SportzBuzz - February 2026 | The Buzz Magazines

By Todd Freed, Staff writer | January 27, 2026

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RECORD BREAKER Memorial Mustangs senior Draden Moss surpassed the 2,000 career points plateau this season. Moss is the all-time scoring leader in the history of Memorial Mustangs girls basketball.

With a 16-3 record leading into the holiday break, the Memorial Mustangs girls basketball team was off to one of its best starts in school history. Memorial also captured the Bluebonnet Invitational in San Antonio with its victory over The Woodlands in the championship final.

“The girls’ defensive focus has been incredible,” said Mustangs head coach Jyusef Larry. “We held Cy Ranch to seven first half points and Cy Fair to only eight points in the first half. It’s unique to hold a team to less than double digits through two quarters of play.”

Offensively, it’s been a major milestone season for Mustangs senior Draden Moss, who surpassed the remarkable 2,000 career points plateau. Moss had previously broken the school’s all-time girls scoring record of 1,648 points set in 2005 by CeCe Cohen (now CeCe Cohen Sachs), and is now in position to break the boys all-time scoring record of 2,140 points, held since 1966 by Jerry Kroll.

“Draden has been a great player for us for four years, but the thing I’m probably most proud about is that she’s also one of the graduating class valedictorians,” said Coach Larry. “Draden’s the fifth valedictorian from our team in the last six years and they’ve all been starters.”

Along with Moss, a trio of other seniors have been major contributors for the Mustangs this season including point guard Ivy Oliver, who is back to full strength after suffering a knee injury last season. In addition, Moss’s cousin Allison Moss is averaging 7.6 points per game and is one of the team’s top rebounders, while Brooke Kearns is a three-year varsity player averaging three assists per game.

SOARING EAGLE Second Baptist senior standout Shia Francis goes airborne for a sensational slam dunk in the Eagles victory over Westbury Christian earlier this season. (Photo: Katelyn Ling)

In boys basketball, it’s been a sensational season for the Second Baptist Eagles. The defending TAPPS 5A State Champions closed out 2025 by capturing the Houston Private School Classic while rallying from a 14-point second half deficit to defeat Impact Christian of Jacksonville, Fla. 64-61 in the championship final.

“We knew going into the game it was going to be a really tough championship final but we had a goal of winning the tournament,” said Eagles head coach Taylor Land. “We said to ourselves, why should this be easy. Leading up to the game we had played a difficult schedule all season long against outstanding teams from Houston, Dallas, Illinois, and a pair of teams from Florida.”

In the victory over Impact Christian, the Eagles were led by the 25 points from super sophomore Reese Alston, who is ranked among the nation’s top sophomore basketball players. “Everyone who comes to watch us play is aware of Reese’s extreme talent, but his leadership along with the leadership of our other captains Shia Francis, Maverick Manginello, and Will Goolsby is what really drives this team,” said Land.

With an 18-2 record entering district play, the Eagles owned a number one state ranking while in pursuit of a second straight state championship. “We had great leadership from our guys last season and it’s carried over to this year’s team,” said Land. “Our players have been driven all season long.”

Nia Thomas, Layne Lyda, Ezra Boulware, Ashwin Kapoor, Ryan Mills

FAB FIVE It was a super signing day for a five-some of gymnasts from the Houston Gymnastics Center including (pictured, from left) Nia Thomas (University of California, Berkeley), Layne Lyda (Baylor University), Ezra Boulware (West Point), Ashwin Kapoor (Greenville University), and Ryan Mills (West Point).

It was a remarkable National Signing Day for the Houston Gymnastics Center at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center with five of its long-time gymnasts officially committing to compete at the highest level of collegiate gymnastics.

The fivesome include Nia Thomas (University of California, Berkeley), Layne Lyda (Baylor University), Ashwin Kapoor (Greenville University), Ezra Boulware (West Point), and Ryan Mills (West Point).

“It’s definitely unique to have someone from your program sign on to compete at the collegiate level, but to have five athletes from one program do so is especially impressive. Not many gymnastics programs in the entire nation can claim to have this many of its athletes sign on to these prestigious type of universities,” said Houston Gymnastics Center director and head girls coach Adam Benas.

“Nia and Layne have been with our program since they were about 10 years old. They’re both amazingly talented athletes. Nia is a sensational performer who excels in all four gymnastics events. Layne will actually compete in the sport of Acrobatics and Tumbling at Baylor, which is kind of a hybrid of gymnastics and cheerleading.”

“Our guys are also truly amazing athletes and great people who’ve put forth an incredible sacrifice to reach this level in gymnastics,” added Benas. “It takes a great amount of determination, compromise, and sacrifice to compete and succeed in this sport. We’re in the gym four to five hours a day and as much as six hours a day in the summer months. Gymnastics pretty much requires a family and lifetime commitment.”

Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and Monday-Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email [email protected].