12/16/2005
By GEOFF AJDUKOVICH, Staff writer

PLANO - All three Plano ISD schools have one final tune up before district play begins.

Sort of.

Plano, Plano East and Plano West play tonight before the District 8-5A schedule kicks off Tuesday when Plano East visits Allen. However, that will be the last game the teams play before the holidays.

When they return each school still has one final tournament on their schedule before the district portion gets into full swing.

"It's actually not that bad," Plano coach Tom Inman said. "We get to take a week off of practice and take some time to look at film and correct mistakes."

Plano (7-5) is ranked No. 19 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 5A state poll. The Wildcats travel to Jesuit Prep (4-7) at 7:30 p.m. today. Plano East (8-1) hosts Garland Naaman Forest at 7:30 p.m. today at Archie E. McAfee Gymnasium, and Plano West (9-2) travels to Duncanville (9-4) for a 6 p.m. tip off.

Plano is looking to snap a three-game losing streak. The Wildcats have not won since Dec. 3 when they captured the Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD Tournament.

Plano played a trio of state ranked teams and lost to Arlington Bowie, Seagoville and Dallas Lincoln. However, they are playing without Texas A&M-signee Joseph Fulce. Fulce is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after minor knee surgery.

"We'll miss his rebounding for sure because he does that so well," Inman said. "But we'll welcome him back when he returns. He'll be much more comfortable because he's been playing in some pain."

Fulce is not scheduled to play in Plano's district opener at Plano West Wednesday. There is hope he will return by Jan. 3.

Fulce leads Plano with more than eight rebounds per game. He also averages 15 points per contest. John Roberson leads the Wildcats with more than 19 points and more than eight assists per game.

Jesuit broke a four-game losing streak with a 59-54 win over Irving in their last outing. Justin Reilly averages 14.0 points per game, and Nick Tuszynski scores 9.6 per contest. However, defense is where Jesuit tends to struggle. Opponents are averaging less than 60 points per game.

Plano East rides a three-game winning streak into tonight's game against Naaman Forest. Former Plano East standout Jeff Clarkson is now the coach at Naaman Forest, and there are sure to be some mixed emotions at the start of the game.

The Panthers' coaching staff is happy with the performance of its underclassmen, and they are optimistic about the near future. A quartet of sophomores has emerged and could become a special class for Plano East. Kevin Smith, Anthony Hill, John West, Quincy Diggs and Mike Uwaga have a ton of upside.

Naaman Forest saw its two-game winning streak snapped with a 62-59 loss to Carrollton Ranchview.

However, Naaman Forest does have extensive experience with District 8-5A foes. They beat Allen, 59-56, and lost to Flower Mound Marcus, 62-48, and Plano 68-37.

Plano West has won four of its last five games and appears to be jelling at the right time. Duncanville is ranked No. 14 in the TABC 5A poll, so they should be another good test for the Wolves. Plano West showed well in their only other game against a top ranked team, falling to Cedar Hill, 76-73.

Duncanville has lost two of its last three games, including a 56-55 loss to Irving on a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Duncanville has lost twice to state-ranked Richardson Berkner, but the Panthers did beat Plano, 65-56, on Nov. 22. Duncanville also topped Allen in a previous meeting, 90-53.