Cooper High School

The Abilene High and Cooper girls’ basketball teams have started district 4-5A basketball action, and the two boys’ teams will begin district play tonight.

Additionally, the boys’ and girls’ soccer seasons are underway, and the baseball and softball teams have either begun (softball) or will soon begin (baseball) practice. The regular seasons start next month.

Here’s a look at where each team stands at this point in their respective seasons:

Abilene High Girls’ Basketball (14-12 overall, 2-0 in District 4-5A)
The Lady Eagles are 2-0 and tied with Wylie atop the district going into tomorrow’s home game against Wichita Falls Legacy. The Lady Eagles are 14-12 overall under first-year head coach Alonzo Franklin and knocked off Cooper, 52-44, Tuesday night in their last outing.

Samia Cooper scored 13 points, and Emily Jordan added eight for the Lady Eagles, who led 42-26 at the end of three quarters and by as many as 20 points early in the fourth quarter before the Lady Cougars made a late charge to reduce the final margin to eight points.

The Lady Eagles will host Legacy at 1 p.m. Saturday in a game moved from Friday because of unsafe road conditions between Abilene and Wichita Falls.

A win by Abilene High over Legacy would push the Lady Eagles to 3-0 in district play. A win would set up another crosstown showdown on Tuesday against Wylie (21-5 and 2-0) at 6 p.m. at Bulldog Gym.

Cooper Girls’ Basketball (1-24, 0-2)
The Lady Cougars played some of their best basketball of the season in the fourth quarter Tuesday night in a 52-44 loss to Abilene High. Cooper trailed by as many as 20 points early in the fourth quarter before rallying to cut the final deficit to eight points. Cooper outscored the Lady Eagles 18-10 in the final eight minutes.

Amiya Mayes led all scorers with 19 points, and Alliyah Ralston had 14 for the Lady Cougars, who are back in action Saturday at Wichita Falls Memorial (8-6 and 0-1) at 1 p.m. The game was initially scheduled for Friday but was re-scheduled for Saturday because of unsafe road conditions between Abilene and Wichita Falls.

Abilene High Boys’ Basketball (15-9, 0-0)
The Eagles are 1-3 in their last four games entering district play, including a 58-43 loss at Midland Legacy on Monday. The Eagles will open District 4-5A play tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. when they host Wichita Falls Legacy (11-7 and 0-0) at Eagle Gym. The game was initially scheduled for Friday night but was moved because of unsafe road conditions between Abilene and Wichita Falls.

After Saturday’s game against Legacy, Abilene High will be at Wylie at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a battle between two early-season contenders for the district championship.

Cooper Boys’ Basketball (8-10, 0-0)
The Cougars are coming off back-to-back victories against Levelland (55-47) and Graham (54-46). They head into tomorrow’s game at Wichita Falls Memorial, which marks the District 4-5A opener for both teams.

The Cougars now stand at 8-10 for the season after securing victory in three of their last four games. Their only loss during this period was a competitive 55-45 defeat to Midland Legacy on Dec. 20.

In the victory over Graham on Jan. 3, Jabari Collier-Gard led the Coogs with 22 points, while T.J. Harrell scored 11 and Aiden Shepard contributed seven off the bench. In the Dec. 31 win against Levelland, Collier-Gard recorded 23 points, while Dylan Josselet and Tayden Bender each had 10.

SOCCER
Cooper Girls (3-0-1)
Second-year head coach Alejandro Chavez has the Lady Cougars off to a hot start, including the championship at the AISD Tournament earlier this month.

The Lady Coogs started the tournament on Jan. 2 with a 9-1 win over Plainview and followed that with an 8-0 win over Big Spring on Jan. 3. They tied Amarillo Tascosa, 0-0, on Jan. 4 before ending regulation and overtime against El Paso Chapin, tied at 1-1 in the championship match. Cooper won the tournament title with a 7-6 win over Chapin in the shootout.

Cooper canceled three matches this weekend because of poor road conditions in the Metroplex but will play Temple at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Waco High School.

Abilene High Girls (1-3)
The Lady Eagles opened the season with a 5-0 win over Lubbock High in their first match of the AISD Tournament on Jan. 2. However, they lost their final two matches of the weekend, falling to Royse City, 1-0, and El Paso Chapin, 2-1.

The Lady Eagles were in Odessa earlier this week (Tuesday) and lost to Odessa Permian, 5-0.

Abilene High is off this weekend but will be busy next week with matches at Burleson (Tuesday, Jan. 14) and then three matches next weekend at the Duncanville Tournament: vs. Cedar Hill next Thursday at 7 p.m., at Duncanville next Friday at 7 p.m., and vs. Diamond Hill next Saturday at 12 p.m.

Abilene High Boys (2-2)
The Eagles are 2-2 but have outscored their opponents 20-4, thanks to an 8-0 win over Lake Worth and a 10-0 win over Big Spring in the AISD Tournament. Those two wins were sandwiched between a 1-0 loss to El Paso Montwood in the season opener and a 3-2 loss at Duncanville on Tuesday.

Abilene High canceled their Thursday night match vs. Irving Nimitz because of poor road conditions between Abilene and the Metroplex. Abilene High also canceled matches scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Keller because of the poor traveling conditions.

The Eagles will return to action on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Odessa Permian in Odessa. They will then play Mansfield Summit at 5 p.m. next Friday (Jan. 17) at the Shotwell Annex.

Cooper Boys (1-2)
The Cougars started the season with a 3-0 win over Killeen Harker Heights before losing 2-1 to El Paso Montwood in the AISD Tournament. In their last outing, Cooper lost 5- 0 to San Angelo Central on Tuesday night.

The Cougars were scheduled to play in the Aledo Tournament this weekend, but their three matches against Aledo, Eagle Mountain, and Snyder were canceled due to poor traveling conditions between Abilene and the Metroplex.

Cooper will return to the field next Tuesday (Jan. 14) against Brownwood at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood.