Champions often sprout from tough December tournaments

03:39 AM CST on Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Damon L. Sayles/The Dallas Morning News

For the South Oak Cliff and Plano boys basketball teams, tough holiday tournament competition last season served as a springboard to successful district and playoff runs.

South Oak Cliff met tough competition such as Richardson Berkner, an eventual Class 5A state semifinalist, on its way to a third-place finish at last season's DISD/Coca-Cola Tournament. The tournament prepared SOC for a rugged district it eventually won and a run to its second consecutive state title.

"The trend is if you can play well in the tournament, you'll usually do well in the playoffs," SOC coach James Mays II said.

Plano, which placed second in its own Plano Wildcat Classic last season, parlayed that finish into a district championship and the school's first boys basketball state title. Plano won 17 of 18 games following a loss to Mesquite in the Classic final.

"If you don't win the thing, you'll probably lose to a really good team. If you do win it, you've beaten a pretty credible field," Plano coach Tom Inman said. "You'll see teams like that all throughout the playoffs."

Eight area boys state champions since 2000 have played in the DISD/Coca-Cola Tournament, the Whataburger Tournament or the Plano Wildcat Classic.

Eight area girls state champions since 2000 have played in the Sandra Meadows Classic, the Mansfield Rotary Tournament or the DISD/Coca-Cola Tournament.

For girls teams, winning an area holiday tournament means you can think about booking reservations for Austin in early March.

The winner of the Sandra Meadows Classic in Duncanville has advanced to the state championship game five times since 2000.

The Lincoln girls, four-time defending DISD/Coca-Cola Tournament champions, advanced to the state tournament three times in those years.

Many coaches indicate holiday tournaments are perfect preparation for district competition, which usually begins in early January.

"These holiday tournaments are much better than practicing," Duncanville coach Cathy Self-Morgan said. "There's no motivation in practicing over the holidays. When you have tournaments, the girls are excited about the competition."

Holiday tournaments typically afford teams the opportunity to play three to five games in a short span.

For Mays, playing in the DISD/Coca-Cola means competition in every round. SOC could face a Duncanville team that it lost to in last week's PrimeTime Tour in the quarterfinal round Friday.

"Every round in the tournament is a stair step. It gets more and more difficult as you go," Mays said. "The playoffs are going to have the same format. We need to prepare for that."

Inman said the holiday tournament helps his team make adjustments before district play. It also gives players an opportunity to play in front of large crowds like the ones in the postseason.

"A lot of it is them playing on a big stage," Inman said. "But no matter how many rows back, there's still 10 guys on the court with two officials.

"All of it is just an adjustment thing. It's our jobs as coaches to make our team better, and playing tournaments is a good way to do that. As you progress through, you're adjusting and beating progressively better teams."

E-mail dsayles@dallasnews.com

HOLIDAY PREPARATIONS Six area UIL basketball teams won state championships last year. Here's how they fared in their 2005 holiday tournaments: Championship team Class 2005 holiday tournament result Plano boys 5A 2nd at Plano Wildcat Classic S. Oak Cliff boys 4A 3rd at DISD/Coca-Cola Tournament Roosevelt boys 3A Lost consolation final of DISD/Coca-Cola Plano West girls 5A 3rd at Sandra Meadows Tournament Waxahachie girls 4A 2nd at Sandra Meadows Tournament Argyle girls 2A 3rd at Caprock Holiday Tournament