ESPN

Highland Park and Frisco Wakeland’s meetings in the UIL Class 4A baseball playoffs have become a tradition like no other.

The teams have met in the playoffs the last two years, and each best-of-three series was decided in Wakeland's favor the final inning of the third game.

This weekend, the tradition continues for the third consecutive year in the regional quarterfinal round.

All of the pressure lies with Highland Park, which has been on the short end of two heartbreaking defeats at the hands of a group of current seniors who have taken part in both Wakeland wins.

“They have three that are definitely killers and that’s (Willie) Schwanke, (Justin) Swanner and (Hayden) Nixon and we’ve faced them the last three years,” Highland Park coach Frank Oliver said. “There’s still three names that are still around and they’re still a good ball club.”

Wakeland was the undefeated champion of District 9-4A. Highland Park finished second in 10-4A, turning its season around after a 1-4 start in district play. Since that sixth game of the district slate, Highland Park has lost just one game.

This will be Highland Park’s first best-of-three series in this playoff run as the Scots look to advance past the regional quarterfinal round for the first time in four years.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if it goes three games again,” Oliver said.

Area teams wiped from 5A Region II

Any hope of a DFW title coming from Class 5A Region II was eliminated in the area round last weekend.

The Metroplex’s chance at gold now lies in the hands of five teams in Region I, four of are facing off.

Southlake Carroll has one of the toughest challenges against District 8-5A runner up Flower Mound in a one-and-done match 7:30 p.m. Friday at Colleyville Heritage.

Two third-place finishers play in the other area pairing between Hurst L.D. Bell and Plano East.

Arlington Martin rounds up the five, continuing it’s West Texas travel to face Lubbock Coronado in the regional quarterfinal.

Lake Highlands playoff run goes viral

Seen the Harvard baseball team’s dance to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” that recently took YouTube by storm?

If not, click here and check out the goofy dance that has tallied over 7 million views.

Well, the Class 5A area round might not have been all fun and games for the Lake Highlands baseball squad on the diamond -- Temple swept the series in two games -- but the Wildcats sure made the best of their bus ride to the Hill Country.

Here is the Wildcats' rebuttal to Harvard to the tune of Wham's “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”.

Southlake Carroll product Ross Stripling threw the 11th no-hitter in Texas A&M history Saturday, leading the seventh-ranked Aggies to a 1-0 home win over San Diego State.

The senior, who was scheduled to participate in graduation ceremonies Saturday, allowed only a fifth-inning walk while striking out seven. He threw 106 pitches.

Stripling, a ninth-round pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2011 draft, improves to 9-2 with a 2.36 ERA.

It was A&M's first no-hitter since Zach Jackson's seven-inning gem against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 14, 2004. Matt Blank had the last nine-inning no-hitter for the Aggies, accomplishing the feat against Texas-Pan American on Feb. 6, 1996.

Frisco Centennial and Dallas Hillcrest have a lot at stake in their area-round matchup.

Centennial drew the short end of the stick last season, facing a strong Highland Park squad in the first round that sent the team packing after one quick game.

Centennial finished 2012 as the second seed in District 9-4A behind Frisco Wakeland and has a playoff win under its belt, but Hillcrest stands in the way of a long-overdue playoff run.

Hillcrest took the District 12-4A crown this season, running the table in one of the area’s weaker districts. However, Hillcrest has playoff experience from a run to the regional quarterfinals last season that took a talented Rockwall-Heath team to the third game in a best-of-3 series.

The winner of this area-round duel will then potentially face Rockwall-Heath in the regional quarterfinal next week.

Highland Park, Wakeland headed for rematch

In one of the more epic wins of the playoffs last season, Frisco Wakeland knocked off Highland Park on a two-run, walk-off homer in the third game of the regional quarterfinals.

Those two are one win away from another meeting in the same round this season.

Highland Park eked past Carrollton Creekview in the bi-district round, 1-0, and has North Dallas in its sights this weekend.

