ESPN

Texas' basketball season is over, but parts of the country are still playing and ESPNHS is still updating the POWERADE FAB 50 national rankings.

The Flower Mound Marcus boys maintained their No. 5 position after winning their second consecutive state title. Only two teams ahead of Marcus, No. 2 Findlay Prep (Nev.) and No. 4 Chester (Pa.), haven't completed their seasons. Findlay Prep beat Marcus earlier in the year.

Prestonwood Christian remained at No. 12 and fellow TAPPS power Arlington Grace Prep moved up two spots to No. 22.

South Grand Prairie, which lost to Marcus in a regional final, bounced up three spots to No. 46.

In the girls FAB 50, Class 5A champion Duncanville moved up four spots to No. 7 two weeks after completing its season. Irving MacArthur held the No. 18 spot, Dallas Lincoln dropped two spots to No. 42 and Plano West slipped a spot to No. 44.

UIL Class 5A champion Duncanville edged up a spot to No. 11 in the latest ESPNHS POWERADE FAB 50 girls basketball rankings.

The other area girls teams in the FAB 50, none of which reached the state tournament, held their ground from last week: No. 18 Irving MacArthur, No. 40 Dallas Lincoln and No. 43 Plano West.

In the boys FAB 50, two area teams gained ground after winning TAPPS championships. Prestonwood Christian moved up a spot to No. 12 after winning the TAPPS 5A title. TAPPS 4A champion Arlington Grace Prep gained four spots to reach No. 24.

Flower Mound Marcus, which reached this weekend's UIL Class 5A state tournament, stood firm at No. 5. South Grand Prairie slipped from No. 41 to No. 49 after losing to Marcus by one point in a regional final.

DALLAS – Tuesday’s regional quarterfinal match between South Oak Cliff (29-7) and Dallas Lincoln (18-12) resembled two prizefighters trading haymakers back and forth continuously through the quarters.

However, it was South Oak Cliff’s experience in tight games throughout the regular season that coach James Mayes III said helped the Golden Bears take Tuesday’s game, 71-66.

“Those games taught us how to handle and be patient,” Mays said. “It’s a tight game, be patient, play close and at the right moment, we’ll make a run. We’re looking for opportunities to get stops and get a run going and if we get up four to six points, it’s in our control. They were patient because of the games earlier in our schedule.”

Like a racecar driver making a move on the final lap, SOC’s game-changing stretch came at the beginning of the fourth quarter, mounting an 8-0 run after a third quarter that remained deadlocked for the majority of the frame.

The run was created by a change in SOC’s defense, going from straight man-to-man to a matchup zone that Mays believes caught Lincoln off guard. SOC was able to turn missed shots into transition buckets to start the fourth.

The Golden Bears then turned to the slow pace of a half-court offense to finish out the game, relying on its slight height advantage to continue putting up points down low.

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“We play up-tempo and we want to play up-tempo, but you can’t play up-tempo all the time on some teams,” Mays said. “This was a team that you didn’t want to play up-tempo because they have too many ball handlers and playmakers and we didn’t want them to get in open-court situations and making plays.”

The strategy paid off, with SOC’s forward tandem of brothers Bryan and Bradley Umoru leading their team in scoring with 18 and 15, respectively.

SOC continues its campaign towards Austin at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Garland’s Special Events Center against West Mesquite, which took out Lancaster by one point.

“We’ve got our work cut out,” Mays said. “We’ve got to get in here and devise a plan to try and stay up with them.”

What we got right: Irving MacArthur and Dallas Lincoln never faltered throughout the season, as both were in the No. 1 spot every week. The entire 5A poll remained the same from last week.

What we got wrong: Not much. Waxahachie earned its way into the final regular-season 4A poll with votes from all participants.

Say hello to: 5A - Nobody; 4A - Waxahachie

Say goodbye to: 5A - Nobody; 4A - Denton Ryan

Your turn: Use the comments section to let us know what you think about these rankings.

Click here for boys rankings

DALLAS -- Any other year, beating Dallas Lincoln once would make for a successful season for Dallas Woodrow Wilson.

This year is different.

Woodrow (20-3, 8-1) beat District 12-4A rival Lincoln (13-11, 7-3) on Saturday for the second time this season, 72-63. However, the two wins are just a side note to the district championship that potentially looms in Woodrow’s future.

“It’s a good win for our program,” Woodrow coach Pat Washington said. “We’re making strides in the right direction, but today our guys just played basketball. They knew Lincoln was in the way of us potentially winning a district championship and they did what they had to do.”

Woodrow created some breathing room with a 9-0 run to end the first quarter with a 15-6 lead.

