The top two girls and boys teams competed on Thursday, October 10, in the 2024 Coggin 6th Grade Basketball Championships.
For the boys, Team 5 (Maroon) and Team 3 (White) played for the championship title. Playing for Team 5 were Dion Deshields, Josiah Conway, Jayden Alcala, Braxton Musick, Abel Garcia, Malachi Pollard-Crowder, Bruce Carter, Jorge Gonzalez, and Easton Stone. Team 3 consisted of Aiden Alcala, Christian Aguirre, Hunter Holland, Carson Crawford, Jathan Kinsey, Cooper Bigbie, Isaiah Herrera, Cain Webster, Jaxton Payne, and Dawson Harris.
Team 3 came up with the win over Team 5 with a final score of 17-7. Scorers for Team 3 included Hunter Holland (8 pts.), Jathan Kinsey (4 pts.), Aiden Alcala (4 pts.), and Cain Webster (1 pt.) Players scoring for Team 5 were Dion Deshields (3 pts.), Abel Garcia (2 pts.), and Bruce Carter (2 pts.).
“I would like to thank Gayla Lishka for being our referee through the season and for the Championship Game,” stated Coach Brandon Brown. “I would like to thank Brownwood High School Athletics for letting us use the High School Gym for our boys and girls Championship Games. Thank you to Coach Parker and Coach Hohertz-Perez for helping us this year as well as sending their high school players to coach and mentor every game. I would also like to thank Coach Dalleh, Coach Starnes, and Howard Payne for sending their guys over to help mentor as well. Both were a huge positive influence on our Basketball Program. Thank you to Charles Musgrove for all the media. Thank you, parents, for your support this season! All boys that participated this season did a fantastic job.”
For the girls, the Lady Hoopers and Tha Dubz faced off for their championship game. The Lady Hoopers included Gentry McMillian (Team Captain), Paizlee Galvan, Emily Anderson, Tatum Still, Amelia Blanton, Liliana Guevara, Lea Shields, Stormy Burt, and Cydnee Wood. Playing for Tha Dubz were Leyia Linan (Team Captain), Zoey Miles, Ellis Trump, Eliana Infante, Laylah Young, Claire Oplotnik, Jewelzauri Way, Sophia Ongteco, and Blanca Bartek.
The game went into overtime with a tie score of 6 to 6. With a few seconds left on the clock, Gentry McMillian made a 3-pointer off the backboard for the win. With a final score of 9 to 6, the Lady Hoopers made it through the season with an undefeated record.
“There were 62 total 6th-grade girls that participated in our basketball season,” stated Coach Haylee Ratliff. “All the girls worked hard during the past six weeks. It’s always awesome to see how much they improve as a group and individually. This is a special group of girls, and I am thankful to get to work with them. This season we had four games that went into overtime, and most were 2-point games.”
The top 3 scorers for the girl’s league were Zoey Miles with 26 points, Kylee Webb with 33 points, and Bri Berniard with 44 points.
“I want to thank Coach Hohertz and Gracia for pouring into the program,” noted Coach Ratliff. “They make it very special for the girls, and I am thankful for their help teaching the game. Also, I am very thankful for the involvement of the Lady Lion Varsity players. For every one of our games at Coggin those girls drive over to coach and cheer on the 6th graders. It has become a cool tradition that girls coming into pre-athletics really look forward to.”
Highlights for both championship games can be viewed at:
