Holiday Tourneys for HP Hoopers
While most students are taking a holiday break, basketball players are hard at work on the court. For example, both Highland Park teams will face top-notch tournament competition this week.
The HP girls will compete in the prestigious Sandra Meadows Classic in Duncanville, which features 32 teams from around the country. The Lady Scots (8-9) will play DeSoto in the first round at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
On the boys side, HP will head to the Allen Holiday Invitational, which includes 27 teams from all corners of Texas as well as one from Canada. The Scots (10-5) will face Rowlett in the first round at 10:15 a.m. Thursday in a rematch of the championship game from the HP Scot Classic tournament — which the Eagles won 71-59 on Nov. 18.
The HP girls are coming off their most impressive performance of the season in an 86-25 thrashing of West Mesquite on Dec. 22. Ella Patterson, a freshman, scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures for the Lady Scots, who led 49-13 at halftime.
Meanwhile, the HP boys enter tournament play after their rally fell short in a narrow 53-52 loss to West Mesquite in their District 15-5A opener. Preston Landes tallied 14 points to pace the Scots, who suffered their first district loss since the 2015-16 season.
Both tournaments will run through Saturday and will include at least three games for each team. Then HP will return to district play on Jan. 2 against Mesquite Poteet, with the boys playing at home and the girls on the road.