Wakeland found late life against McKinney North, taking the third game of the series 13-0 after two close games to begin the series. It will face Dallas Bryan Adams in the area round.

Class 5A Region I bracket heating up

Before the playoffs began, Arlington Martin head coach Curt Culbertson said the lack of DFW schools deep in the baseball playoffs was due, in part, to Metroplex teams falling to other local teams early in the brackets.

This year is no different.

The bottom of the Region I bracket will see two strong DFW teams fall at the hands of another North Texas team.

District 7-5A champion Southlake Carroll will face District 6-5A runner up Grapevine in area-round action this weekend. Also, District 8-5A runner up Flower Mound and District 5-5A champ Mansfield face off to play the winner of Carroll and Grapevine.

The setup will leave just one Metroplex team with the chance to advance to the bottom region semifinal in Region I.

Southlake Carroll quarterback Kenny Hill told ESPN Recruiting Nation's Damon Sayles Saturday that he has committed to Texas A&M, after announcing the selection on twitter.

"Offically committed to Texas A&M!!! #AggSwagg," Hill said on his twitter handle, @Kennyhill13.

Hill led Carroll to the 5A Division I state title last December and was a finalist in the Elite 11 competition that took place at Cowboys Stadium last month, which was won by Skyline's Devante Kincade.

Hill turned down offers from nine other schools, including Missouri, Ole Miss, Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech.

Here is Sayles story on Hill's decision (insider only).

ESPNU 150 watch list defensive end Jay Arnold chose Texas A&M for his college career Monday, making him A&M's 14th recruit of the class of 2013, according to ESPN Recruiting Nation Midlands recruiting coordinator Damon Sayles.

The 6-foot 4, 255-pound end from Rockwall-Heath joined the the 2013 edition of the Aggie Swag Movement over offers from Baylor, Northwestern, Tulsa, SMU and Ole Miss.

Here is Sayles' account of Arnold's selection (Insider only).

Sayles also took a look at the talent surrounding standout Southlake Carroll quarterback Kenny Hill as the Dragons look to defend the 5A state title next fall, featuring Tanner Jacobson, Cam Manning, Ray Crockett and A.J. Ezzard.

Here is the Insider-only look at those returning Dragons.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas -- Every now and then, Southlake Carroll quarterback Kenny Hill will take a look at the state championship ring in his room. It's kind of hard not to stare at it and it serves as a constant reminder of the hard work and multiple sacrifices Hill's had to endure -- the kind of work that has made him a definite player to watch as his recruiting process heats up.

There are Super Bowl rings that take a step back from what Hill and the other Carroll players and coaches received. The face features 40 diamonds around and a part of the school's "SC" logo -- which resembles the USC athletics logo. Around the border are eight emeralds, which represent the school's eight championships. Carroll and Celina are the only Texas public high schools with eight titles in their school histories.

"When I first got [the ring], I was like, 'Man, we actually did it,'" Hill said. "Now when I look at it, I say, 'A second one would be even better.'"

Read the full story here.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- It was a script that had already been played out once this high school season: Southlake Carroll's Kenny Hill and Dallas Skyline’s Devante Kincade battling for the right to be considered the best quarterback in the area.

After dueling it out in an instant classic UIL 5A Division I state semifinal game in December, the two lined up against each other Saturday as the only two area finalists for the Dallas Nike Elite 11 camp.

The next chapter in this tale ended in a push between Hill and Kincade. Hill returned home from Cowboys Stadium to the state championship ring he received Thursday, and Kincade took home the first invitation to the July national Elite 11 camp in Redondo Beach, Calif.

“He came out here and did exactly what he showed on film,” Hill said. “He’s a great player. He came out here and played lights out all day and got the bid.”

Saturday’s camp ended in déjà vu, pairing off Kincade and Hill, among three other finalists, in a battle of hurry-up offense skills, which Hill used to score the game-winning touchdown against Skyline months earlier. Hill said he settled into his zone during the drill, after what he believed was a rusty start to the day.

