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North Dominates South: How Dallas-Fort Worth Schools Took Home 6A State Championships

The UIL State Basketball Championship wrapped up on Saturday, March 14th, and it went out with a bang. The 6A Division One and Division Two titles capped out what was a fantastic three days at the Alamodome in San Antonio. And on this night, the North dominated the South, as both teams from the DFW Metroplex handled teams from San Antonio and Austin respectively. In the second to last game of the night, the local Brennan Bears was challenged by the Panthers of North Crowley out of Fort Worth. In a very anticipated championship game, North Crowley jumped out early on Brennan and never looked back.

In the first quarter, North Crowley controlled the entire quarter, led by Alex Barther II, North Crowley took a 14-6 lead into the second quarter, but that wasn’t the true story of the quarter, and wasn’t the story for Brennan. One of Brennan’s top guards in Jacob Padilla left the game with a knee injury, and Brennan wasn’t the same after that. ” Just some unfortunate stuff, with Jake going down in the first quarter really hurt, ” Brennan Coach Koty Cowgill told the press after the game. Before he left the game, Padilla had four of the six points early for the Bears, and he was the catalyst of the offense before the injury. After that Brennan could not find any flow on the offensive side of the ball. And it showed, as North Crowley started the second quarter scoring the first five points, to take an 11 point lead 19-9. They would continue the onslaught, as the Panthers would go on a 12-3 run to end the half and take a 31-12 into the locker room.

The second half began and Brennan came out looking to get back into the game. Without Padilla in the game, Sean Mondragon became the primary scorer for the Bears, scoring nine of his 13 points in the quarter to cut the Panthers lead down to 13 headed into the fourth. But it was too much North Crowley, as Isaak Hayes led the charge for the Panthers, with 22 points and six assists in route to game MVP, and the Panthers of North Crowley took home the Division I title 65-52. After the game, an ecstatic Panther team came into the post game press conference elated about the championship. ” We’ve worked so hard this year, these guys put in an incredible amount of time, but it hasn’t been just about that, it’s been about them, sacrificing individual for the team.” Winning Coach Tommy Brakel said after the game.

The final game of the night, the 6A Division Two title game featured another North vs South matchup as Little Elm, representing Dallas-Fort Worth, took on Westlake out of Austin, and this game was just like the previous game, a complete domination from the team up in the North as Westlake could not get it’s footing at any point during the game. Little Elm jumped out on Westlake quickly 11-6 at the end of the first, and extended the lead into the half 26-10. Defense was the name of the game for Little Elm, and they had their sights on Westlake’s Bo Ogden all night. “I don’t think you guys know, but they have a good guy on the other side in Bo, ” Little Elm Coach Damon Barnett said after the game.

In the second half, it was more of the same for the Lobos of Little Elm. They took a 40-20 lead before cruising to a 57-35 victory and brought another trophy back to the Metroplex. Josh Weems was the games MVP, registering 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Afterwards, the team talked about how this was four years in the making, as they built the team up from the ground up since they were freshmen. “It feels great, ” said Kensington Candler, Guard for Little Elm. “We had early success, which sometimes isn’t good, so we put in the hard work.”

After three days and 12 games, the 2026 UIL Boys State Basketball Championships came to an end with Dallas-Fort Worth standing on top. While it may not have been the results the teams from the South was looking for, it’s something to be motivated for. To get back to the Alamo and a shot at a State Championship.

Dripping Springs Senior Infielder Looks To Help Lead The Tigers Back To State

Bobby Wilkinson carries a quiet demeanor through the locker room of Dripping Springs Baseball. Yet, for some, even the coaches, that quiet demeanor is what brings out the leadership skills in Wilkinson. The Second-Year varsity player is one of the key catalyst in Dripping Springs success to start the 2026 season. Coming off of a year where he sat behind many seniors, including those who has gone on to play baseball at a higher level, Wilkinson is looking to translating those leadership skills into a State Championship.

