Plano East alum DJ Hall finished his high school career as a state champion and the program’s all-time scoring leader. Photo by Maddie Smith / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Another year has come and gone for student-athletes at Plano East High School. It was a successful year in many ways.
In today’s edition of The Murphy Monitor, we will look back at the highlights of the 2024-25 winter sports season for Plano East. The final part of the three-part series, spring sports, will appear in the July 3 edition of the Murphy Monitor.
History on the hardwood:
For the first time in program history, the Plano East girls’ basketball team advance to the state semifinals.
Despite having just two seniors on the roster, the Lady Panthers leaned on strong defense and timely scoring from incoming junior Kennedy Borders and rising sophomore Arianna Robinson. Robinson, who recently competed with the USA U16 National Team at the Women’s AmeriCup, averaged 22 points per game during the playoffs.
Plano East opened the postseason with a 49-40 comeback win over Coppell, then upset state-ranked South Grand Prairie 48-44 in the area round. The Lady Panthers defeated Timber Creek 65-47 in the regional semifinals and continued their historic run with a 49-45 victory over North Crowley in the Region I-6A Division I final. Plano East fell 61-51 to Cedar Hill in the state semifinals.
Hall concludes standout career
Returning only three players from their squad that went 40-0 and captured the school’s first-ever team championship in any team sport, the Plano East’s boys’ basketball team still enjoyed a strong season.
Despite a 64-58 loss to Marcus, in the opening round of the playoffs, the Panthers won 25 games and made their third consecutive postseason appearance.
The season’s highlight came in November, when Plano East defeated Stony Point 72-65 in a rematch of last year’s Class 6A state title game to win the Dallas Mavs Fall Classic.
The Panthers were led by alum forward DJ Hall, a Texas State signee, who guided a young roster. Hall was named unanimous District MVP after averaging 24.6 points and nine rebounds per game. He concluded his high school career as Plano East’s all-time leading scorer.
Girls’ soccer team ends playoff drought
The Lady Panthers made the postseason for the first time in 15 years, a breakthrough moment after narrowly missing out in recent seasons.
The clinching moment came on March 7, when Plano East defeated Plano 4-0. The win came nearly a year to the day after a 4-1 loss to Plano West eliminated the Lady Panthers from playoff contention.
Plano East was led by UCLA signee Payten Cooper, named District 6-6A Offensive Player of the Year, along with alumna Jayla Silverio—who scored twice in the playoff-clinching win—and incoming junior Lauren Delapaz.
Boys’ soccer ushers in Willich era:
For the second consecutive season, the Panthers adjusted to new leadership.
Following the departure of Taylor Baca, who took the head coaching job at McKinney Boyd, Plano East hired former Seagoville coach Dennis Willich.
Willich inherited a senior-heavy team, with 17 players in their final year. Plano East won eight games but narrowly missed the playoffs after a 4-3 loss to McKinney in the second-to-last game of the season. The Panthers led 2-1 before being outscored 3-1 the rest of the way.
Wrestlers shine at district tournament:
Plano East had seven wrestlers compete in the Region I-6A Tournament.
Abrar Alam was the closest of any Panther wrestler to qualify for the state tournament, having placed sixth at 175 pounds. Bilalb Habib went 2-2 at regionals at 106 pounds. Talaal Habib had statistically the best season for Plano East, having finished 24-3 after he went 1-2 at 120 pounds at regionals. Vedant Lal picked up a win in the132-pound weight class at the Region II-6A meet, while Leandro Franco went 1-2 at 215 pounds. Cesar Arguello, who competed at 285 pounds, ended the year with a 28-15 record.
On the girls’ side, Anna Dao went 1-2 at 114 pounds at regionals.
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