Mother Nature did her best to bring the high school basketball season to a standstill, sending a winter storm that put most Big Country teams on the shelf for a week. But the action around that unexpected break gives us plenty to talk about in this week’s look at the area boys basketball scene.
With a number of excellent (and meaningful) games last week and some big matchups slated for the next few days, the area district races remain as intriguing as ever.
Let’s go ahead now and take a look at the biggest games the area slate has to offer this week and some of the outcomes last week that helped shape the weeks to come.
You have to appreciate a player who can contribute big numbers in several different ways. And in the case of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, such players have an advantage when it comes to taking down our weekly award. 
Ysée Le Borgne may feel like a fish out of water living in Ballinger, Texas. After all, the 16-year-old foreign exchange student and native of Lille, France is more than 5,000 miles and (needless to say), a major cultural shift away from her hometown. 
There are memorable shooting nights. Then there are shooting nights one is unlikely to ever forget.
Nobody played a tougher schedule over the holidays than the Wall boys. And nobody had a bigger impact on their successful run through a brutal five-game stretch than 6-foot-7 big man Paxton Brake who takes our first Big Country Preps Player of the Week for 2026.
JIM NED (11-1) VS. PARADISE (11-1)
Cisco 56, Olney 24 — Colby MciLroy threw for 143 yards and two TDs and Cody Gayle rushed for 96 yards and another score to help Cisco (9-1, 5-0) to a lopsided win over Olney.
Cisco 35, Anson 14 — Colby McIlroy rushed for 169 yards and one score and threw for 95 yards and another TD to lift Cisco to a district-clinching win over Anson. 
The Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak with a lopsided win at home over the Cubs. 
Stamford 28, Anson 21 — Stamford entered this game as an underdog in the view of many, but left as the victor after forcing four Anson turnovers. 
Hawley 32, Anson 26 — Aiden Romo threw for 214 yards and four scores to lead Hawley (4-2, 1-0) to a huge win over previously unbeaten Anson in the district opener for both clubs. 
CISCO — Entering Friday’s district opener with an explosive Stamford team, the Cisco Loboes knew they would have to control the football and keep the SHS offense off of the field to win. 
Cisco 65, Frenship Memorial 13 — The Loboes rolled up 500 yards in total offense including 321 on the ground in a lopsided win over Memorial. 
Anson 26, Haskell 8 — Hunter Teichelman threw or 260 yards and two TDs and Levi Diaz rushed for 86 yards and two more scores to lead Anson (4-0). 
Hawley 51, Merkel 34 — This was projected to be a shootout and those in attendance were treated to exactly that. 
Stamford 33, De Leon 20 — Trailing 20-14 at the end of three quarters, Stamford rallied with 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat the Bearcats.
Anson 49, Hamlin 6 — The Tigers rolled up 431 yards in total offense, including 377 yards through the air to hand Hamlin a lopsided loss. 
CISCO — While an 8-5 record and a push three rounds deep into the playoffs is reason to celebrate at most schools, the bar has been set so high at Cisco over the last 20 years, that CHS fans weren’t exactly turning handsprings last season. 
As our tradition dictates, we close the books on our Big Country Preps Player of the Week on the first Monday following the UIL State Track and Field Championships in Austin. 