“It feels good (with the start). Coming off last year, I sat behind some really good seniors, you get a chance to learn from guys like that.“, says Wilkinson. “I think it’s definitely good for me to take the expectations from last year and carry them on to this season.” Dripping Springs has started off red hot. After finishing the preseason with a 12-4-1 record, and a Comal ISD Invitational Preseason Tournament victory, Dripping Springs has started off the district season 4-0, scoring a total 57 runs in those four games. Last Monday Night, Wilkinson went only one for four, but with that he also had four runs batted in, hit the ball in the right spots in order to bring runs across the board. Wilkinson’s leadership has also caught the eye of his head coach, Chris Payne. Coach Payne says that the evolution of Wilkinson is helping spur the Tigers team. “It’s fun to watch Bobby evolve,” says Coach Payne. “He’s constantly coaching himself. Game to Game adjustments, bat-to-bat adjustments, and then the in-bat adjustment is where he’s at right now. And that’s where you want to be at a high level. To be able to diagnose yourself and get better.”

This year, Wilkinson has remained an everyday starter for the Tigers. Either at third base or first, defensively, he has rose to the occasion. Although he’s used to playing at third, Wilkinson believes that he can turn into an outstanding first baseman. “I’ve always played third, but with the way that our team is shaping up, first base is looking like where it’s going to be.

Currently, Wilkinson has 17 hits on the season. While driving in 13 runs on the season. He has placed himself well within the cleanup spot and hopes to continue his hitting success for the rest of the district season. Dripping Springs resumes district play against Bowie on Tuesday and Friday of this week, with Anderson coming to Dripping Springs on Saturday.

Realignment Creates Opportunities Across Texas

The bi-annual tradition of realignment across Texas continued this winter, and the changes went from minor, and to one district, extremely major. Across UIL and TAPPS, schools are realigned based on the population of their school, and in some instances, their geography as well. For some, this seems to freshen up rivalries and get in new blood. For others, however, there are some hesitations about how it may lead off.

TAPPS didn’t go through a lot of changes in their realignment, with one significant change, one that will no doubt affect football more than the other sports. The San Antonio Christian, St. Anthony Catholic High School, and St. Joseph Academy out of Brownsville will join Hyde Park and the Regents School of Austin in a new District Three in Division Two. This is significant, because both San Antonio Christian and SJA both tied with St. Joseph for the district title in football last season, while Hyde Park, and Regents, who has won 10 straight district titles and coming off of back-to-back state semifinals appearances joins the Frey from Austin. With Regents coming in as one of, if not the top team in the state for next season in football, it may be difficult for the other teams to catch up to the Knights dominance.

In the UIL, the changes were drastically huge than in TAPPS. Westlake and Lake Travis will leave their longtime home of Class 6A District 26 to join District 25, while Buda Hays, being promoted from 5A and a returning Buda Johnson will take their spots that will include Dripping Springs, Akins, Austin, Bowie and Del Valle. District 25 will have a brand new region as well, as that district is now heading to Region Three, meaning the lower seeded teams when it comes to the playoffs will now have to travel, in all likelihood, Houston, to take on a power from that Region. While the lost of a rivalry isn’t the best for some, Dripping Springs Head Baseball Coach Chris Payne believes the action on the field takes precedence. “I’ve always enjoyed playing Westlake and Lake Travis…but, you have to play who’s on the field and (Dripping Springs) don’t care about that, they just want to play an opponent with another name.” Said Coach Payne.

Why not always optical, both the UIL and TAPPS does this every other year to balance out the competition due to population. While some rivalries may go away, it opens up a chance for some new ones to spark up, and make high school sports here in Texas some of the best athletic competition in the country.

Canyon Begins District Home Schedule In Dominating Fashion

District 29 in Texas is considered one of the best in the state, and the Cougarettes of Canyon is looking to be one of the top teams in the District. Canyon began their home schedule of the district campaign on March 3rd, hosting the Rockets of Judson. Canyon came into the game already down a game, losing the opener to East Central 11-1 back on February 24th.

