The first two weeks of the New Year have been nothing short of exhilarating for the RISD varsity teams.
Launching into the spring semester, we head over to Lake Highlands High School on Jan. 3 for an epic matchup between the No. 1 Wildcats and No. 10 Eagles boys basketball teams.
The atmosphere in the sold-out gym before tipoff was electrifying as WFAA prepared its live coverage to reboot the “Tuesday Night Hoops” series.
The Wildcats came out strong and ended the first quarter with a 22-11 lead. But the Eagles bounced back and were down 26-22 at the half. Halftime appeared to be all the Wildcats needed to regroup and dominate the final two quarters, winning 69-47.
Also on Jan. 3, Berkner boys basketball took on Jesuit at home. The Rams hung tough the entire game yet ultimately falling to the Rangers 63-53 for a tough district loss.
Berkner girls basketball battled it out with Lake Highlands on Jan. 3 as well in an extremely close game won by the Lady Wildcats 57-52. Wrapping up the Jan. 3 district basketball matchups, we head down to Richardson High School where the Lady Eagles beat Irving MacArthur 39-32.
On Friday Jan. 6, the Lady Wildcats hosted the Lady Mustangs in their first district matchup. Both teams started out strong ending the first quarter tied at 13, but Pearce pulled away in the fourth for a 50-34 win.
In another district matchup, Berkner hosted RHS. The Lady Eagles maintained a lead throughout the game and won 54-36.
Staying with the Eagles, we head over to Richardson High School to watch the boys basketball team take on Irving High School. The support from the student section, the Eaglettes, and RHS cheer team provided the motivation for the Eagles to put away another district win with a score of 58-48 over the Tigers.
Ending the first week of 2023 back with district basketball, we head up the road to Pearce where they host the Lake Highland Wildcats. The Wildcats started out strong and finished just as strong winning 51-37 for Coach Joe Duffield’s 200th career win.
Congratulations, Coach Duffield! #RISDGreatness
The Lake Highlands girls and boys wrestling teams competed at the Frisco High Duels during the first weekend of 2023. The boys team took first place while the girls finished fourth with three lady Wildcats going undefeated.
LHHS seniors Fernanda Lopez, Kathryn Salinas and Junior Sarah Conner all went 5-0 during the meet. Fernanda Lopez was voted “Most Outstanding Wrestler.” She also happens to be the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country and was Lake Highlands Homecoming Queen last fall!
Continuing the #RISDGreatness on the first Saturday of the New Year, the Lady Eagles soccer team battled in the final match of the Dallas Champions tournament against topped ranked teams throughout DFW, walking away with the gold medal trophy! While this was a non-district matchup, it certainly shined a light onto a promising season for the Eagles!
Starting out with the second week of the New Year, basketball takes center stage with surprising wins and losses as well as the start of district play for soccer.
Bright and early on Jan. 10, the Richardson Eagles boys basketball team, football team and girls basketball team headed out to their elementary feeder schools to assist the car pool line and promote elementary and junior high night for the girls basketball game later that day. #AthletesSupportingAthletes
The Lady Eagles hosted the Lady Mustangs later that night and their momentum never wavered in a 64-19 victory. The Berkner Lady Rams hosted Irving MacArthur in a tough district matchup and fell to the Cardinals 40-24, while the Lake Highlands Lady Wildcats traveled to Irving High and beat the Tigers 54-29.
Also at Irving High, the Berkner boys basketball team came out strong against the Tigers before dropping the district game 57-51.
Continuing with the battle against Irving teams, we jump over to Lake Highlands where the boys basketball team overmatched Irving Nimitz 83-34. The Pearce Mustangs edged Irving MacArthur 63-62 for a district win. Congratulations to the Wildcats and Mustangs!
Jan. 10 was also our first glimpse at district play for boys soccer within RISD. The Richardson Eagles played at Irving Nimitz, the Pearce Mustangs were home against the Jesuit Rangers, and the Berkner Rams were at Irving MacArthur. All three games ended in a draw with the Eagles scoring 3 goals, the Mustangs nil, and Berkner scoring 1.
On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the Richardson Eagles wrestling teams competed at Hillcrest High School coming away victorious against Adamson but falling to Hillcrest by the end of the night. Great effort, Eagles!
Friday the 13th has arrived, and the Lake Highlands Lady Wildcats began the night showcasing great effort against Highland Park, before falling to the Scots 55-39.
The Lady Mustangs competed at Irving MacArthur and lost a nail-biter, 41-39 while Berkner Lady Rams fell to Irving Nimitz. The Richardson Lady Eagles turned the district’s luck around with a dominating performance over Irving 61-33. Great job by all four teams! #RISDBelieves
Lake Highlands’s Tre Johnson showed us once again why he is the No. 1 national prospect in the Class of 2024 in a win against Irving, while the Berkner boys basketball lost a heartbreaker to Irving MacArthur 63-61.
To wrap up Friday the 13th, we head over to Richardson High School as the boys battled the Jesuit Rangers, coming out on top 74-57 to take sole possession of third place in District 7-6A.
Wrapping up this two-week recap in RISD athletics, we focus on the Pearce Mustang and Berkner Ram cheerleaders who competed in the UIL State Championship competition on Saturday, Jan. 14.
Congratulations to both cheer teams and schools on competing at the statewide event!
