Tomball Memorials’ Lady Wildcat basketball team defeated Klein Oak 51-41 Monday night, notching their 50th win in the last 2 seasons, giving them a stellar 50-8 overall record and 22-2 district record in that timespan. The skill of the girls in this program is something one could go on about for quite some time, and it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, when taking the effort Head Coach Tarence Davis and his team put in every single practice. Coach Davis’ skill as a basketball coach is a pretty known phenomena, but his coin-flipping magic is mind-boggling.

Yes, you heard that right, coin flipping.

After the Wildcats flipped the script from a 7-9 district campaign in 2020, they went 11-1 in the 2021 post-covid season, but whether they won district all came down to UIL Rules. UIL rules state that the district tiebreak is whoever has the best head-to-head record, but in this particular scenario, Klein Oak was 11-1 and went 1-1 against the Lady Wildcats. Then, the next tiebreaker is record against common opponents, but obviously if both teams are 11-1 and their losses are against each other, then they are both undefeated in that regard. After all that, a coin flip comes to play. Coach Davis called tails, and the Wildcats won district and used their 1st-seeded placement to their advantage and made it all the way to Round 3 in the UIL State playoffs.

This year, the Wildcats placement in the UIL State playoff bracket and district title rested on the same laurels. A coin flip, this time against Klein Collins, in virtually an identical scenario to 2021. Coach Davis called tails, and the Wildcats secured the district title and the top seed in the UIL State Playoffs and secured a neutral-site opening round matchup against Cy Lakes.

The flipping does not end there either. Prior to this year’s Playoff Opener against Cy Lakes, there was a quarrel between the Wildcats and Cy Lakes on what brand of basketball they would be using in their matchup. The Wildcats are proponents of Wilson balls, while Cy Lakes wanted to use Spalding balls, and comfortability plays a huge factor in winning a basketball game. So to settle which team would get to choose the game ball, the matter was again, settled on a coin flip. Coach Davis, yet again, called tails and the Wildcats got to use their Wilson basketballs. The Wildcats went on to win that game 47-39 and advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

There’s an old saying that “sometimes you’d rather be lucky than good” but this Lady Wildcat basketball program is both, and they are rolling. They are averaging 52 points per game and allowing just 37, and they await to take the court against Oak Ridge tonight. Last year the Wildcats fell in the third round of the playoffs, and they are looking to avenge that loss and give the class of ’22 a finale to be remembered. Whether they do that is to be determined, but it’s not far fetched to say that I like their odds if anything comes down to a coin flip.