Outside of the game against East Central, Canyon started the season with weeks of tournaments and non-district games, including being one of the hosts of the prestigious Wurst Tournament, where some of the best teams across the state competed. Now that the preseason tournament season has ended, the focus now turns to district play, and to hope for a chance to get to the State Playoffs in late April.

Canyon started the game against Judson with a huge first inning, thanks to a two run triple from second baseman Jalynn Porras and a two-run double from third baseman Emeri Villanueva, Canyon jumped out to a very early 9-0 lead. Pitcher Addyson Carmona was just as dominate on the mound as the hitters were at the plate, striking out five of the first nine hitters from Judson. She also added a RBI single in the first inning to help her cause. Canyon would defeat Judson 10-0, a sign that may mean big things for the Cougarettes.

While Canyon is hoping to bring back some of the glory years that they had in the past in softball, the schedule is daunting. After playing, and being defeated, by the Lady Hornets of East Central, Canyon then have another powerhouse to play on the road by heading to Cibolo and taking on Steele, following a date with San Marcos back at home on March 10th. While playing the top three teams in the district early on in a season may seem daunting to some teams, Canyon sees this as experience, and a hope to get them one of the four spots out of the district into the State Playoffs.

Blake Cox Looks To Lead Dripping Springs Back To State

Dripping Springs starting pitcher Blake Cox has seen it all over the last three seasons as a varsity pitcher. From coming out of the bullpen during his sophomore season, to starting in the third and decisive game in the State Semifinals, Cox has been the epitome of Dripping Springs Baseball. Now, with two Division I starters off to Texas and Tennessee respectively, it is now Cox’s team, something that he doesn’t take for granted.

“One of the main things I’ve learned is failure is inevitable,” said Cox, about his game three lost versus Kingwood in last season’s state semifinals. “To succeed, you have to fail. (Baseball) is a team game, and you have to learned that not everything is your fault.”

The start of the 2026 season has been spectacular for Cox. So far, Cox has struck out 19 batters, while only giving up two hits in eight and two-thirds innings. He, along with the rest of Dripping Springs team, has won eight in a row as of this writing, including winning the vaunted Comal ISD Invitational preseason tournament, a tournament that has some of Texas best teams playing in it.

Cox also had a hand in Coach Chris Payne getting his 400th career victory in his 20th season, a milestone reached with the victory against Sterling on February 26th. “I love Coach Payne. Coach Payne’s been there for me since freshman year. I’ve known him for longer than that going to baseball camps. Being that 400^th win means a lot to me. He has our back everyday, he goes to bat for us, so just love to go to bat for him and get that win.”

While Cox is garnering the headlines for Dripping Springs this season, there are others that are making a mark on the early part of this season. Transfer Oscar Johnson and freshman Cruz McBride are giving the Tigers depth at starting pitching…something that the Tigers hasn’t had in ages. Meanwhile, Nixon Badilla has positioned himself as possibly the Tigers closer, already with two saves in this season, and Jason Steele, last season’s District 26 Newcomer of the Year, provides more depth out of the pen, while also being the everyday shortstop for a Dripping Springs team with it’s eye on Round Rock, Texas and the State Championship game on the first Saturday in June.

But for Cox, it’s not about showing what he’s about since last May’s defeat, it’s about what this team is about as we head towards district play. “People are going to write us off until we play more teams, so far, I think we’re in a good spot. I don’t mind being under-looked. It’s been my story since sophomore year.”

2026 Hill Country Classic Kicks Off Baseball Season

The 2026 Hill Country Classic began the baseball season on Thursday, February 19th, and host, Dripping Springs, is the talk of the tourney. Coming off of a State Semifinals appearance a year ago, the Tigers are looking to make another run at it, with a younger team than last season.

