The boys varsity basketball team clinched a victory in the area playoffs after beating Bellaire 66-63 in an overtime thriller last night, Feb. 24. The Cougars’ current standing is 28-5, and they are the first boys basketball team in Cinco’s history to make it to the quarterfinals.

“We’re back to back to back district champs,” Coach Neil King said. “For us to be the only boys basketball team in Katy ISD that advanced to the area round is exciting. We’re representing our community, and we’re representing Cinco Ranch High School. Hopefully we’ll go out, play well, and execute our game plan to be able to represent Katy ISD in the quarterfinals.”

To maintain their numerous district titles and emerge victorious in many of their games, the team puts in countless hours of practice to improve their skills and create game plans on how to defeat their next opponent.

“They come to practice everyday and work extremely hard,” King said. “We have a routine where we have practice and we work on our dribbling, our passing and our shooting. Then we work on our team concept of plays. We watch a tremendous amount of film on ourselves and on our opponent. We talk about our opponent’s weaknesses and strengths and what we’re going to have to do to be successful in the game.”

Day in and day out, the boys push themselves to compete and play to the best of their ability. However, their time on the court is not only spent playing a sport they are passionate about but also building character and leaving behind a story that will be told for many more years to come.

“We always talk about leaving your legacy because what we want them to do is try to achieve as much success as they can on the court so other teams that follow them will try to achieve as much as they have,” King said. “Athletics is a good way to teach young people about the game of life, meaning that in life you have to work hard and you have to be disciplined. All of those things are going to help them be positive members of our society after they leave the Cinco Ranch basketball program.”

Next week, the boys will face Fort Bend Bush in the third round of playoffs in efforts to advance to the regional tournament. Though the competition will only become more fierce from here on out, the boys are ready to tackle whatever challenges come their way to represent Cinco Ranch.

“We have nine seniors on the team, and they want to continue to wear that Cinco Ranch jersey,” King said. “They don’t want to take that off and know that it’s the last time they’ll ever walk on the court or represent Cinco Ranch High School. They want to continue to advance so their legacy will be set for Cinco Ranch boys basketball for years to come. They’re competitors- they want to compete and they want to win.”