After the game, Washington gave high praise to guard Chance Houston, whose defense created several turnovers that translated into fast-break layups.

“The guy today was Chance Houston,” Washington said. “He had four or five steals. What he does defensively sparks and ignites us. I thought Chance did a heck of a job defensively today.”

Houston also pitched in 15 points. Point guard Trey Washington scored a team-high 18 for Woodrow.

Woodrow remains on top of District 12-4A, with its lone loss coming against Dallas Hillcrest. Hillcrest (20-4, 7-2) fell twice this year to Lincoln and is a game behind Woodrow.

Hillcrest and Woodrow play each other in the final game of the season, a clash that very well could decide the district title.

Having already lost to Hillcrest will serve as motivation for Trey Washington and Woodrow.

“Revenge,” Washington said. “That’s what we’re looking for -- revenge. Last time we let them beat us, but it’s not going to happen this time.”

For Dallas Lincoln High School football players Tabari McGaskey, Jhaylind Owens and Marvin Knox, signing a national letter of intent Wednesday wasn't just about getting a free education.

It represented hope for a better life. Hope for their families. Hope for their children who haven't been born yet.

Their hope for a better future has zero to do with any dreams of playing professional football.

If it happens, then so be it.

But they're not going to college hoping to become professional athletes. They're attending college so they can learn to be successful men.

That's so much more important.

Read the full column here.

What we got right: Most of the 5A poll remained the same, with the exception of North Crowley, who moved into fourth place after tearing through the first half of its district play. Cedar Hill was the only other major change, falling out after taking a surprise district loss to Mansfield Timberview Friday.

What we got wrong: We can't figure out the DISD teams. A week after moving up to No. 1, Dallas Hillcrest lost to Dallas Lincoln for the second time in 12-4A play, dropping the Panthers to No. 6. South Oak Cliff becomes the highest ranked DISD school after its victory over then-No. 1 Dallas Kimball two Saturday's ago in 11-4A play. After the dust settled on the DISD shakeup, Highland Park moved to the top of the poll with a consistent 22-2 record.

Say hello to: 5A - Garland Naaman Forest; 4A - Little Elm, Trophy Club Byron Nelson

Say goodbye to: 5A - Cedar Hill; 4A -Lancaster, Fort Worth Arlington Heights

Your turn: Use the comments section to let us know what you think about these rankings.

Click here for girls rankings

Shortly after he arrived on campus from Dallas Lincoln, Le'Bryan Nash was given a list of rules to follow as a member of the Oklahoma State basketball team. One stood out above the rest.

Never say anything negative.

“All negative talk does is bring people down,” Nash said. “We always talk positive, always try to lift each other up.”

It hasn’t been easy.

Oklahoma State entered Wednesday’s game against second-ranked Missouri toting a 9-10 record and a three-game Big 12 losing streak. Part of the problem was Nash, who appeared to be crumbling under high expectations. A consensus top-10 recruit, Nash was averaging just over 11 points while shooting 35 percent from the field.

None of that mattered against the Tigers.

In what was easily the best game of his young career, Nash scored 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting to spark Oklahoma State to a 79-72 victory over Missouri at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Cowboys fans rushed the floor and mobbed Nash as he and his teammates celebrated at center court.

“This win is going to do a lot for this team -- especially me,” Nash said about 30 minutes later in a phone interview with ESPN.com. “My confidence has been up and down.

“I haven’t been consistent scoring the ball, and I’ve needed to be more consistent as far as playing hard. That was one of the hardest games I’ve ever played in my life, because I wanted to win. When I play hard, good things will happen for me and this team.”

Nash’s big game came days after he scored just four points in a 66-58 home loss to Kansas State. One week earlier he managed six points in Oklahoma State’s worst game of the season, a 41-point thumping at Baylor.

What’s baffling is that Missouri beat that same Baylor squad in Waco, Texas, on Saturday, but couldn’t beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Nash said he didn’t feel as if the Tigers took him and his teammates lightly.

“(Missouri point guard) Phil Pressey is a good friend of mine,” Nash said. “He talks to me all the time. He told me that if they didn’t play their game, they could get upset. Their coach was motivating their team to play well, because (he knew) that they could get upset. I guess they didn’t listen to him.”

Oklahoma State -- which also got 22 points from guard Brian Williams -- shot 59 percent from the field Wednesday. This is a team that hadn't shot better than 50 percent against any opponent this season. Then again, Baylor shot 57 percent against Missouri in the Tigers' 89-88 victory on Saturday.

“We knew we could score at will against them,” said Nash, who also praised Oklahoma State’s effort on the other end of the court. “On defense ... we knew they liked to get out and run, that they are a transition team that likes to get quick shots.