The Tigers are led by Head Coach Chris Payne, who is in his 20th season as the Head Coach of the program (and as of this writing, 398 wins). He has seen the highs and lows of the program, and is excited about the season ahead. “We haven’t won a game since May 30th, and it doesn’t seem like a long time ago, but when you’re in it, it’s a long time.” The Tigers are led by Senior Starting Pitcher, Blake Cox, who in his season debut on Thursday night, Cox through 11 strikeouts, giving up only two hits, and is ready for the grind of the season.

Seven other teams came to Dripping Springs for the festivities. The Indians of Waxahachie, Keller Indians, Hutto Hippos, San Marcos Rattlers, Pearce Mustangs, Rockwell Yellowjackets, and the Lehman Lobos, a team that was in the same district as Dripping Springs some three years ago.

Dripping Springs opened the tourney for themselves on Thursday suffering their first lost of the season to San Marcos 5-3. They rebounded later on that night against Pearce 6-2 thanks to great pitching from Cox, Cody McDaniel, and Daniel Masters.

The very next day, Dripping Springs would lose against the Indians of Waxahachie 6-2, before coming back in the afternoon and getting a tie against Keller 2-2. They would then sweep the action on Saturday, coming back and defeating Rockwall 6-4 thanks to a six inning grand slam by senior Cade Sanders. Sanders would then come back and pitch a gem in an 11-0 run rule game against Hutto.

With only six seniors coming back to the team, the task of making it back to the State Semifinals will be a tough task, but with the coaching staff of the Tigers, this program is primed and focus for a deep postseason run.

2026 Softball Season Begins With ‘Wurst Tournament’

The 2026 UIL Softball season began in earnest on Valentine’s Day Weekend with the Wurst Tournament at Canyon High School. Schools from across Texas gathered to get their campaign started, even if weather was going to be a factor throughout the weekend.

The host, Cougarettes of Canyon is looking for a bounce back year in ’26. Last season, Canyon, a power throughout Texas softball, finished fifth in their district, very odd for a team that has had much success throughout the years. While in the same district as District Champions Buda Johnson and Cibolo Steele, Canyon is ready to make some noise once again within District 27.

Canyon’s opponent on that Saturday afternoon was Temple. The Tem-Cats, as they are called, are also looking for a bounce-back season after being eliminated in the Area round of the playoffs last season. Finishing third in their district behind Copperas Cove and State Champion Midway, Temple is looking to build off a strong end to their 2025 season, with a return trip to the state playoffs.

All teams playing this weekend will have a few weekends worth of tournament games before district play begins the beginning part of March. District will last until the end of April, where the State Playoffs begins.

As it has been the prior two seasons, the postseason for softball will mirror of other sports throughout Texas. Each class is separated into two divisions, with a Division One and Division Two State Champion for each class. For these teams at the Wurst, the goal of getting to McCombs Fields in Austin for the State Championship the ultimate goal.

Unicorns Defeats Mules On Senior Night

On the very first Friday in the month of February, the New Braunfels Unicorns played their final home game of the season, as they took on district rivals Alamo Heights. The Unicorns came into the game, winners of their last six out of eight games, and was sitting in second place in district standings. Meanwhile, the Mules of Alamo Heights came into the night winning two straight and was sitting 4^th in the standings of district 26. Each team has an eye on the post season, as the season is quickly coming to an end.

The Unicorns jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the beginning of the first quarter. Led by great defense throughout the quarter, the Unicorns was suffocating the Mules with their defense in the early part of the game. On a night to give a tribute to their seniors, the players, and student section was rallying the Unicorns on in the first. By the end of the first, the Unicorns led 19-7, a completely dominating opening quarter by New Braunfels. In the second quarter, however, the Mules came to life, and outscored the Unicorns 16-12, to make it an eight-point New Braunfels lead heading into the second half.

In the third, the Mule once again outscored New Braunfels, this time to the tune of 15-12, on the strength of some great three-point shooting for the Mules. Going into the fourth, the Unicorns lead was down to five. But a spirited, yet, competitive fourth, the Unicorns outscored the Mules 19-17 and won by a final score of 62-55. New Braunfels improved to 26-7, and 10-4 in district play. Meanwhile, the Mules dropped to 21-9, 7-6 in district play, still holding on to that final playoff spot for district 26.

