“This level of basketball has been raised in this district.” said Jordan head coach Charlie Jones. “A few years ago, people would expect Fort Bend to sweep Katy or win three of four, but this year we went 3-1. There's lots of talented teams in this district."
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
Katy ISD is in the midst of a huge growth in boys basketball.
For the past decade, boys teams in Katy ISD struggled in the playoffs against others in ln the Houston area. Having a hard time against Fort Bend and finding a way past the early rounds of the playoffs
Since 2015, the school district had only had two teams make the Class 6A Region III Tournament, with Tompkins making a run to the state title game in 2018, and Morton Ranch making the regional semifinals in 2020.
Katy had gotten close to adding another team to that list last year, when Mayde Creek made it to the regional quarterfinals for the first time in school history, but this year Katy ISD had a breakthrough.
Both Seven Lakes and Jordan made the regional tournament this year, equaling the amount of times Katy ISD teams had made it that far in the playoffs over the past eight years and showing that Katy ISD is an up and coming force in the Houston area.
“Our district is one of the best in the city of Houston and the state of Texas,” said Seven Lakes junior guard A.J. Bates. “For a long time, people doubted teams in this district, but we’ve changed that perception over the past couple years. We play good basketball, we aren’t going to be looked over anymore, we’re going to be here and be one of the best districts.”
Seven Lakes was dominant all season, going on a 26-game win streak and winning 34 games this season on its way to the regional tournament. They were one of Houston’s strongest teams all year and proved themselves against the highest competition.
“It shows that the brand of basketball that we’re playing in Katy ISD is exciting, fun and hard to compete against.” Said Seven Lakes head coach Shannon Heston. “I’m super proud of our guys for being district champs in a district that is on the up and up. We have a great group of coaches and players from top to bottom and it’s just getting better. It’s exciting to be a part of.”
Jordan meanwhile, surged in its first 6A season, defying expectations, en route to winning 28 games and making ther way to the third round behind a senior class that helped to start the program three years ago.
“Katy ISD, we’ve never really had that reputation in boys basketball and we wanted to build that,” said Jordan senior forward Trevor Martz. “You have all these Houston and Dallas schools and districts that are known and we want to build to be that. We wanted to show people what we could do. We and Seven Lakes, we came out and showed the city what Katy ISD is capable of. This is a tough district and it makes good teams.”
The head coaches of both teams credited being ready for playoffs with the tough matchups and coaching they faced throughout district. Katy ISD had five teams reach 20 wins this year, and the matchups in district play were highly competitive. And don’t expect that growth to just stop with this year, as teams all across the district will bring back talented players to compete.
“This district has grown so much and the level of basketball has been raised” said Jordan head coach Charlie Jones. “A few years ago, people would expect Fort Bend to sweep Katy ISD in the first round or win three of four, but this year we went 3-1 against Fort Bend. We have lots of talented teams, even ones that didn’t make playoffs. That really helped us once we got here in the playoffs, because teams are so strong in our district and we have great coaches.”