‘Tough district’ talk not just coach speak
Being around coaches for about four years as well as consuming national sports media for even longer than that has exposed me to that dreaded “coach speak.”
Having to quote a coach who says “we played tough”, “they put it all out on the field” or one of my favorites “they had the momentum and we couldn’t take it back” makes me feel just as bad as when I have to hear it when I’m listening to a favorite pro coach use it during a press conference.
But one idea that I’ve talked about earlier in the year for fall sports was the “tough districts” Gonzales County athletes were placed in during the new realignment.
Sure, it’s better to curve expectations (not that I believe that’s what these coaches are doing) by saying “hey, this is a pretty tough district, if we can get out of that it’s an accomplishment,” but by looking at what’s gone on in the playoffs, you can see how tough these districts really were.
Football is just in round two, so I’ll strictly stick to volleyball for now. Gonzales, placed in District 27-4A, had to play against Wimberley, Navarro, La Vernia and Austin Eastside Memorial. By pure mathematics, coming out of a five-team district is way easier than a six, seven or eight-team district (like Nixon-Smiley had to deal with this season), but that didn’t make it less tough for the Lady Apaches.
La Vernia (the district champions) lost to Navarro (the district runner ups) in the Region IV-4A finals. The top two teams in District 27-4A were also the top two teams in Region IV-4A. Wimberley (third place in the district) and Gonzales (fourth place winners) lost in the first round. Navarro will take on Argyle in the semifinals Friday morning at 11 a.m.
Nixon-Smiley had to deal with an eight-team district and unfortunately won just one game in District 27-3A. How tough was it up top? Marion, the district winners, lost in the regional quarterfinals to Industrial. Schulenburg (runner ups) and Stockdale (third place) were dropped in the second round while fourth-place Randolph lost in the bi-district to Industrial.
Waelder is in a different situation in that their district has teams that are both Class 1A and Class 2A. Due to the structure of District 26-2A, Waelder and Prairie Lea (the lone 1A squads) automatically made it to the playoffs. (Yes, I can hear you complaining about the UIL as you read this column). Funny enough, Waelder won their bi-district game and lost in the area round while Prairie Lea had a bye in the first round, beat Utopia in the area round then lost to D’Hanis in the regional quarterfinals. (How about that naysayers?!)
But the tough part of the season was going up against Shiner and Weimar, two teams who reached the Region IV-2A finals of the playoffs. Weimar was able to take down Shiner three sets to one. Weimar lost to Iola Wednesday night in the state semifinal, blowing a two-set lead.
Nonetheless, this was yet another example of the top two teams in a region belonging to the same district.
Basketball teams are going to have to deal with this as well.
Starting out with Gonzales, both the boys’ and girls’ teams are in five-team districts, so two wins out of the eight can potentially get you in the playoffs. However, according to the preseason rankings from the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC), the Apaches will be dealing with the 15th ranked Navarro in district. The Lady Apaches have nobody in the district that’s been ranked in the top 25 so far in Class 4A.
Nixon-Smiley and their eight-team district will pose a problem. The boys’ team will have to deal with Randolph (ranked 19th), Hallettsville (ranked 21st) and Marion (ranked 24th) in the district. Last season, Randolph, Hallettsville, Marion, Luling, Nixon-Smiley and Schulenburg all made the playoffs. Yoakum dropped from 4A to 3A and Stockdale had their troubles in the previously seven-team district, placing sixth in the standings.
That’s five playoff teams and a playoff contender in Yoakum vying for the top of a crowded District 27-3A.
On the girls’ side, Hallettsville, Marion, Nixon-Smiley, Schulenburg and Randolph made the playoffs last season. The TABC prognosticators have District 27-3A standings listed as Hallettsville, Marion, Randolph and Luling, in that order. Currently, Hallettsville is ranked fourth while Yoakum is 23rd and Luling is 24th.
Waelder is in a slightly different situation in that the boys’ team have been top dogs in their respective district the past few years. Interesting enough, the Wildcats, who have been picked to win District 30-1A over Dime Box and Moulton, were ranked 23rd in the preseason. Those following Waelder know that the team believes that’s a pretty low ranking, so expect that to move up throughout the weeks. Meanwhile, the girls’ team, under new coach Martha Zuniga, have some high expectations, though TABC has Moulton, Dime Box and Round Top Carmine as the three teams to come out of that district. None of those teams are currently ranked in the top 25.
Saying “we have tough opponents” may be easy to do for a coach, but for most of Gonzales County, that phrase is true. In volleyball, top regional teams come out of the district encompassing Gonzales County teams. Basketball may prove to be the same this season. Either way, by February, teams will soon figure out that the top of the region may be in the districts where Gonzales, Nixon-Smiley and Waelder reside.
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