HUNTSVILLE — Round one went to the Brenham boys. The Cubs won the District 18-4A boys track and field title last month in Willis.

The Huntsville boys took round two. Led by state qualifiers Justin Gilbert, Brodrick Hadnot, Henry Ford, Dimitri Collier and Cameron Simmons, the Hornets evened the score by outscoring the Cubs at the Region III track meet in Huntsville early this month.

In Austin last weekend, the Cubs edged the Hornets in the unofficial battle for track and field supremacy in District 18-4A.

Brenham scored 28 points with only two athletes competing at the UIL Track and Field State Championships last Friday.

Huntsville, which finished third in the 400-meter relay and got 14 more points for Gilbert’s first-place finish in the 200 meters and fourth-place finish in the long jump, totaled 26 points.

Lancaster ran away with the Class 4A boys team title. A powerhouse on the girls’ side, the Lancaster boys scored 72 points this year. Angleton, which won the 400-meter relay, took second in the team standings with 38 points. Denton Ryan was third with 29.

Brenham finished fourth in the team standings, while Huntsville was fifth.

Huntsville had a legitimate shot at a third-place finish but Gilbert was disqualified from the 100-meter dash following a false start.

The winner of that race, Robert Adkinson of Corsicana, ran a 10.93-second time. Gilbert ran a 10.50 at the Region III meet a week earlier.

Gilbert’s head coach, Jason Elliott, said the UIL is discussing a change in the current false-start rule that disqualifies all runners who jump early.

“They’re talking about letting the first false start go to the field, then after that you are disqualified,” Elliott said.

Even with that rule, Gilbert would have been out of the race. He jumped a minute or so after Killeen’s Jaquail Haskins left the blocks early and was disqualified.



And then there were two — Two teams from District 18-4A are still standing in the state softball playoffs.

The Lady Bulldogs of Magnolia High and Lady Bears of Montgomery are closing in on the UIL State Softball Championships, but only one of those teams can make it to the four-team tournament next month in Austin.

Magnolia and Montgomery may meet in the Region III finals next week to decide which team advances to the state tournament.

Before the district foes start planning a rematch in the Region III finals, though, the Lady Bulldogs must take care of business against Santa Fe in a best-of-three series scheduled Thursday and Friday at Morton Ranch High School in Katy. On the way to the Region III semifinals, Magnolia has knocked off Buda Hays, Barbers Hill and Nederland.

Montgomery, the champion of District 18-4A, plays Angleton on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, if necessary, in a Region III semifinal series at Cinco Ranch High School in Katy.

The Lady Bears beat San Marcos, Little Cypress-Mauriceville and Brenham on their way to the region semifinals.

After dropping a 1-0 decision to Brenham in the series opener last week, Montgomery rallied and won two tight games, 2-1 and 3-2. Brenham finished the season with a 33-8 record.

“I told the kids, 33 wins — wow. I never would have thought we would be where we are right now at the beginning of the year,” Cubettes coach Wade Wilson told the Brenham Banner-Press. “The chemistry was great and they all got along and worked with each other and understood their roles and believed in each other. It was a phenomenal year, it really was.”

Wilson said the Lady Bears did what they had to do to get past his Cubettes squad.

“They’re a good team and we knew that going in,” Wilson said of the Lady Bears. “They’re well-rounded, they can run, they can hit, they have good pitching, they play good defense and they’re well-coached. We gave them a run for their money.”

Montgomery (29-8) beat Brenham four times in five meetings this season.



Two 18-4A baseball teams still in hunt for state title — Look out for the Brenham Cubs and Magnolia Bulldogs. The baseball teams from those two high schools have rolled through the first two rounds of the Class 4A state playoffs.

Brenham blasted Kyle Lehman 14-2 and 11-1 in the bi-district round, then the Cubs eliminated Crosby 7-4 in a series that was shortened to one game due to wet weather.

Magnolia moved past the Region III area round with a 9-4 win over Little Cypress-Mauriceville last Saturday night. The Bulldogs had a major change of plans after rain and lightning turned the best-of-three series into a one-game playoff and forced the two teams to find dry ground.

Originally scheduled to play game one at Baytown Sterling High School and games two and three at Texas A&M’s Olsen Field, the one-game playoff between the Bulldogs and Bears was played at Montgomery High School.

Magnolia trailed 4-3 going into the top of the sixth, but the Bulldogs scored six runs to close out the game and advance to the Region III quarterfinals.

Bad weather also threw a wrench in Brenham’s weekend plans. Still, the Cubs defeated the Crosby Cougars 7-4 on Saturday night in a game that was postponed twice due to rain. The game was originally scheduled for Friday at Langham Creek High in Houston before thunderstorms forced both teams to postpone the contest until Saturday afternoon. With rain still coming down Saturday morning in Houston, coaches from both schools decided that playing at Langham Creek was not going to happen.

UIL rules prevented the teams from playing on Sunday, and the only way the game could be postponed until Monday was if every possibility was exhausted.

The game was moved to Georgetown High School, which meant the Cubs had to skip their senior prom. According to the Banner-Press, several of the players’ dates attended the game in their prom dresses, and the Cubs responded by pounding out 15 hits and scoring seven runs.

“If we win the state championship, there will be a lot of dancing going on,” Brenham coach Jim Long said.

Brenham advances to play Buda Hays in the Region III quarterfinals. Hays, the District 17-4A runner-up, defeated Nederland 4-0 and 4-1 last week.

Game 1 of the series between Brenham and Buda Hays will be at 7 p.m. Thursday in Bastrop. Game 2 is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Weimar. Game 3 will follow Game 2, if necessary.

Magnolia will meet Port Neches-Groves, an area-round winner over San Marcos, in the Region III quarterfinals later this week. The Bulldogs and Indians start a best-of-three series Thursday at Port Neches-Groves.

The series moves to Magnolia on Friday, and if the teams split the first two games, they will break the tie Saturday at Houston Sterling High School.



Willis hires new hoops coach — Willis High School has a new boys basketball coach. Former Waco High School head coach Alan Andrus was recently hired in Willis.

He takes over a program that went 18-13 last season and has barely missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

“I’m excited about it,” Andrus told the Conroe Courier. “I have a lot of good friends in the area and I think it’s a great place to raise a family. After meeting the players and watching them practice, I think we have chance to have a lot of success.”

Quickly, Andrus turned Waco’s program around. Andrus’ first Waco team only won two games in district play, but they made a big improvement in year two.

Andrus picked up the pace and his team went 9-5 in district and 20-9 overall. The Lions clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five years, though they fell to Red Oak in bi-district play.

“We came in the first year and knew we had to turn some things around,” Andrus said. “By the second year, we were really proud of the fact that our freshman, junior varsity and varsity programs all won 20 game. That was big for us.”

Andrus liked what he saw the first time he saw the Wildkats work out. Because of his new team’s size, he said he may not have to run and gun as much as he did in Waco.

“There is a lot more height at Willis so it’s not as necessary,” Andrus said. “It was something we had to do at Waco because of our size. We had to do what we had to do to win.

“You will still see some pressure defense, though. We like to play a lot of man (defense). On offense we want to keep things high-tempo. I think the kids have a lot of fun playing that way.”

Originally from the Madisonville area, Andrus is excited to be back closer to some of his family and has high hopes for the Wildkats in his first season.

“Our goal always is to make the playoffs,” Andrus said. “After meeting the kids, I think they are very sharp. After seeing them practice, I know there’s a lot of talent on the team. I’m looking forward to coaching there.”