Postseason run next up for Spartans
Extended run in 2015 established benchmark for Cypress Lakes boys squad
Cypress Lakes shared a district boys basketball title and made the regional semis last year, so expectations were high going in this season.
Despite graduating Nick Garth and Joshua Nebo, they’ve managed to meet then.
W i th standout guard De’Aaron Fox, a Kentucky signee, leading the way, the Spartans went into the final week of the regular season looking to clinch the District 17-6A title and gear up for a long playoff run.
“We lost two players who were huge for us last year, so I didn’t quite know how to fill those gaps,” coach Emmanuel Olatubosun said. “It’s hard to replace two kids who are playing D-I basketball right now.
“But we built a tough schedule to start. We pretty much had a national schedule, and we did that, one, for the exposure for our team, the kids and the community, but also to help us get better.
“And ultimately it’s helped us in district play.”
Garth is Lamar University’s leading scorer as a freshman, and Nebo is leading St. Francis in blocks – the two stats they supplied for Cy Lakes.
Without them, the Spartans took a few lumps in non-district play.
They lost to Seguin and Atascocita early, then dropped three games in an eight-day stretch to Dekaney, North Shore and Foothills Christian.
Of course, all those teams are tough for anyone to beat.
“None of our losses have been bad losses,” Olatubosun said.
“Every loss we’ve had has been against a really good team, so the games we were supposed to win, we won them, and some of those games we only lost by two or three points, so we could easily be 23-4.”
Instead, they were 20-7 through27 games.
The loss to Foothills Christian was close, 57-55, on national TV, and they fell 68-55 to North Shore without Fox, who the Spartans rested aday after their grueling 92-82 overtime loss to Dekaney.
The big highlight was a 105-95 win over Yates in their season opener.
“That was a big win, getting the opportunity to play on ESPN was nice, (and) we had a chance to win that one,” Olatubosun said. “We had a good showcase game in Dallas. That was fun. And then watching some of the other kids being able to get interviewed, media attention, and (Fox) being able to share that with some of the players he’s been playing with four three years has been special.”
Cy Lakes and Cy Ranch were tied atop 17-6A at 11-1 going into the district finale. The Spartans won the first meeting 77-54 before falling 77-74 in the rematch for their only district setback.
“(The Mustangs) played extremely well that game,” Olatubosun said. “We started off late. If you look at the district standings, we’re plus-16. We’ve won five or six games by 20 points and we’ve had a couple close ones. I still don’t feel like we’ve been dominant, but numbers say we have been.
“But we’re looking at the big picture. We’re trying to get back to the regional tournament and ultimately get a state berth.”
Fox is the leader who does a little of everything, but freshman Jared Garcia is helping fill the defensive gap left by Nebo, and seniors Charles Williams and Adnan Bajrami are playing consistently.
They’re also doing a better job of adjusting to their opponents.
“They’ve bought into game-planning, which is something we’ve done a little more this year,” Olatubosun said. “We’ve watched a little more film and haven’t just hung our hats on doing what we do.”
Garcia keeps improving with what he does.
The 6-6 freshman post, one of the Houston area’s rising stars, dropped 31 points and 14 rebounds in an 86-74 win over Cy Ridge last week. But the Spartans’ success still revolves around Fox, and how well he’s handling scrutiny.
Fox, already nicknamed ‘The General’ by Kentucky coach John Calipari, was featured in Slam magazine in December, and he’s done interviews with every local TV station and Fox Sports Southwest.
“It’s not for everybody,” Olatubosun said. “I don’t know how he does it. There have been weeks where we’ve had every media group here five days in a row, and he’s handling it. He’s extremely humble about it (and) I want to say he’s enjoying it.”