Tyler Legacy's KJ Cyres and Tyler's Raykell Ford. (Brandon Ogden/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

DUNCANVILLE — Several East Texas teams were a part of the 522 teams that ascended upon Duncanville, Mansfield and Arlington for the 2025 TABC Boys Basketball Showcase.

 

Tyler Legacy went 2-1 and placed third out of six teams in Pool JJJ, defeating Pflugerville Weiss (66-23) and El Paso Eastlake (43-35) before falling to Flower Mound Marcus (46-34) in the finale.

“All in all, we had a positive weekend,” Tyler Legacy head boys basketball coach Kyle Smith said. “We really came out and showed some things with a lot of unknowns; we only returned three guys. You see it locally and you see it at practice, but you just don’t know how it’s going to translate to the big stage. I think we showed that we’re going to belong, and we’re going to continue to get better throughout the course of the summer, into the fall and late in the season. I think we’re going to have a chance to be pretty good.”

The three returners for the Red Raiders are senior Gage Nuckolls and juniors Zyere Ceasar and KJ Cyres. That trio combined for 38 points as Ceasar put in 18 points, and Nuckolls and Cyres each had 10 points in the win over Pflugerville Weiss.

Cason Gray, a sophomore who will likely start the season as the starting quarterback for the Legacy football team, scored 8 points.

Derein Hollman, a sophomore newcomer who started as a freshman last season at Hawkins, scored 7 points for the Red Raiders.

Junior Bryson Sanders and sophomore JaCobian Mitchell each had 5 points for the Red Raiders.

Against El Paso Eastlake, Cyres led the way with 12 points — 10 in the second half. Ceasar scored 11 points. Nuckolls had 7 points. Gray put in 6 points. Sanders scored 5 points, and Mitchell added 2 points.

Against Flower Mound Marcus, Ceasar had 11 points. Cyres scored 9 points, Sanders 7, Nuckolls 5 and Kaden Thomas 2.

The Tyler Lions, who are returning just one varsity player — senior Jasyn Grayson, finished 1-2 in Pool RR. The Lions opened with a 62-57 setback to Aledo after outscoring Aledo 35-27 in the second half. Tyler bounced back Saturday night with a 52-25 rout of Granbury.

Tyler head boys basketball coach Justin Johnson said he noticed immediate growth from his young squad.

“That’s exactly what I saw,” Johnson said. “I’m seeing growth just from the last game. The guys came in, and we told them from the jump, make sure you get your rest and be ready and focused for this next game. Those guys came in right from the jump, put pressure on the team, and they started coughing the ball up. They did a great job on offense and defense, but we still have a lot of things to work on.”

Tyler closed the event with a 55-27 loss to El Paso El Dorado on Sunday.

In the loss to Aledo, sophomore Keylan Bircher scored 18 points — 14 in the second half. Grayson, not only the lone varsity returner but also the only Lion taller than 6-2 as he stands at 6-5, finished with 15 points and several rebounds. Freshman Jacob Harper added 7 points.

Against Granbury, junior Raykell Ford scored 12 points. Junior Ja’Michael Cook had 10 points. Bircher had 7 points, and Harper added 6 points.

Chapel Hill finished 2-1 in Pool HHHH. The Bulldogs opened with a 52-45 win over Houston St. Pius X on Saturday.

The Bulldogs began Sunday against Celina. Chapel Hill led 29-16 at halftime but then trailed 34-31 about midway through the second half. Leading 42-40 in the final seconds, Chapel Hill committed a foul on a half-court shot at the buzzer. Celina made the first two free throws to send the game to overtime.

Marquis Collins II gave Chapel Hill the lead in overtime, but Celina went back ahead late, and Chapel Hill’s go-ahead 3-point attempt at the buzzer was no good as Celina escaped with a 46-44 overtime victory.

Collins, a senior, led Chapel Hill with 18 points. Junior Anthony Smith scored 10 points. Senior Isiah Mayfield put in 9 points.

The Bulldogs closed the event with a 50-41 win over Ennis.

Bishop Gorman won Pool W by going 3-0. The Crusaders defeated Houston Milby (66-51), Ferris (58-55) and Carrollton Ranchview (43-40).

