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Sunnyvale basketball teams lay good early foundation to accomplish future goals
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
There are high hopes circulating around the Sunnyvale gymnasium for both the girls and boys basketball teams as the 2012-2013 season shifts into full gear.
Both are coming off playoff seasons and expectations are high that they will each return again this year.
The Raider girls have won back-to-back district championships under head coach Howard York, who has a personal straight of seven straight district crowns dating back to his tenure at West Mesquite.
Last Tuesday, the Raiders overpowered Nevada Community, using a 25-3 run in the third quarter to cruise to a 60-23 victory. Grace Goodhart had 18 points, Caila Sims scored 14 and Sheridan Lewis added 13 in the winning effort.
Sunnyvale had gotten started with a 59-40 win over Pottsboro, closing that game with a 16-5 spurt. It was once again that trio of offensive standouts that led the way, with Lewis tallying 20 points and Sims and Goodhart each adding 13.
The Raiders posted a perfect 10-0 record en route to the district championship a year ago, but fell in the area finals to Bruceville-Eddy in a tough 50-47 loss.
With that bar set high, Sunnyvale expects not only to defend its status as district champs, but also push further in the postseason. The girls were scheduled to play Kaufman on Monday and Malakoff on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and then face Crandall on Tuesday.
The Raider boys also improved to 2-0 last Tuesday with a 54-29 victory over Lone Oak. Sunnyvale closed both halves with a flurry, using a 19-5 run in the second quarter to take a 26-12 lead and then closing it out with a 15-6 spurt.
Steven Kirven had 16 points, while Thomas Wendt and Josh Quinn added 12 and eight points, respectively.
Last season, Sunnyvale posted a 22-8 record and was 9-3 in district play. While the Raiders were unable to defend their district championship from the 2010-2011 season, they took it one step deeper in the playoffs, defeating Mildred (62-45) before falling to Whitney (43-39).
Sunnyvale has a good corps to build around, including Thomas Wendt, a first-team all-district selection last year, Quinn, the district newcomer of the year, and Kirven.
The Raiders were scheduled to play a pair of games prior to Thanksgiving against Palmer on Monday and Kerens on Tuesday.
Next Thursday through Saturday, they will host the Sunnyvale Invitational. That has been a good barometer for what the future holds for the Raiders. They won the event in both 2009 and 2011 and were second in 2010. They made the playoffs in all three seasons.
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