Boys basketball: Spartans set to defy pundits again

As a first-year program with no seniors last season, Cy Lakes made a serious run at a playoff berth, finishing one game out of a four-way tie for second place.

A year later, and after winning the Cy-Fair ISD Invitational last week, the Spartans are building momentum that could carry them to a historic postseason invitation, and maybe even more.

"It's a real thrill to win our district's tournament, and as a young program with high expectations, it was a major confidence builder," Cy Lakes coach Jeff Snedeker said. "It showed the players that we can compete with and win against the other premier programs in the city."

The Spartans opened the Cy-Fair ISD event by beating North Forest 63-53 and then reeled off wins over Jersey Village 41-40, Cy Creek 57-48 and Klein Forest 76-65 to earn the infant program's first tournament championship.

"We came close with a second place at the Magnolia Classic last season, but this one being our own will always be special, especially for these players," Snedeker said.

The Spartans use a starting lineup of seniors Zac Garth (6-1 wing) and Thomas Frazier (6-4 post), and juniors Troy Fisher (5-8 guard), Jonathan Bowen (6-3 wing) and Cory Jones (6-4 wing), which is supplemented by key reserves and juniors Zach Wehner ( 6-1 guard), Salim Osei-Frimpong (5-10 guard), Mykol Polk (6-3 wing) and Jordan Davis (6-3 post), and sophomore Marcus Polk (6-2 wing).

"This is our first year with seniors, so almost every player on the roster got varsity playing time last season," Snedeker said, "Our (up-tempo) style of play usually dictates that I play up to 10 players a night."

Jones led with 25 points, Bowen added 13, and Garth and Frazier finished with 12 apiece in the Cy-Fair ISD championship game against Klein Forest.

Frazier and Jones scored 11 each against Cy Creek, and Frazier had 13 and Jones 11 against Jersey Village.

"The 17-5A race is going to be a dogfight, and it usually is in this district," Snedeker said. "But this year, with teams like Cy Falls, Cy Springs, Langham Creek, Cy-Fair and so on, there are at least six teams that will fight for the four playoff spots.

"I feel like we're definitely in the mix, but with the caliber of coaches and players in 17-5A, you better come to play every night."

Cy Lakes hosts Kingwood at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, and Dulles at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 21, and is set to play in the Barbers Hill Gulf Coast Classic from Dec. 27-29.

Cy Creek comes calling for the district opener at 7 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2011 at Cy Lakes.

"Even though we've been together for three years now (two subvarsity and one varsity season), I feel like we're still getting better," Snedeker said. "We're still learning to win varsity games against good teams, and we still make enough mistakes that I believe our best ball is ahead of us, and that's exciting.

"I have wonderful players, and we're proud to represent the Cy-Fair ISD and Cy Lakes High School, and we're going to give it all we have to make history this season.

"I don't know how far the road goes, but we're going to run until we hit the end."