Dobie vs Deer Park for District Title Top Performers

I drove many miles for this game, in very cold weather, and based on the two teams’ district records, I figured there would be some excitement and as usual, I was right. Dobie is coached by Jasmine Hartman (Oklahoma)  and her assistant Mo Smalls (Texas Tech) are among the best point guards to come out of the area while Deer Park’s Theresa White and her sister are Texas legends and Coach White helped start Hop School back in the day when there really were players being developed so let me jump in this right quickly with the standouts <strong>2022</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135369" first="Victoria" last="Rivera"]-6’0 SG (Dobie)</strong> Rivera was virtually unstoppable yet that’s been something I’ve watched her do since the 6th grade and the Georgetown signee had NBA range early yet I saw her do some extra things last night like attack the rim powerfully to stop a Deer Park comeback late in the game however she made statements early with her signature pull-up jumper yet she also hit the boards, played defense and of course, did what I love to see, played <strong>Peyton Smith-6’2 C (Dobie)</strong> Smith set the tone early with a monster block, hey. she’s long and athletic and please remember "that’s the base" so watching her elevate always gets me going because her timing is very nice and those blocks can definitely change the momentum yet she also showed some nice moves around the basket, rebounded on both ends and ran the floor well but her interior defense helped thwart rallies and comebacks <strong>Kendall  Brown-5’6 CG (Dobie)</strong> Brown was steady all game, on both ends yet she applied some pressure on defense that was smothering at times but she also did a good job handling the ball under pressure as well as creating shots, for herself and teammates because she understands when to attack and when to take the jumper but her seeing the floor in transition gave her teammates some nice looks and so did her drives to the rim when she dished, &nbsp; <strong>Madi Willaims-5’10 PF (Deer Park)</strong> Willaims was hard to handle early and her mid to long-range, as well as powerful finishes after contact, played a huge part in her team staying within striking distance. She has a strong body, well the powerful finishes after contact probably gave that away yet I was surprised at how well she created her shot under pressure. Her first step is deceptive, she got the defender to lean which helped but she also rebounded on both ends, which helped as well <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Abbey Pineault-5’5 CG (Deer Park)</strong> Pineault was like a gnat on defense as she bounced around creating havoc, in other words, she was everywhere and she came up with several big plays, like steals and hitting big shots, like hitting a huge 3 to give her team the lead in the 3rd quarter however she handled the ball well under pressure and saw the floor and made some nice drives and finishes throughout the game