“We tried to make them work and take long shots. We made them run down the (shot) clock and run their offense.”

The victory brought smiles to the faces of Oklahoma State supporters, who have watched their team suffer through a brutal season marred by health issues and transfers. Third-leading scorer J.P. Olukemi suffered a season-ending knee injury in a loss to Virginia Tech on New Year’s Eve. Around that same time, veterans Reger Dowell and Fred Gulley announced that they were transferring.

That put even more pressure on Nash who, by that point, didn’t need it.

“Coming in as the highest-rated recruit in the history of the program, I knew all the hype was going to be about me,” Nash said. “It was just motivation for me. When I don’t play well and people say negative stuff, that just gives me motivation to play even harder, even better.”

Oklahoma State’s next two games -- against Texas A&M (Saturday) and Texas Tech (Tuesday) -- are both on the road.

“We’ve only got one road win all season,” Nash said. “Everyone knows we can win at Gallagher-Iba, but doing it on the road is a lot tougher. But tonight shows that if we play hard, we can win any game we play.

“I’m just going to keep my head high, keep getting better and keep playing OSU basketball.”

After slipping to No. 14 last week, Flower Mound Marcus bounced up to No. 10 in the latest ESPNHS POWERADE FAB 50 boys basketball national rankings.

Marcus joins Arlington Grace Prep, which held steady at No. 3, in the top 10. Prestonwood Christian moved up four spots to No. 19.

The four area girls teams in the FAB 50 either held their ground or moved up in the latest rankings. Irving MacArthur leads the way, remaining at No. 18. Duncanville moved up four spots to No. 33. Dallas Lincoln also jumped four spots to No. 35, and Plano West held steady at No. 46.

DALLAS, Texas – Friday was a night 12 years and 24 games in the making.

For as long as Patrick Washington had been Dallas Woodrow Wilson's head coach, the Wildcats couldn't beat Dallas Lincoln.

In front of a large and loud crowd, Woodrow broke the dozen-year losing streak to District 12-4A rival Lincoln with an 86-78 win at Forester Field House.

Woodrow forward Zach Coleman was four assists short of a triple-double, scoring a team-high 24 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.

“Zach played well,” Washington said. “He’s been playing well for us all year. We got him back from a knee injury. His knee isn’t 100 percent yet, but when it gets 100 percent he is going to be somebody people will have to reckon with.”

Coleman made his presence known from the beginning of the game, pulling down boards and putting back second-chance baskets, including a huge slam early in the first.

The speed of the game picked up in the second quarter, resulting in sloppy play by both teams. Lincoln fared better in the track meet, moving ahead late in the half and taking a 39-36 lead into the break.

“We try to score every eight to 10 seconds if we can,” Washington said. “We had fourteen turnovers in the first half, but we came back and quieted some of that down.”

Assistant coach Wendell Thorton decision to change up Woodrow’s defensive scheme in the second half shifted control back to the Wildcats.

Woodrow dropped a half-court trap that was mostly ineffective in the first half, replacing it with a 3-2 zone that forced the Tigers to stop in the half court and move the ball for an open shot.

Woodrow won the quarter by eight points and held a 64-59 lead headed into the final frame.

In the fourth, Woodrow gave the Tigers another look on defense, assigning guard Trey Washington to man up on a designated Lincoln player, denying the pass all the way down the court.

His effort turned into a steal in the backcourt and an easy layup with 32 seconds left that put the game out of reach 82-76.

“Trey did a great job,” Thorton said. “He got a big steal and just did a great job.”

The win gives Woodrow a valuable edge over Lincoln in the race for the district title. The Wildcats have a matchup next week against Dallas Bryan Adams before they face the other championship contender, Dallas Hillcrest, which beat Woodrow in the DISD/Coca-Cola Tournament in late December.

Woodrow’s sixth man of the night was the several-hundred person crowd that gathered to witness what they hoped would be a small part of school history.

Their rowdy participation made it nearly impossible to hear the PA announcer and became an intimidating force behind Woodrow’s strong fourth-quarter defense.

“There’s always a big crowd that comes out for Lincoln,” Washington said. “A lot of people knew we were trying to get a win in district and everything and they came out in force. Everyone was telling them to come out and check us out, and I appreciate the fans. They played a heck of a role.”

The fans' effort was rewarded with a win that Wildcats supporters had hoped to see for many years.

“Twelve years times two district games, that’s 24," Washington said. "So now I’ve got one and now I’ve got to get 23 more.”

DALLAS -- ESPNHS girls Fab 50 No. 39 Dallas Lincoln held off district rival Dallas Skyline 66-60 on Thursday to claim the gold medal in the DISD/Coca-Cola Tournament.