Football gave way to baseball in Hill’s focus as he now spends his time protecting the hot corner for the Carroll baseball team. The slight differences in the mechanics of throwing between the two were evident to camp coach and ESPN personality Trent Dilfer.

“He’s playing baseball full time right now, so he’s not training as a quarterback,” Dilfer said. “So mechanically he’s a little rusty, but he competed. Every time you pushed the button, every time you wanted a little more, he gave you a little more. I wanted to see, is this a guy who is the biggest, badest athlete -- is that why he’s good? Or is he a guy that the higher the competition gets? It’s going to bring more out of him and he’s definitely one of those guys. The tighter you squeeze him the more you get out of him. I was thrilled to death with Kenny Hill today.”

Hill agreed he could have put on more of a show had he been throwing a football the past few weeks instead of a baseball, but he was confident he could take on any of the quarterbacks present in drills throwing out runners at home.

“I thought I could have done much better,” Hill said. “I haven’t really been throwing a football as much as I’ve been throwing the baseball around. Still, I came out here and did what I can. I thought I had a pretty good day -- I started off slow but picked it up towards the end but overall thought I did well.”

Hill, who now returns to the baseball diamond, finished as one of the top five quarterbacks in the region. He has football offers from Ole Miss, Baylor, Texas A&M, TCU and Texas Tech. Kincade will work to claim the crown as the top quarterback in the nation. He knows he has much greater expectations awaiting him in the 2013 football season after proving his high-caliber talent Saturday.

“It speaks volumes to me,” Hill said. “It shows me where I am, but losing to him and seeing all the people that are here really shows me where I’m at in the state and the nation makes me feel pretty good right now, but I still have to keep working.”

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Halfway through Saturday's Nike Elite 11 camp, coach and ESPN personality Trent Dilfer issued a warning to those quarterbacks who were lackadaisical going through the motions of the drills.

In his opinion, they needed to get on the same level of intensity demonstrated by Dallas Skyline quarterback DeVante Kincade, because he was putting distance between himself and the rest of the pack for the camp MVP honors.

The intensity rose but none could catch up to Kincade, who picked up the first invite to the national Elite camp in July with his MVP selection.

Five quarterbacks were selected to participate in a final two-minute drill simulation at the end of the camp, which included Kincade and Southlake Carroll quarterback Kenny Hill.

Click here for more information on Kincade's elite performance.

Southlake Carroll's boys and girls swept the Class 5A team titles at the UIL swimming and diving championships over the weekend at Austin's Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

Highland Park's girls won the Class 4A team championship.

Frisco's Corey Nix set a 4A state record in the boys 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.13 seconds.

The following area swimmers won their events:

CLASS 5A GIRLS

• 200 medley relay: Southlake Carroll, 1:44.22
• 200 freestyle: Julia Anderson, Fort Worth Paschal, 1:45.88
• 100 freestyle: Julia Anderson Fort Worth Paschal, 49.53
• 200 freestyle relay: Southlake Carroll, 1:36.08
• 100 backstroke: Caroline Korst, Hebron, 55.62
• 400 freestyle relay: Southlake Carroll, 3:27.99

CLASS 5A BOYS

• 200 freestyle: Ted Singley, Southlake Carroll, 1:38.38
• 50 freestyle: Ted Singley, Southlake Carroll, 4:23.68

CLASS 4A GIRLS

• 200 medley relay: Highland Park, 1:49.09
• 200 freestyle: Claire Walters, Rockwall-Heath, 1:50.86
• 200 IM: Whitney Allen, Frisco, 2:03.54
• 50 freestyle: Raena Eldridge, Rockwall, 23.69
• 100 freestyle: Sammie Hashbarger, McKinney, 51.55
• 500 freestyle: Emily Nightingale, Lucas Lovejoy, 4:55.53
• 200 freestyle relay: Highland Park, 1:36.48
• 100 breaststroke: Destiny Nelson, Prosper, 1:06.12
• 400 freestyle relay: Highland Park, 3:32.96

CLASS 4A BOYS

• 200 IM: Adam Bull, Richardson Pearce, 1:49.84
• 100 freestyle: Corey Nix, Frisco, 45.13
• 500 freestyle: Adam Bull, Richardson Pearce, 4:30.47
• 200 freestyle relay: Frisco, 1:25.75

FORT WORTH, Texas -- When Duncanville’s top four scorers on the season combined for just two points in the first half, Ariel Atkins came to the rescue.

