Schedules, previews and more for Dallas-area teams

The 2024 UIL boys basketball state tournament runs Thursday through Saturday in the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The dallas Morning News’ Greg Riddle and Myah Taylor preview the UIL boys state basketball tournament. They break down matchups involving Dallas-area teams in the 6A, 5A, and 4A classifications.

(All games at the Alamodome in San Antonio)

Plano East (38-0) vs. mansfield Lake Ridge (32-6), 7 p.m. Friday

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Round Rock Stony Point vs. Beaumont United (34-3), 8:30 p.m. Friday

Championship game: 8:30 p.m. Saturday

San Antonio Veterans Memorial (40-1) vs. Killeen Ellison (34-5), 7 p.m. Thursday

Amarillo (34-4) vs. Lancaster (28-5), 8:30 p.m. Thursday

Championship game: 3 p.m. Saturday

Canyon Randall (34-3) vs. Silsbee (28-9), 1:30 p.m. Friday

Stafford (35-6) vs. Faith Family (23-11), 3 p.m. Friday

Championship game: 7 p.m. Saturday

— Click or tap here for full the state tournament schedule —

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— Faith Family, Lancaster seek final state titles before looming classifications changes

— 10 players to watch at the 2024 UIL boys basketball state tournament

— Faith Family vies for fourth UIL state title since 2019 as Plano East aims for perfection

The matchups

Class 6A semifinals

Boys basketball state finals(SportsDay Staff)

Plano East (38-0) vs. Mansfield Lake Ridge (32-6)

When: 7 p.m. Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio

Plano East

Record: 38-0

Playoff road: d. Prosper Rock Hill 88-51, d. Highland Park 74-45, d. Allen 79-52, d. Northwest Eaton 57-30, d. Keller 76-60

Previous appearances at state: 1 (1994)

State titles: None

Notable: DJ Hall, a 6-7 junior forward, leads Plano East in scoring at 15.7 points per game and averages 7.0 rebounds. He scored 31 in Saturday’s 76-60 win over Keller in the 6A Region I final. Senior guard Jordan Mizell had 18 points against Keller and averages 10.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Narit Chotikavanic, one of 11 seniors on the Plano East roster, averages 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds and fellow senior Jon Tran averages 7.6 points and has made a team-leading 57 3-pointers. The state’s top-ranked 6A team has won by an average of 23.2 points and has had only five games decided by fewer than 10 points. One of those was a 55-50 win over fellow 6A state semifinalist and state No. 2-ranked Round Rock Stony Point. Plano East, ranked No. 3 in the nation by MaxPreps, is trying to become the third Dallas-area UIL boys basketball team to win a state championship with an undefeated record. The first two to accomplish that were Lincoln in 2002 and Duncanville in 2007. In Plano East’s only other trip to the state tournament, it lost 50-44 to Sugar Land Willowridge in the 5A championship game. Jeff Clarkson, now the head boys coach at Plano Prestonwood Christian, led Plano East with 15 points in that game.

Mansfield Lake Ridge

Record: 32-6

Playoff road: d. Killeen Harker Heights 56-49, d. Wylie 55-37, d. Waxahachie 78-63, d. Cypress Ranch 67-56, d. Rockwall 48-39

Previous appearances at state: None

State titles: None

Notable: Lake Ridge was the No. 3 seed from District 11-6A but was well prepared for the level of competition it would face in the playoffs after competing in a district with two state-ranked teams — No. 11 Duncanville and No. 12 Waxahachie — in addition to 2023 state semifinalist DeSoto. After losing twice to Waxahachie in the regular season, Lake Ridge beat its rival in the third round of the playoffs as Amir McMillian (18 points), Matthew Alexander (17), Eze Nwakamma (14) and Ahmare Rose (13) scored in double figures. Rose leads Lake Ridge in scoring at 12.8 points per game and is followed closely by McMillian (12.7), Alexander (11.0) and Nwakamma (10.7). The 6-5 Rose leads the team in rebounds, averaging 6.4 per game, and the 6-8 Nwakamma averages 6.1. Lake Ridge owns a 58-49 regular-season win over 5A state No. 1-ranked and state semifinalist Lancaster. Lake Ridge also lost by just one to 6A state semifinalist Beaumont United. Lake Ridge missed the playoffs last season, but a team with nine seniors — including Rose, McMillian and Alexander — set a school record for most wins in a season.

