Sulphur Springs Wildcats, North Hopkins Panthers and Saltillo Lady Lions All Crack Top 10
The first update of 2023 has been made to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’s Top-25 poll. In 2022 we saw three teams from Hopkins County continuously climb their way up their respective ladders, and they’re setting the bar high for the first week in 2023, setting a new milestone, as all three of them have cracked the Top-10 in their respective classifications.
Sulphur Springs Wildcats
The Sulphur Springs Wildcats have been a staple in the TABC Top-10 this season, and this week is no different, as the Wildcats come in at No. 9. Wrapping up tournament play, the Wildcats got the chance to go up against more 5A and 6A school’s recently, yet have still been winners in four of their last five games.
On the season Sulphur Springs is 18-5, winning on average by a score of 65-49. Keeping with that theme, the Wildcats are a perfect 13-0 this season, when scoring 60 or more points.
With district play right around the corner, the Wildcats are ready to start fighting for a second consecutive district title.
North Hopkins Panthers
It’s been an exciting season for the North Hopkins Panthers, who are coming off possibly their best season in school history. While those are tough shoes to fill, the Panthers have done an amazing job so far.
Despite their success last season, the Panthers weren’t afforded the benefit of the doubt when it came to the TABC rankings. They had to fight their win into the rankings, and even then, they did so towards the back of the pack.
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Since then, the Panthers have kept grinding away, climbing and climbing as the season went on. Here in the first week of 2023, the Panthers see a new season-high, finally cracking the Top-10 at No. 10.
North Hopkins is currently 14-6 and on a two-game winning streak. They also already have their district opener behind them, beating Cooper 54-33 back on Dec. 20.
With their non-district schedule officially wrapped up, the Panthers will be locked in for the remainder of the season. Last season they went a perfect 10-0 in district play, and will be looking to replicate that success this season.
Saltillo Lady Lions
The Saltillo Lady Lions have had as impressive of a season as anybody so far, getting out to a 25-3 start. Ranked No. 7 in the state, no team ahead of them as as many wins as they do. In fact, of the six teams ranked higher than them, only two of them have 22 wins or more, including No. 1 Huckabay who handed Saltillo one of their three losses.
Their other two losses this season have come at the hands of Canton, who is the No. 18 team in 4A and McLeod, both of which went to overtime. The Lady Lions have had as good of a decade as anybody, regularly making deep playoff runs, and this season looks to be no different.
They are three games into their district schedule and have been unstoppable, winning by scores of 62-9, 65-28 and 49-14. Since 2018 the Lady Lions are 43-3 in district play.
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