Atkins scored a game-high 22 points (16 in the first half) and teammate Antiona Robinson came off the bench to score three needed buckets to stop a second-period slide in a 60-46 Class 5A Region I quarterfinal victory over Southlake Carroll on Tuesday night at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.

UIL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
Boys brackets: 5A »   4A » Girls brackets: 5A »   4A » State tournament: Girls » Boys »

“As a coach, you want to make somebody beat you besides the team’s superstars,’’ Carroll coach Teri Morrison said. “That’s exactly what Duncanville did to us tonight.’’

Atkins, a 5-9 sophomore guard, did most of her damage within 10 feet of the Carroll basket by finding openings in the zone defense. She connected on 10-of-16 shots and led all rebounders with 10.

“My teammates were finding me with the ball and counting on me to finish,’’ said Atkins, who came into the game averaging 9.6 points and 6.9 rebounds.

Duncanville (36-1), No. 2 in ESPNDallas.com's Class 5A Top 10, earned a return to Wilkerson-Greines to face Amarillo at 8 p.m. Friday in a Region I semifinal.

Despite a 15-8 lead after a quarter, trouble loomed for Duncanville when Kiara Perry went to the bench for the remainder of the half with three fouls in the game’s first five minutes. Texas-bound guard Empress Davenport, troubled by a hand injury, missed all six of her first-half shots. Guards Morgan Bolton and Tasia Foman combined for only five shots in the first half.

Kate Lewis, a 6-1 junior, came off the Carroll bench to score eight second-period points, whittling Duncanville’s lead at the break to four, 27-23.

The No. 5 ranked Lady Dragons (30-4) never led, but could have tied on a Sierra Maykus’ 3-pointer that bounced off the back rim early in the third period. Carroll was 3-of-13 from behind the arc.

Maykus led Carroll with 13 points and Lewis finished with 12.

"Duncanville’s defense was outstanding and when we had shots, we didn’t shoot very well,’’ Morrison said.

Carroll's 2010-2011 season also ended with a third-round playoff loss to Duncanville.

“We came out in the third quarter knowing that we had to run and push the ball,’’ said Duncanville coach Cathy Self-Morgan. “We wanted to up the defensive pressure and wear ‘em down.’’

Once the Pantherettes started running, everybody started getting in the scoring act again.

Duncanville’s lead hovered around 10 points for most of the fourth quarter and Carroll was forced to foul in the final minutes.

“Teri’s team worked hard and never quit,’’ Self-Morgan said. “There’s no slackers in our group, either.’’

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas -- Just weeks earlier, Southlake Carroll freshman guard Kennedy Leonard had the opportunity to seal a victory over district rival Keller by hitting last-second free throws, but she wasn't able to convert.

To lift her spirits, her teammates told her she would have the same opportunity again some day and would be successful the second time around.

Little did the Carroll girls basketball team know that chance would come against Mansfield Timberview in the area round of the 5A playoffs.

Leonard hit a free throw with 5.9 seconds left in the game to tie the score at 38 and force overtime, where the Lady Dragons would hang on for a 48-46 victory.

“All the coaches were like 'you are going to get another chance to do it,' " Leonard said. "So I had to step up for my team and just had to make it.”

Leonard had spent the majority of the game sitting on the bench because of foul trouble, something Carroll coach Teri Morrison said was simply caused by freshman mental mistakes.