Class 5A semifinals

Boys basketball state finals(SportsDay Staff)

Amarillo vs. Lancaster

When: 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio

Amarillo

Record: 34-4

Playoff road: d. Abilene Wylie 76-31, d. El Paso Ysleta 75-34, d. El Paso Andress 61-32, d. Mansfield Summit 56-35, d. El Paso Chapin 51-40

Previous appearances at state: 7 (1943, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1986, 2014, 2021)

State titles: 1 (1986)

Notable: In Amarillo’s last state appearance in 2021, it lost 60-56 to eventual state runner-up Kimball in the 5A state semifinal. This season, junior Zach Brown scored 22 points and three-star senior Braden Hausen added 15 in No. 5 Amarillo’s 51-40 win over No.4 El Paso Chaplin in the Class 5A Region I final. Against No 7 Mansfield Summit in the regional semifinal, Brown scored 20 points and Hausen had 16. Each of them scored four 3-pointers in the 56-35 win.

Lancaster

Record: 28-5

Playoff road: d. Lovejoy 45-30, d. Mount Pleasant 53-38, d. Nacogdoches 75-52, d. Frisco Lone Star 74-50, d. The Colony 42-39

Previous appearances at state: 7 (1964, 1988, 1995, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2020)

State titles: 2 (2015, 2016)

Notable: This weekend, Lancaster will make its first state appearance since 2020, when the pandemic canceled the state tournament. Texas’ top-ranked 5A team will also try for its third state championship in school history and its third under head coach Ferrin Douglas. Lancaster lost to eventual state champion Kimball in last year’s 5A Region II final, but made it over that hump in 2024. A 22-point performance from three-star senior Dillon Battie, a Temple signee, helped Lancaster to a 42-39 win over The Colony in the 5A Region II final. Battie had 23 points in Lancaster’s 74-50 win over Frisco Lone Star in the 5A Region II semifinals. Three-star junior center Amari Reed had 14 in the win over Lone Star. This will be Lancaster’s last shot at a 5A state title before it moves up to Class 6A next school year.

Class 4A semifinals

Boys basketball state finals(SportsDay Staff)

Stafford vs. Faith Family

When: 3 p.m. Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio

Stafford

Record: 35-6

Playoff road: d.El Campo 62-41, d. Boerne 66-43, d. La Marque 44-29, d. Bishop 74-46, d. Iowa Colony 71-64

Previous appearances at state: 7 (1991, 1992, 1998, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2020)

State titles: 1 (1992)

Notable: Stafford just missed out on the state tournament last year with a loss to Boerne in the Class 4A Region IV final. This year, it boasts six seniors, including three-star Lamar commit Braden East, a 6-8 forward. Four players on Stafford’s roster stand above 6-5 with senior Dame Salane measuring in at 6-11. Stafford beat 6A Region II semifinalist Cypress Ranch 59-48 in the regular season.

Faith Family

Record: 23-11

Playoff road: d. Aubrey 107-53, d. Fort Worth Dunbar 105-64, d. Frisco Panther Creek 88-46, d.Pinkston 84-61, D. Carter 76-48

Previous appearances at state: 5 (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)

State titles: 3 (2019, 2022, 2023)

Notable: In its last hurrah in Class 4A before joining Class 5A next season, Faith Family has the opportunity to three-peat as a state champion. The Oak Cliff-based charter school beat the state’s top 5A team in Lancaster, a 2024 state semifinalist, and played national powerhouses in Link Academy, Montverde Academy and Mater Dei during the regular season. That schedule primed the program for another state championship run. Senior Isaac Williams helped power Faith Family to a dominant 84-61 win over Pinkston in the Class 4A Region II semifinals and a 76-48 rout of Carter in the Class 4A Region II final. Williams scored 21 points in both games.

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