Junior guard Breanna Hayeden led the Tigers with 19 points, followed by Alisha Washington with 15 and tournament MVP Kelsey Criner with 14.

Skyline guard Jen Von'Ta Hill tallied a game-high 22 points in the losing effort.

Girls third-place game: Little Rock Parkview 51, Denton Guyer 36.

Parkview all-tournament selection Erin Peoples netted a team-high 10 points to claim the third place trophy for the state of Arkansas.

She tied Guyer's all-tournament selection Jasmine Leday for the game-high in scoring.

A 21-7 third quarter was enough to push Parkview to a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Boys consolation championship: West Mesquite 77, Plano East 73.

West Mesquite's one-two punch of Anthony Walker and all-tournament selection Braylon Rayson took down Plano East with point totals of 24 and 23, respectively.

Plano East guard Marcus Mathieu led the Panther's scoring with 22 points.

DALLAS -- While the third place trophy in the DISD/Coca-Cola Classic wasn’t the award South Grand Prairie expected to take home, the Warriors were relieved to bring back some hardware.

After suffering its second loss of the season to Dallas Hillcrest on Wednesday, South Grand Prairie took out its frustration on Dallas Lincoln, crushing the Tigers 73-41 at Ellis Davis Field House.

South Grand Prairie turned the basketball game into a track meet, running all over a Lincoln team that is struggling to find its identity after the graduation of current Oklahoma State standout LeBryan Nash.

“Whenever you lose a player like that, you’re going to miss him in a major way,” South Grand Prairie coach Brandon Bennett said.

Even if Lincoln had Nash in Tiger purple Thursday night, it would have had a hard time controlling the high-speed attack of South Grand Prairie. Once the Warriors established their transition game, they moved the ball from inside to outside, hitting midrange and perimeter jumpers.

“That makes your team complete when you have bigs inside who can score the ball and you have guards that can shoot it and penetrate it,” Bennett said. “When we play together, we can go inside-out, and that’s tough to beat.”

South Grand Prairie’s defense held Lincoln’s offense to just four points in the first quarter and 16 in the first half, while the offense put up 44 points before halftime.

All-tournament selection Jayrn Johnson had 16 points to lead four Warriors in double-figures.

Lincoln’s only spark was junior guard Shirmane Thomas, also an all-tournament selection, who put up a team-high 15 points.

Taking hardware from the tournament forces South Grand Prairie into the discussion of not only the best teams in the area, but in the state and country.

Both public teams ahead of South Grand Prairie on the ESPNHS Fab 50, No. 4 Flower Mound Marcus and No. 33 DeSoto, lost in the second round of the Whataburger Tournament, assuring that both will finish lower than third place. Success at a big-time holiday tournament could push No. 37 South Grand Prairie into the picture as one of the top two UIL schools in the area.

“Our ultimate goal is to win a state championship -- to be number one -- and we feel like we’re right there with those teams,” Bennett said.

Nothing rings in the New Year and a new high school basketball season like the Coca-Cola Dallas ISD Basketball Tournament.

In its 72^nd year, the 2011 edition of the city-wide, early-district bracket features some of the area’s best talent, including nine state Top 25 teams from 5A, 4A and 3A, according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll.

Games run from Tuesday morning to the winner’s bracket championship at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Ellis Davis Field House.

In the field of 32 is ESPN FAB 50 No. 44 and TABC No. 4 South Grand Prairie (13-1), who opens the tournament noon Tuesday at Sprague Field House against TABC 3A No. 12 Wilmer Hutchins (13-3).

Last year’s 4A state champion and TABC No. 2 Dallas Kimball defends the state in its opening round match, taking on South East Oklahoma at noon Tuesday at Davis Field House. Kimball boasts the No. 18 recruit in the nation from the class of 2013 in Irving transfer Keith Frazier.

Two other opening-round games to watch are TABC No. 4 Dallas Woodrow Wilson against Plano East at noon Thursday at Loos Field House and TABC No. 18 Dallas Lincoln taking on West Mesquite at noon Thursday at Forester Field House.

Tuesday Opening-Round Schedule

Sprague Field House

Dallas Molina vs. Dallas Samuell, 9 a.m.

No. 12 Dallas South Oak Cliff vs. Wylie, 10:30 a.m.

No. 12 Wilmer Hutchins vs. No. 4 South Grand Prairie, noon

Dallas Roosevelt vs. Dallas Adamson, 1:30 p.m.

Loos Field House

Dallas W.T. White vs. Dallas Conrad, 9 a.m.

