Duncanville (Texas) established itself as the best team in high school basketball this season with big victories on a national stage, including a third consecutive Class 6A state championship. The Panthers are the 2021-22 MaxPreps National Champions after finishing No. 1 in the final MaxPreps Top 25 rankings.
The 35-1 Panthers built a powerful resume with wins over No. 2 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) and National Top 20 No. 1 Montverde Academy (Fla.). Additional out-of-state victories over Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), Utah Class 6A state champion American Fork and Louisiana state champions Carver Collegiate Academy (New Orleans) and Zachary bolster their claim as the top team in the country.
Panthers went 35-1, captured Texas Class 6A title and notched big wins over Centennial and Montverde Academy.
Duncanville also dominated in-state action with wins over Shadow Creek (Pearland), Lancaster, Kimball (Dallas), Martin (Arlington) and Mansfield Timberview (Arlington) during regular season play.
Despite the daunting schedule, Duncanville outscored opponents by an average margin of 23.6 points per contest this season, including postseason play.
During its state title run, Duncanville dispatched Garland 61-38 in the quarterfinals, knocked off Atascocita (Humble) 50-36 in the semifinals and handled McKinney 69-49 in the title game.
In a dramatic turnaround, Duncanville recovered from a 30-10 deficit in the state semifinals before winning by 14. Using in-your-face defense and constant substitutions, Duncanville kept fresh bodies on Atascocita and held the Eagles to four second-half points, finishing the game on a 40-6 run over the final 20-plus minutes of game action.
The Panthers are 125-14 under head coach David Peavy over the last four seasons and have finished ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25 each season, including No. 6 in 2020-21 after posting a 29-1 mark.
Duncanville becomes the first team since Wheatley (Houston) from 1968-1970 to win three consecutive titles in the Lone Star State's highest classification. The Panthers also reached the semifinal round in 2020 and were favored to capture the title prior to the season's abrupt end due to the pandemic.
Junior forward Ronald Holland, who averaged 15.9 points to go along with 7.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists, led a balanced attack with five players averaging eight or more points per game. Arkansas signee Anthony Black (13.5 points, 5.8 rebounds. 4.0 assists), under-the-radar junior Aric Demings (11 points), top 150 junior Ashton Hardaway (10 points) and Texas State pledge Davion Sykes (8.7 points, 4.9 rebounds) each played crucial roles in the championship run.
Source: MaxPreps
