeed. Offensively, the team feeds off of Tomas Belaiter, but he is just one cog in the machine and that was one of the biggest things that showed on the scoreboard on Friday. Even in an off game for Belaiter, Katy got 26 points from Brady Willis, 17 points from Hernandez and 12 points from Jayden Stewart in an all-around effort That epitomizes what the Tigers are trying to build and how the team works at its best, with players making extra passes and playing selflessly.

“I love these guys because they’re learners,” Elizondo said. “They watch a lot of film, they ask a lot of questions and it keeps our whole coaching staff on our toes. We have to be prepared as well as we can because the kids want to be prepared that way as well. That hunger from them has helped us take the next step both offensively and defensively.”

The Tigers had to play scrappy in the first quarter against Cy-Woods and only led 15-13, but they opened things up in the second, increasing their lead to 43-26 at the half. That lead kept building and ballooned to that 77-52 victory in the second half.

Those types of performances have become the norm for Katy this year as they have jumped out to this great start. The Tigers are averaging over 60 points per game and on the defensive end have given up just 50 points per game on average. It’s a credit not just to Katy’s offense, but their defense as well as Elizondo has built a unit that is stingy and doesn’t allow any offense to get into its rhythm.

“All of us spent a lot of extra time and practice any time we could so we would be ready for this challenge,” Willis said. “In the gym, in the weight room, watching film, the whole team lives and spends so much time making sure we are as prepared as we can be. We wanted to be better this season and we aren’t going to let anyone outwork us.”

The next step for Katy is getting through the gauntlet of District 19-6A play. The Tigers finished tied for third last year in district and to take a step up this year they will need to be at their best in a district that is jam-packed with talent no matter the team this season.

But Katy believes it has what it takes. They think they can take that next step and they are up for the challenge.

“There’s no game you can walk into and feel comfortable in this district,” Elizondo said. “It makes it very fun, but very stressful. But the important part for us is approaching it one game at a time. You can’t look forward to the teams we face, you can’t think about anything in the future, not playoffs or anything else, or you will get in trouble quickly. The biggest focus is keeping our eyes on the next game and ensuring we take care of that.”

Katy ISD Tournament

Katy 77, Cy-Woods 52

Points: (K) Brady Willis 26, Michael Hernandez 17, Jayden Stewart 12, Jayden Stewart 12, Kenneth Little 8, Tomas Belaiter 7, Blake Gillespie 3, Chris Rodriguez 3, Adam Severin 2;

Halftime: Katy 42, Cy-Woods 26; 3-Pointers: (K) Stewart 4, Willis 4, Little 2, Gillespie, Belaiter; Record: Katy 12-2, 0-1;