Beau Bender had 21 points and six rebounds against Milby; Jaylon Miles 14 points, five rebounds and five assists; EJ Coppock 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists; and Jack Coan 10 points and seven rebounds. Bender had 16 points against Ferris; Miles 14 points and four steals; Coppock 10 points and nine rebounds; and Jeremiah Fain 8 points. Bender had 16 points and six rebounds against Ranchview; Coppock 11 points and six rebounds; and Miles 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals.

Bullard went 1-2 in Pool P. The Panthers lost to Brazosport (70-44) and Dallas Lincoln (81-37) on Friday before defeating Argyle Liberty Christian (55-43) on Saturday.

Van went 0-3 in Pool SSS, falling to Katy Freeman (56-51), Gainsville (59-45) and Justin Northwest (52-44).

Hawkins went 0-3 in Pool VVV, losing to Waco Meyer (63-44), Farwell (51-14) and Lorena (56-40).

Jacksonville went 0-3 in Pool FFF, falling to Santa Fe (76-70), Burleson (46-35) and Frisco Independence (66-46). Against Burleson, Keanu Jackson had 11 points, and Ben Bolton scored 10 points.

Longview went 1-2 in Pool V, defeating Aldine Nimitz (40-39) and losing to Grand Prairie (45-18) and Iowa Colony (75-36).

Hallsville went 0-3 in Pool QQQ, falling to Lamar Fulshear (45-26), Keller Central (44-31) and Frisco (59-22). Against Keller Center, Jordan Stewart had 12 points, and Garrett Broomall scored 7 points.

Jefferson went 3-0 in Pool ZZZ, defeating Wall (47-44), Quinlan Ford (49-37) and Buffalo (57-33).

Palestine Westwood went 3-0 in Pool IIII, defeating Brenham (60-51), Brock (64-63) and Frisco Panther Creek (75-74).

Mount Pleasant went 2-1 in Pool BB, defeating Humble (52-45) and Houston Strake Jesuit (72-59) before falling to Clear Brook (42-36).

Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill went 1-2 in Pool JJ, defeating Holliday (44-36) and losing to East Chambers (68-48) and Canadian (53-42).

Texas High went 0-3 in Pool NNN, losing to Northwest Eaton (59-18), Tomball (58-37) and Cypress Creek (63-30).

Texarkana Liberty-Eylau went 1-2 in Pool DDD, defeating Onalaska (57-50) and losing to Paradise (68-67) and San Antonio Cole (52-51).

Lufkin won Pool T, going 3-0 with wins over Katy Jordan (66-61), Dallas Greenhill (51-43) and Frisco Memorial (71-50). Four-star recruit Austin Brown had 28 points against Jordan, 23 against Greenhill and then hit seven 3-pointers to score 30 points against Frisco Memorial. JaKevian Sanders had 14 points against Frisco Memorial.

Mabank and Hudson both went 1-2 in Pool EE. Mabank lost to Hudson (58-56) and Everman (58-42) before defeating Midland Greenwood (53-50). After defeating Mabank, Hudson lost to Eagle Mountain (48-27) and Everman (57-24).

Grapeland went 0-3 in Pool OOO, losing to Evadale (49-32), Bosqueville (61-56) and Pollok Central (59-44). Central lost its other two games to Palmer (49-35) and Salado (41-37).

Central Heights went 2-1 in Pool XX, defeating Hillsboro (63-23) and Bells (43-25) and losing to Tulia (49-43).

Wells went 3-0 in Pool GGGG, defeating Kirbyville (69-51), Coolidge (54-46) and Brookeland (53-52).

Sean Miller (Texas), Bucky McMillan (Texas A&M), Scott Drew (Baylor), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Jamie Dixon (TCU), Rick Barnes (Tennessee), Andy Enfield (SMU), Steve Forbes (Wake Forest), Ryan Odom (Virginia), Nico Medved (Minnesota), Joe Golding (UTEP), Jason Hooten (New Mexico State), Matt Braeuer (Stephen F. Austin) and Brette Tanner (Abilene Christian) were among the Division I head coaches in attendance with assistants from Purdue, Kentucky, Miami, Creighton, Arizona State and Tulsa also among the Division I programs watching. Former NBA players Jermaine O’Neal, Tyson Chandler and Josh Howard were also in attendance.