Sports

Much of the talk surrounding Texan senior captain Will Simpson was centered mainly around his offensive production.

But on the biggest stage and the odds heavily stacked against he and his Texan teammates, it was a heads-up defensive gem Simpson turned in that probably saved Wimberley’s season and definitely put them in a position to secure a clutch road win.

After senior forward Conor Stratton missed a close range shot inside the paint with the Texans trailing 79-77 with only twelve seconds remaining, Simpson calmly trapped and stole the ball from Navarro guard Sam Marbach, who was heading up-court to possibly salt the game away after Stratton’s miss.

District Champs.

It’s a label the Lady Texan basketball team hasn’t earned in more than half a decade, but last week, the celebration began as Wimberley finished off an improbably run through district play at 11-1 to be crowned the champions of District 26-4A.

“It feels good,” Head Coach Ted Dydalewicz said. “I didn’t expect a district championship team this year, but I expected a team that would be very competitive… It’s a credit to these young ladies for the hard work they put in.”

The 66-24 win over Yoakum last week was the cherry on top of an already incredible season. Maggie Linker, one of the team’s senior leaders, showed why she will be considered for District MVP with an 18 point, 11 rebound performance in only 18 minutes of play.

The Wimberley High School swim team is sending 11 of its 15 members on to regionals following the district championships at Palo Alto. 

Mariel and Evan Mayhew took first and second place in the diving competition.

The boys Sprint Medley 200 relay, consisting of Eric Sibley, Silas Hatcher, Thom Nacarrato, and Sebastian Robinson Gutierrez, took four seconds off their best time and finished in second. They also competed in the Free 200 sprint relay and took fifth place.

The Girls Relay 200 Sprint and 400 Relay of Trinity Robinson-Gutierrez, Bayli Martin, Rachel Remeny, Mia Osborne and Shianne Sinkson took sixth in both races. 

Robinson Guiterrez took third place in the 200 Individual Medially and fourth place in the 100 Free.

Say it ain’t so.

The boisterous home crowds at Texan Gymnasium for home basketball games have been almost as rambunctious and as plentiful as those from this past fall at Texan Stadium during the football campaign.

Although there’s hardly a question that the sport of football will always reign supreme in Texas, could a tradition-rich community like Wimberley finally be making a place in their hearts for hoops?

It certainly seems that way.

Both the boys and girls teams have each carved their own niche at the school by sharing the district lead (with state-ranked Navarro) for much of the season while playing top-notch, exciting basketball.

Each have taken different paths to get there but the results have been relatively the same.

While it wasn’t pretty, the Wimberley Lady Texans added another win to their record (5-1, 0-0 district) Tuesday January 19th against Liberty Hill.  After a difficult series of games at the Salado Tournament, the Lady Texans struggled in the following game at Liberty Hill.  The two goals and the buildup to create them were impressive, but Coach Brad Biggers would like to see more consistency from his team as district play looms on the horizon.

Senior captain Will Simpson scored 29 points and forward Conor Stratton added 16 as the Texans beat St. Dominic Savio 67-59 for their tenth straight win at Texan Gym last Friday.

“Everybody rallies around Will because he is our go-to-guy and as he goes we go.” Texans head coach Jeff McDorman said. “Our players have a saying – ‘Feed The Beast’ – and we certainly did that.”

The current winning streak matches a similar run from last year when the Texans reeled off an eleven game streak in district play before bowing out to Wharton in the third round of the playoffs.

The Texans shrugged off a sluggish first quarter in which they held a slim 11-9 advantage early on before Savio rattled off eight unanswered points to take a 17-11 first quarter lead.

After completing a successful Regional Quarterfinal run through the volleyball playoffs, the Lady Texans also made their impact felt on the 26 4-A All District team with nine players receiving postseason accolades.

Senior Mattie Adams – who was also named Defensive District MVP for the second consecutive season – joined fellow seniors Maggi Linker and Meagan Romano on the First Team.

Kayley Campbell and Jade Craigen earned Second Team nods with Caitlin Crockett, Morgan Gamblin, Allie Messenger and Cassidy Luna all receiving Honorable Mention kudos after receiving votes from all eight league coaches.

Head Coach Thomas Kane spoke briefly to the WIMBERLEY VIEW about each of his All-District players:

Senior center Will Simpson scored 14 points to pace a balanced scoring night for the Texan boys basketball team as they secured their ninth consecutive win 67-33 over the Luling Eagles at Texan Gym on Tuesday night.

Gavin Martinez and Seth Hooper added eight points each and Peyton Anderson chipped in seven in a game that Wimberley never trailed after coasting to an early 17-4 first quarter lead.

Already up 38-17 at the break, the Texans extended their lead with a 16-5 third quarter run that allowed Head Coach Jeff McDorman to empty his bench for much of the second half.

Twelve players got into the scoring column for the Texans (9-1) who will host parochial school St. Dominic Salvo on Friday afternoon at 6pm.

It was certainly tough to make the All District 13-4A squad this season with No. 9 ranked Geronimo Navarro making life difficult for league foes all year long.

The Panthers may have swept many of the major awards this season - but the Texans - who finished second in district - were very well represented on the team despite a slow start in which they began the season with six consecutive losses.

They eventually recovered to post a 3-1 district record and reach the third round of the Region II playoffs.

The Texans landed ten players on first team and nine on the second team.

In addition, freshman Jake Cockerham was tabbed Newcomer of the Year by the league’s five coaches.