But with four fouls, Leonard played the majority of the fourth quarter, tallying six points in the frame, including a huge 3-pointer in the opening minute that brought her team within striking distance. She finished with nine points.

Once the game was pushed into overtime, senior Sierra Maykus took over where Leonard left off. Maykus drilled a 3-pointer that gave the Dragons their first lead of the game moments into the extra stanza and hit again on Carroll’s next possession to drive the margin to 46-42.

UIL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
Boys brackets: 5A »   4A » Girls brackets: 5A »   4A » State tournament: Girls » Boys »

Maykus finished with a team-high 13 points after a scoreless first half.

“I just forgot about all the shots I missed and pretended like it was a brand new game,” Maykus said. “I was definitely getting frustrated, but I tried to forget about getting frustrated and it worked.”

Carroll barely has enough time to catch its breath before it faces ESPN Dallas 5A No. 2 Duncanville in the regional quarterfinals. The game will be played at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Fort Worth’s Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.

Texas A&M right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling, a Southlake Carroll graduate, was named to ESPN.com's 2012 preseason All-America baseball team.

Stripling started last season as the Aggies' closer, earning four saves, before moving to the rotation and leading the nation in wins with a 14-2 record. He struck out 113 with just 18 walks and posted a 2.29 ERA.

Stripling was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the ninth round of last year's MLB draft but elected to stay in College Station for his senior season.

The Aggies are No. 14 in ESPN.com's preseason Power Rankings, and Texas is No. 15. Rice is the state's highest-ranked team at No. 4.

Southlake Carroll's senior class signed its name in Dragon lore with an unexpected state title run in 2011.

On Wednesday, key members of that class signed national letters of intent to play at the next level.

WR/DB Sabian Holmes (Texas A&M), WR Peyton Williams (Colorado), LB Will Davis (Kansas State) and OL JJ Prince (Purdue) all made it official at a ceremony Wednesday morning at the school.

"What I admired most about these guys is that they put the team first," said Carroll head coach Hal Wasson. "They exemplified outstanding leadership and had a great work ethic. I'm so proud of each one of them. They definitely left their mark."

Each of the four were instrumental in Carroll's title. Holmes, originally a Baylor commit, led the team in receiving with 1,336 yards and 14 touchdowns and had a key pass deflection late in the game against Fort Bend Hightower that allowed the Dragons to pull away for the victory.

Williams, a three-year starter, caught 90 balls for 1,162 yards and 10 touchdowns, but his season was cut short in the state semifinals against Dallas Skyline when he left the game with a knee injury.

Davis led a defensive front that improved dramatically as the year went on, and he came up with key tackles and forced turnovers against Skyline and Hightower.

Prince helped quarterback Kenny Hill become one of the most elusive signal callers in the area, protecting him on passing plays and opening holes in the running game.

What we got right: Almost everything this week. All 10 teams from last week's 5A and 4A polls remained in this week's poll, with just a little bit of shuffling. Southlake Carroll notched a 90-36 win over Justin Northwest early in the week, lifting the Lady Dragons into the No. 6 position.

What we got wrong: For once we can give ourselves a small pat on the back for picking 20 teams that continue to win.

Say hello to: Nobody

Say goodbye to: Nobody

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

Click here for boys rankings

MARBLE FALLS, Texas -- Todd Dodge is returning to Texas high school coaching five years after a dominant run of four state championships in five seasons.

Dodge was hired Monday night at Marble Falls, ending a college stint that started when the University of North Texas hired Dodge after he went 79-1 in a five-season stretch at Southlake Carroll.

The rare move from high school to a Division I program didn't work out for Dodge. He was 6-37 before getting fired in the middle of his fourth season at UNT. He was the quarterbacks coach at Pittsburgh last year.

Dodge's overall high school record is 124-46 at four schools.

Marble Falls is a Class 4A school 50 miles northwest of Austin, where Dodge has family ties and was a starting quarterback for Texas in the 1980s.