The Plano East track teams had quite the showing at the District 6-6A Meet at Marauder Stadium. The boys squad won the district title with 129 points at the event. Coppell came in right behind them with 113 points, and hometown-Marcus finished third with 108.

As for the girls, they took fourth in the standings with 73 points, trailing Flower Mound (170), Coppell (112) and Marcus (76). 

The following Panthers also qualified to compete in the area meet next week in Little Elm. 

Boys:

Jaylon Hatcher (200-meter dash, Long Jump)

Ezra O’Neal (200-meter dash, Long Jump, Triple Jump)

Isaiah Schell (400-meter dash)

Phillip Reed (110-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles)

400-meter relay (Names not included in results)

800-meter relay (Names not included in results)

1600-meter relay (Names not included in results)

Jeremiah Gordon (Discus)

Girls:

Karis Jenkins (100-meter dash)

Caitlyn Tran (100-meter hurdles)

Hannah Reed (100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles)

400-meter relay (Names not included in results)

800-meter relay (Names not included in results)

Angel Ngadi (Discus)

For those that are competing in the regional meet next week, they will travel to Carrico Stadium. The event will take place on Friday, April 12. 

For more information on Plano East sports subscribe to the Murphy Monitor and support local journalism. 

It’s official. The Plano East Panthers put the finishing touches on a 40-0 season with their 53-41 win over Stony Point in the Alamodome. The PESH basketball team wrapped up the state tourney the same way they got there…in dominant, unblemished fashion. 

Coming into the event, they’d won each of their five playoff games by double-digit margins, and that did not change in San Antonio. After topping Lake Ridge 61-45 in the semifinals, the Panthers took on Stony Point in a rematch of their meeting Dec. 30, 2023 that saw Plano East jump to the top spot in the Class 6A rankings with a 55-50 victory.

In no coincidence, that was one of PESH’s most competitive matchups of the year, meaning they would certainly have to bring their “A” game with the state title on the line. However, that is what Plano East had done 39 times in a row, and on Saturday night, March 9, they made it 40. 

For the full story on the Panthers’ championship effort, see the March 14 print or digital edition of the Murphy Monitor and support local journalism in your community.

FORT WORTH – No. 1 Plano East entered the year with goals of reaching state, and punched their ticket Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers spent the entire season testing itself to get to this point. They faced some of the best opponents in multiple states, went against several different play styles, and ensured they were prepared to beat anyone.

For the first 37 tries, they succeeded. Facing Keller in the 38th game, Plano East led wire-to-wire in an eventual 76-60 victory. It was a monumental performance for the Panthers, earning their first-ever trip to the state tournament.

“We’ve known from the beginning that this was our ceiling, that we could do it,” Matt Wester said. “The surreal feeling is doing this at 38-0, that’s the unbelievable part. We tried to play the toughest schedule we could play.”

Against the Indians, the Panthers dominated inside, with DJ Hall leading the way with 31 points and six rebounds, paired with Jordan Mizell’s 18 points, with seven of those coming from the free throw line attacking the basket.

Hall, who was battling an injured ankle from the previous night’s win over V.R. Eaton, scored the team’s opening eight points of the game and continued in the second half to control the paint. Over the two regional tournament games, he scored 49 points and was 20/31 from the floor.

“His ankle is not right,” Wester said. “In my heart, I was thinking it was going to be the ‘DJ Hall ankle game.’ I thought he was sensational. He played defense, rebounded, finished around the basket, and even moved the ball well like a point guard.”

Despite all of that, Keller hung with Plano East in the first half. While East led throughout, the Indians shot 11/28 from the 3-point range and managed to cut the lead to 37-32 at the break. 

In the second half, Keller deployed a trap-style defense, forcing a few turnovers to cut Plano East’s lead to three points at one point, but that was as close as they got late. The Panthers outscored the Indians 19-9 in the final quarter.

“It has a lot to do with our experience and poise. They handled the pressure well and were ready for any kind of situation. There’s not a lot of things we haven’t seen before.”

With the win, Plano East’s postseason run continues with five wins, and to more to go down in San Antonio. The Panthers have an average margin of victory of 27 points in their playoff games and hope to close the deal with a perfect season.

Plano East will play in the state semifinals in the Alamodome on Friday, March 8, with the championship game scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. They will kick off the four team event against Mansfield Lake Ridge (32-6) on Friday at 7 p.m. 

From there, the winner will take on the victor of Round Rock Stony Point (37-1) and Beaumont United (34-3) for the Class 6A State Championship. 

COPPELL – A 29-point playoff victory makes things appear easy, but it was far from it Friday night.

The No. 1 Plano East Panthers overcame a slow start in the area round against Highland Park, winning 74-45. The win propelled the Panthers to 35-0 on the year, just five wins away from a perfect season.

East advances to the regional quarterfinals, where they will face No. 10 Allen. The two sides, who played back on the season’s first game – a 10-point Plano East win- will tip-off at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. The winner advances to the regional final in Fort Worth over the weekend.

To read the full story and support continued coverage of your local sports teams, subscribe to Murphy Monitor today!

GARLAND – The No. 1 Plano East Panthers reached the regional quarterfinals for the first time in over 20 years, and looked like they belonged.

Taking on No. 10 Allen, East took over in the second quarter and never looked back, winning 79-52. The game was physical to start, with East clinging to a 13-8 advantage after the first quarter, but things quickly changed in the second.

The Panthers’ bench stepped up in a big way, outscoring the Eagles 20-9 in leading to the half-time break with a 33-17 advantage. Ethan Moss and Rachard Angton added 3-pointers, sparking an early 8-0 run to open the quarter. The outside shot was opened up due to DJ Hall’s presence in the paint. He scored six in the first and led all scorers with 17 in the game.

“I don’t think the referees and coaches made any of difference,” Wester said. “DJ made some great passes to cutters and we made some plays turning defense into offense. It was good players on both sides and we prepared them for this game. We knew if we could not turn the ball over and move the ball, we could get shots. We were able to do that in the first half. We also knew the way they helped we could get cuts to the baskets and get layups.”

The depth was essential in both halves for the Panthers, as several of the more experienced starters suffered from foul trouble. With Isaiah Brewington and Jon Tran on the sideline, Angton, Narit Chotikavanic and Moss all stepped up in big moments. As the team strengthened its lead, the depth kept the defensive intensity even when the starters were out.

“Especially with these guys, it’s more about matchups,” Wester said. “[Allen] has depth and they wear everybody down. I thought we looked warn down out there, but Ethan and Rachard gave us big minutes. To have him be able to come in and give us that type of defense, not turn the ball over and hit an important shot. You can’t replace Isaiah, but he can come in and do that.”

In the second half, Allen upped the intensity with full-court pressure. The Eagles wanted to increase the tempo of the game, but that only led to more layups and fast break opportunities for the Panthers. Allen couldn’t get any closer than 10 points in the second half before the Panthers reignited their lead.

“The difference between our team and theirs is they shoot like twice as many 3-pointers as us,” Wester said. “We always feel like when you have a team on the ropes, the best way to take the wind out of them is to get layups. We saw the scouting report and knew we could get layups in certain situations.”

Xavier Miller was a big reason for Plano East’s second-half performance, scoring 17 points as well. As a team, the Panthers have preached sacrifice and togetherness, meaning even dynamic players like Miller had to sacrifice shooting opportunities for the greater good. On Tuesday night, he had a chance to put the game away with key baskets late.

“You could go through our team and bring up a bunch of examples,” Wester said. “Xavier could score any game, but we ask him to do so much. Rachard, Narit, Ethan and Seth [Romero] can all start on teams around the area, but sacrifice. Isaiah had 100 wins in his career but was good with sitting on the bench when we needed him too. We know what’s at stake and everyone is eager to prove themselves.”

