Lady Texan basketball prepares for district play
Following the winter holiday break, the Wimberley Texans girls’ basketball team will open the second half of their season on December 27 and 28 at the Cuero Tournament with varsity, JV and freshmen teams competing. Starting times and team schedules have not been released.
Because Cuero moves to a different district this year, the Texans’ game at Cuero on December 18 was cancelled just before the Winter season break. To open district play, Wimberley will host Llano on January 4 with JV and Freshmen games at 5:00 and varsity at 6:30.
In a preview of district level play, Wimberley Coach Ted Dydalewicz sized up teams likely to stand in the way of the Texans winning the district title and advancing to the regional level. Where teams finish in district play determines where they get seeded for district playoffs.
“Front runners in this district likely will be Fredericksburg and Boerne,” the veteran coach said. “The Billies of Fredericksburg are tough every year so we have to count them as the favorite again. Then, Canyon Lake is one of our toughest opponents every year because of our long rivalry of close schools. Like us, Boerne is a team that could finish anywhere from the middle to near the top.”
In spite of their 6-12 record before the holiday break, the coach thinks his young team is steadily improving, so the Texans could finish somewhere in the top four.
“Although their record (8-14) doesn’t show it right now,” the coach says, “Bandera isn’t a bad team either. They’ve played some tough teams who that overpowered them. They could surprise teams in who take them too lightly.”
Shifting back to his own team, Dydalewicz commented,“The biggest problem for our team right now is turnovers. But, that’s to be expected of a young team learning how to play together. The girls are excited about the upcoming district games. We played some 6A and 5A teams, so our won-lost record doesn’t really reveal our strengths.”
This season’s strange early-season schedule had the Texans girls playing away at 13 games or multigame tournaments in a row prior to the Winter holidays break. Now their schedule takes a friendlier turn. First, during upcoming district play, the Texan girls will travel to five away games and play five games at their home gym. The extra good news is that the grueling pre-district schedule of this season will be reversed next year as The Texans spend less time on the road and play more at home.
“It’s difficult to be playing away so much because we get back home at 11:00 or 12:00 at night,” Dydalewicz explains. “Of course, we all have school the next day. But they’re good students. It’s funny but also rewarding sometimes to see the varsity players up in the stands doing their school work while the JV plays then it reverses when the varsity takes the court.”