ScotSports.com Blog

The time has been set, and there is a location change since our last blog post regarding HP's bi-district playoff match against McKinney North.

The Scots (30-11, 12-2) open the playoffs at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Plano Senior High School against McKinney North. Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for students. Plano SHS is at the corner of Park Blvd. and Independence Pkwy.

HP enters the playoffs on a five-game win streak, each of them sweeps over district opponents.

Coming on the heels of last night's sweep of Greenville, the HP volleyball team (30-11, 12-2) now knows where its playoff run will begin. The Scots will face McKinney North (9-5, 23-12) in a bi-district playoff next Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Plano West. The time has not been set. McKinney North was the third-place team in District 9-4A and has won four of its last five matches, losing only to state-ranked Frisco Liberty.

HP enters the playoffs on a five-game win streak, each of them a sweep, including its 25-11, 25-12, 25-14 win Tuesday against Greenville. 

The HP girls basketball team holds its first scrimmages on Saturday, meaning the regular season is just around the corner. The Lady Scots, a playoff team last year, play a tough non-district schedule this season that includes hosting the Lady Scot Classic again from Nov. 19-21. The tournament has a seven-team field, with HP not playing in the first round, after The Covenant School pulled out recently.

Here's the revised tournament schedule - all times are p.m.:

Opening round, Thu., Nov. 19
4:30 - Terrell vs. Fort Worth THESA
6 - Hockaday vs. W.T. White
7:30 - McKinney North vs. Trinity Christian-Addison

Second rounds, Fri., Nov. 20
3 - McKinney North/TCA winner vs. Terrell/FW THESA winner
4:30 - McKinney North/TCA loser vs. Terrell/FW THESA loser
6 - HP vs. Hockaday/W.T. White winner

Final rounds, Sat., Nov. 21
12:30 - Consolation final
3:30 - Third-place game
5 - Championship game

The 46th annual Scot Classic, one of the longest continuously-running basketball tournaments in the state, starts up Nov. 19-21 at Highlander Fieldhouse. The same eight-team field from last year has committed to return. The schedule is below, and all times listed are p.m. unless otherwise noted:

Opening rounds on Thu., Nov. 19
3 - Ennis vs. Austin S.F. Austin
4:30 - Lake Highlands vs. Midlothian
6 - Trinity Christian-Addison vs. Flower Mound
7:30 - HP vs. St. Mark's

Second rounds, Fri., Nov. 20
4:30 - Lake Highlands/Midlothian winner vs. TCA/Flower Mound winner
6 - Lake Highlands/Midlothian loser vs. TCA/Flower Mound loser
7:30 - HP vs. St. Mark's loser vs. Ennis/S.F. Austin loser
7:30 - HP vs. St. Mark's winner vs. Ennis/S.F. Austin winner

Final rounds, Sat., Nov. 21
11 a.m. - Seventh-place game
12:30 - Consolation championship
2 - Third-place game
6:30 - Championship game

ROYSE CITY - Scoring the district match results for HP this season is as simple as it gets. In the Scots' 10-4A opener, they gave up a set to Rockwall. But past that, every match has been a sweep - 11 for the Scots, 2 against them.

That trend continued Friday night in Royse City as the Scots rolled to another three-set sweep to move to 11-2 in district and 29-11 on the season. The Scots can earn another 30-win season on Tuesday against Greenville, which is also the close of the regular season.

HP has clinched the second playoff seed out of District 10-4A, and will play either McKinney North (22-12, 8-5) or Frisco Wakeland (22-17, 8-5) in the bi-district playoffs that begin in 10 days.

Yes, the playoffs are still four weeks away. And yes, there is still a bunch of football to be played. But, if you're wondering, and I know you are because some of you stopped me after the game and asked me about potential playoff pairings, the list below is how the Region II-4A bracket would lay out if the season ended following Friday's games. HP would have a rematch against Frisco Liberty (4-3, 3-1) in the bi-district playoffs, and then play either South Oak Cliff (5-2, 3-1), Samuell (4-2, 2-1) or Bryan Adams (3-4, 2-1) in the second round with a win.