With the victory, Plano East advances to the regional semifinals to face V.R. Eaton at Wilkerson-Grienes Activity Center on March 1, with tip-off at 8 p.m. The winner advances to the regional final to take on the winner of Keller and Lewisville at the same location on Saturday at 1 p.m.  

The Plano East boys basketball team has punched their ticket to the regional bracket. The Panthers opened the postseason with a pair of big wins over Rock Hill and Highland Park, and will turn their attention to the Allen Eagles for their next matchup.

To this point, the Panthers have been fairly dominant in their postseason matchups. Against Allen, they will take on a squad that they’ve already seen this year. Plano East opened their season with an 80-70 victory over the Eagles, the first of 35 consecutive wins the Panthers have tallied headed into the rematch with Allen. 

The Eagles defeated Hebron and Grand Prairie last week to advance to their matchup with PESH. The two teams will meet Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

The top-ranked Plano East Panthers opend the playoffs much like they ended the regular season…in impressive fashion. While the defense carried PESH to a 34-15 lead by halftime, the Panthers’ offense exploded for 32 points in the third quarter to put the game well out of reach for Rock Hill.  

Five different Panthers scored in double figures in the 88-51 blowout, as Plano East advanced to the second round of the postseason. Next up, PESH will travel to Coppell for an area matchup with Highland Park. 

The two teams met up in mid-November with the Panthers winning 70-54 over the Scots. East has racked up 32 wins since that meeting, while Highland Park stands with a record of 26-9.

The game will tip off this Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.

The Plano East boys basketball team have been the standard of consistency this year, running through their regular-season schedule without a single blemish. Now, playoff basketball is here, and the Panthers will turn their focus to making a run at a Class 6A State Championship. 

The path to that potential accomplishment starts on Monday with a bi-district matchup against the Rock Hill Blue Hawks. Rock Hill (14-16, 7-7) took fourth in District 5-6A, a group won by the Allen Eagles, who were the first victims in the Panthers’ current 33-game win streak.

The Blue Hawks closed the season out with a pair of losses, the first of which came to Allen by a score of 107-39. Still, the Panthers will need to be more dialed in than ever as they look to ride the momentum of a perfect regular season all the way to a state title. 

The two teams will tip off Monday, Feb. 19 at Hebron High School at 6 p.m.

It was a busy week for the Plano East wrestling teams that resulted in plenty of success.

Both are gearing up for their final run toward the district championship, and opened the week with the Battle of Plano duals on Jan. 10. The boys took on Plano West, where they defeated the Wolves 43-27. The Panthers won nine weight classes, including an impressive five pins against their crosstown rivals.

Winners on the day for the Panthers included Bilal Habib at 106 pounds, who pinned Gabriel Chaves at 0:55. Other pins included Abrar Alam, Jadyn Lindsey, Andy Santamaria and Adrian Lopez.

 To read the full story and support continued coverage of your local sports teams, subscribe to Murphy Monitor today!

While the volleyball season is well in the rearview mirror at this point, awards continue to trickle in following the Lady Panthers run to the Regional Quarterfinals. At the end of December, the Texas Sports Writers Association released their Blue Bell/TSWA All-State teams, featuring three familiar faces.

Senior Lauryn “Lolo” Lambert was named an outside hitter on the second team. The future Razorback led the team with 714 kills this season, spread across 131 sets for an impressive 5.5 kills per set. She also tallied a team-high 498 digs, as well as 59 blocks and 31 aces.

This isn’t her first award of the postseason, as she was also honored on the Texas High School Coaches Association’s Super Elite Team for Class 6A. Lambert was also named to the Star Local  Media and GM Sports’ All-Area teams.

Joining her is fellow senior and future SEC-rival, Ashby Daniel. Daniel was named to the TSWA’s third team as a middle blocker. This past fall, she tied for the team lead with 80 blocks, rejecting a shot at nearly a one-per-set average. 

To read the full story and support your local newspaper the Murphy Monitor subscribe today!