The night, however, was bigger than the result for New Braunfels. This senior heavy team had a total of 11 seniors play their final game inside of Unicorns Arena. In an emotional night for the New Braunfels school, and community, the seniors went out on top in their final home game in their gym.

Austin Golden Gloves Brings A Punch To Amateur Boxing

By Melvin Jones

Amateur boxing falls by the wayside for some in Central Texas. But for the competitors of the Austin Golden Gloves on Friday, January 30^th, the only thing that mattered was being able to fight.

11 male and female divisions were represented to go along with many divisions. This was the first night of the competition, as a total of 17 bouts started off night one. And if there was any indication that this would be an outstanding event, look no further than the attendance. At a facility that holds roughly 500 people, it was quickly a standing room only event, as fighters and spectators crowded into the Rock Sports Arena, just south of Hutto, Texas for the night’s events.

Amongst the many fighters that came in “Unattached” (ones that does not have any team represented), there were plenty of teams who were represented to begin the night. Reynoso Boxing Club was the heavyweight team of the night, bringing in many boxers to participate in the tournament, many of whom would go on to fight on the final day.

Blue Corner Ready for Next Round (Photo By Melvin Jones)

Not only were there fighters and spectators, but vendors and concessions kept everyone fed and clothed through the night. Many hats and t-shirts were on sale for the event, as well as the smell of popcorn went through the arena as the night progressed.

The night started off with a banger of a fight, as a bout in the Senior Male Novice 154-pound division started the night, and was the first stoppage of the night as the official ended the fight after three standing 8-counts that put a halt to the fight in the 2^nd round. The next few fights went toe-to-toe as the next four bouts went the distance, in which every bout was three 2-minute rounds.

Overall, an outstanding night of action accelerated through the weekend, with the final day having 22 bouts overall. The winners of these weight classes in these divisions advance to the state tournament in Ft Worth in early March.

Calling The Future: How The Love Of Calling High School Sports Motivates This Texas Broadcaster

By Melvin Jones, January 25, 2026

It takes a special person to would rather call high school sports over doing college or even some pro, but this is what we have with Merle Bertrand. On our very first edition of the “Voices of Texas” Podcast, Bertrand talked about how he started, how it was when it called the State Championship for football, some advice he would give to an upcoming broadcaster, and much more.

Back in 2004, Bertrand was brought on to K-Mac Sports by a Chuck Licata (Disclamer: Licata would hire myself back in 2020 after K-Mac became VYPE Live), as he was going in and out of the film industry for seven years in Los Angeles and Austin, TX. “I heard about this little company called K-Mac Sports that was just starting up at the time…and Chuck Licata, who was a track announcer, told me to ‘send me a tape’, like I had a tape or anything like that. But I put something together. I watched the UT Championship game against USC (2006 Rose Bowl) made up my own rosters and put together a little demo tape.”

Mere Bertrand on Zoom (Photo by Melvin Jones)

Bertrand would go on and be one of the lead announcers of K-Mac, along with Licata and Brad Cone, a broadcasting legend in the state of Texas. He would become the voice of the Vandegrift Vipers and call two State Championship games in 2022 and 2024, the year the team won the title. He has also been the voice of Southwestern University football, a Division 3 school just outside of Georgetown, Texas, and those games are also shown on VYPE.

Through it all, Bertrand talks about the love he has for high school sports, and the appreciation that comes with it. “I’m too old go down that path (going after a pro job) Somebody’s got to build and nurture this sandbox, and I think this is sort of my role right now,” says Bertrand.

When it comes to broadcasting, Bertrand is always looking forward. With a full staff to manage, and his own teams to cover, it keeps him moving and rolling every day. Bertrand can be reached on X @kmacmerle.

Inside Texas High School Sports – Episode 3 – 1216 Sports Radio Network