It could be a wild race to the finish for most of the teams in District 1, but every team knows who leads right now. Both Hickory Creek teams, powered by high-scoring guards and stifling defenses, have the upper hand going into the final week.

The Hawks and Lady Hawks are both a perfect 6-0 after two more dominating wins last week. The Hickory Creek boys smashed Bobby Ray 40-6 and edged West Elementary 32-19 behind a huge game from Aiden van Vuuren, while the Lady Hawks stayed unbeaten by beating Bobby Ray 31-13 and West 40-6.

The Hickory Creek boys, by virtue of having a two-game lead over Irving College with two games to go, can do no worse than a tie for first in the regular season now. The Hawks need just one win in their last two games to clinch the regular season championship outright. 

Stopping the Hawks won’t be easy if van Vuuren keeps lighting up the scoreboard. The shifty guard has been a scoring machine of late, outscoring West on his own with a 22-point night last week. He also had 19 points when Hickory Creek smashed Bobby Ray, making him the league’s top scorer. 

Before Irving College even thinks about slowing down van Vuuren and the high-scoring Hawks, the Tigers would need some help to make a run to the top by the start of the D-1 tournament. Along with needing to win the final matchup this Friday with Hickory Creek, Irving College would need Boyd (currently 3-3 and in third place) to beat Hickory Creek this Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Boyd has its own key matchup Monday when it takes on West Elementary with third place potentially on the line. The Wizards will enter the matchup with some momentum after beating Irving College 25-20 last week. West (2-4) has found its go-to scorer in the form of Ryder Hobbs, a big and burly scorer who finished with 11 points against the Tigers.

The Bobby Ray Stars, currently 0-6, will face West and Irving College this week as they try to secure their first victory.

On the girls side, the Lady Hawks have an important showdown with Irving College this Friday, Nov. 11. Irving College is right on Hickory Creek’s heels at 5-1 after beating West 32-4 last Tuesday and gave the Lady Hawks their closest battle yet last month.

The Hickory Creek girls have won six games by an average margin of 26 points this season (including a 42-0 rout of Boyd on opening night), but it was a nip-and-tuck game when they faced Irving College on Oct. 18 and ultimately prevailed 31-21. The Lady Tigers have won three straight since that matchup and will have a must-win game with Bobby Ray this Thursday if the squad wants to make the meeting with Hickory Friday into a battle for a piece of the regular-season championship.

Irving College has been steadily relying on the 1-2 punch of Zara Laxson and Emma Lyle to take down their District 1 rivals. Laxson finished with 14 points in last week’s win against West, while Lyle netted 12 points.

Hickory Creek, on the other hand, has the league’s top scorer, Kinsley Simpson. Teams are going out of their way to try to slow Simpson down, like Bobby Ray putting two defenders on her at all times in last week’s contest, but she’s still finding ways to score.

Simpson had 35 combined points in last week’s two victories, giving her double-figure outings in all six of Hickory Creek’s contests this season.

Bobby Ray has an outside shot at catching Irving College for the second spot in the girls standings if the Lady Stars can beat West Tuesday and win a rematch with the Lady Tigers Thursday. Bobby Ray lost to Irving College 18-9 on opening night back in October, but the Lady Stars are coming off a 36-1 victory over Boyd where Christy Farmer showed out with 18 points. 

West (1-5) currently holds fourth place in the girls standings, while Boyd (0-6) will take on West and Irving College this week as it still searches for its first win.

Hickory Creek 31

Bobby Ray 13

Lady Hawk scoring – Kinsley Simpson 17, Hailey Geesling 6, LB Guthrie 4, Kameron Campbell 2, Kaydence Light 2

Lady Star scoring - Harmony Potette 7, Maddie Bryant 2, Christy Farmer 2, Faelynn Neilson 2

Irving College 32

West 4

Lady Tiger scoring – Zara Laxson 14, Emma Lyle 12, Savannah Fults 2, Rhyleigh Webb 2, Samantha Emberton 2

Lady Wizard scoring – Avani Fults 2, Lyla Collier 2

Bobby Ray 36

Boyd 1

Lady Star scoring – Christy Farmer 18, Maddie Bryant 8, Harmony Potette 8, Clara Martin 2

Lady Bronco scoring – Riley Turner 1

Hickory Creek 40

West 6

Lady Hawk scoring – Kinsley Simpson 18, LB Guthrie 8, Anna Templeton 6, Hailey Geesling 4, Maebry Yates 2, Kaydence Light 2

Lady Star scoring – Avani Fults 2, Ava Gore 2, Serenity Martin 2

Hickory Creek 40

Bobby Ray 6

Hawk scoring – Aiden van Vuuren 19, Liam Warden 8, Gage Woodlee 8, Colton Todd 4, Brody Chisam 1 

Star scoring – Waylon Duggin 6

West 25

Irving College 20 

Wizard scoring – Ryder Hobbs 11, Timothy Blakely 5, Wyatt Elkins 5, Luke Mara 4

Tiger scoring – Eastlan Green 10, Mikey Fults 6, Nicolas Castaneda 3, Dakota Lockemy 1

Boyd 31

Bobby Ray 16

Bronco scoring – Clayton Keele 12, Justin Spry 11, Ryder Reid 6, Peyton Huntley 2

Star scoring – Waylon Duggin 6, Adair Holguin 4, Shiloh White 4, Syler Hodges 2

Hickory Creek 32

West 19

Hawk scoring – Aiden van Vuuren 22, Case Simpson 6, Liam Warden 4

Wizard scoring – Timothy Blakely 7, Luke Mara 4, Allen Snider 4, Brantley Russell 2, Ryder Hobbs 2