Sachse vs. Richardson J.J. Pearce, 10 a.m.

No.4 Dallas Woodrow Wilson vs. Plano East, noon

No. 19 Hillcrest vs. Mesquite Horn, 1:30 p.m.

Ellis Davis Field House

Red Oak vs. Dallas Pinkston, 9 a.m.

Dallas Carter vs. Lancaster, 10:30 a.m.

No. 2 Dallas Kimball vs. South East Oklahoma, noon

Dallas Bryan Adams vs. North Dallas, 1:30 p.m.

Forester Field House

Seagoville vs. Dallas Spruce, 9 a.m.

No. 4 Dallas Madison vs. Dallas Skyline, 10:30 a.m.

No. 18 Dallas Lincoln vs. West Mesquite, noon.

No. 12 Episcopal School of Dallas vs. Garland Lakeview Centennial.

The Dallas Independent School District has gone six decades without a state football champion.

Dallas Skyline is threatening to end that long wait for a title.

Skyline (13-0), the new No. 1 team this week in the ESPNHS Texas Rankings, has three playoff wins under its belt and needs three more to make history. The Raiders face The Woodlands (12-1) in the Class 5A Division I Region II title game set for 4 p.m. Saturday at Waco ISD Stadium.

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Skyline didn’t exist in 1950 when Dallas Sunset defeated Houston Reagan, 14-6, to capture the short-lived City Division state title at Dal-Hi Stadium. The DISD at that time was composed of five high schools in addition to Sunset: Forest Avenue, North Dallas, Adamson, Crozier Tech and Woodrow Wilson.

Sunset, which enjoyed great football success in the 1940s, started the 1950 season with a 2-2 record that included losses to Reagan (12-6) and Highland Park (14-0), then closed the season with a seven-game winning streak for a 9-2 record. The state playoff bracket for the City Division consisted of only four teams. Sunset, coached by Byron Rhome, defeated Fort Worth Arlington Heights, 12-6, to reach the final.

Two other teams came close to ending the DISD drought:

*Dallas Carter briefly wore the title of Class 5A state champion in 1988, only to be stripped of the title by the University Interscholastic League for the use of an ineligible player.

Carter won court injunctions to remain in the playoffs that season, right through a 31-14 victory over Converse Judson in the state final at Texas Stadium. The score was later changed to Judson 1, Carter 0 to reflect the forfeit. Linebacker Jessie Armstead, who went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL, was a member of that Carter team.

*Dallas Lincoln, under current Skyline coach Reginald Samples, came very close to winning the Class 4A Division II state title in 2004. Lincoln’s attempt of a 42-yard game-winning field goal in double overtime was blocked and returned 70 yards for the game-ending touchdown by Kilgore’s Nick Sanders. Lincoln failed to hold a 20-10 third-quarter lead that day in Waco. Byron Eaton, who went on to star in basketball at Oklahoma State, scored Lincoln’s final touchdown.

Skyline is in the fourth playoff round for the third time in five seasons. The Raiders lost regional finals to Plano, 41-20, in 2007, and to Round Rock Stony Point, 28-14, in 2008.

DALLAS -- It didn't matter how big the lead grew, or that the starters were out of the game. Lancaster remained focused through all four quarters Friday night.

Lancaster coach Chris Gilbert was proud of the way his team continued to compete during a 74-7 win over Dallas Lincoln at Forester Stadium.

Lancaster (2-0) continued to work through offensive plays and defensive coverages in the second half, resulting in six more touchdowns and four forced turnovers.

“I liked our spirit,” Gilbert said. “I thought we competed and I liked our emotion. The kids came out with a purpose tonight.”

Emotions were high at the beginning of the rivalry matchup, but Lancaster pulled out to an early 12-0 lead on a 21-yard Davon Hodge touchdown pass to Demarcus Ayers and a 69-yard run by Devonte Gill.

Lancaster scored three more times in the second quarter, widening the lead to 34-7 at the half. The only score of the game for Lincoln (1-1) came with six minutes left in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by Erick Neal.

Lancaster stuck with the run game after halftime, including appearances from second- and third-string players, but found the scoreboard six more times in the second half.

Hodge finished with three touchdown passes, all in the first half. Lancaster added six rushing touchdowns and a pair of scores on on punt returns of 81 yards and 57 yards.

The only thing that didn't go right for the Lancaster was the kicking game, which went 0-for-5 on extra-point attempts and prompted Gilbert to go for two after the six other touchdowns.

Gilbert said he is proud of the level of talent he has on his squad.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons and a lot of guys that can do some stuff with the football,” Gibson said. “I’m pleased with what we can do with the ball. I like our skill.”