The pairings as of the end of Friday:

DIVISION I PLAYOFFS
Sherman (6-1, 4-0) vs. Carr. Smith (5-2, 3-1)
Carter (5-2, 4-0) vs. Samuell (4-2, 2-1) or B. Adams (3-4, 2-1)
Longview (7-1, 4-0) vs. Kilgore (3-4, 1-1) or Whitehouse (1-6, 1-1)
Red Oak (6-2, 4-0) vs. Waco Midway (6-1, 3-1)

Frisco Liberty (4-3, 3-1) vs. HP (6-1, 4-0)
South Oak Cliff (5-2, 3-1) vs. Samuell (4-2, 2-1) or B. Adams (3-4, 2-1)
Texarkana Texas (4-2, 2-1) vs. Kilgore (3-4, 1-1) or Whitehouse (1-6, 1-1)
Forney (4-3, 2-1) vs. Waxahachie (7-0, 4-0)

DIVISION II PLAYOFFS
Denison (6-1, 4-0) vs. Rich. Pearce (5-2, 3-1) or Rockwall-Heath (5-2, 3-1)
Pinkston (5-2, 4-0) vs. Lincoln (7-1, 4-0) or W. Wilson (4-3, 3-0)
Marshall (4-3, 2-1) or Hallsville (3-4, 2-1) vs. Lindale (3-4, 1-1)
West Mesquite (5-3, 3-1) vs. Waco University (4-3, 2-2)

Frisco Wakeland (5-2, 2-2) vs. Rich. Pearce (5-2, 3-1) or Rockwall-Heath (5-2, 3-1)
Adamson (2-5, 1-3) vs. Lincoln (7-1, 4-0) or W. Wilson (4-3, 3-0)
Marshall (4-3, 2-1) or Hallsville (3-4, 2-1) vs. Henderson (5-2, 2-0)
Terrell (5-2, 1-2) vs. Ennis (4-3, 2-2)

The HP football coaches were savvy enough to schedule an additional football game for the freshmen on Thursday. Bishop Lynch will come in to play the HP Freshman Blue team. So correcting an earlier blog post, there will now be two games at Highlander on Thursday.

5:30 p.m. - HP Freshman Blue vs. Bishop Lynch
7 p.m. - HP Freshman Gold vs. Carrollton Turner

Denton Ryan's loss to Lake Dallas last Thursday was HP's gain in the state rankings. The Scots are up to No. 6 with 104 points. Austin Lake Travis stayed in the top spot with 23 of the 25 first-place votes. Lake Dallas moved into the poll with its upset and is at No. 10, but with fewer votes (21) than there are voters (25).

Parity reigns in Class 4A - there are 21 teams receiving votes in this week's poll, right at 10 percent of the state's 216 Class 4A schools. This week's poll:

Others receiving votes: Corpus Christi Calallen 18, Denton Ryan 14, Aledo 12, Port Neches-Grove 12, Brenham 10, North Richland Hills 5, Denison 4, Everman 3, Beaumont Central 2, Texarkana Texas 1, Sulphur Springs 1. 

The volleyball team can take another step toward the playoffs tonight when they play at Rockwall-Heath. HP (7-2, 25-11) is ramping up for the postseason, and could clinch a playoff berth by the end of the week with two wins.

The Scots have always recovered well and quickly, and they'll need to tonight against fourth-place Rockwall-Heath. HP lost a disappointing match to Richardson Pearce last Friday, giving away too many points with their own errors rather than falling prey to Pearce's might. Pearce is the top-ranked team in Class 4A for a reason, of course.

Match time is around 6:30 p.m. at Rockwall-Heath. HP returns home Friday for a match against Carrollton Turner.