Episcopal girls to host Kinkaid Tuesday

Three Houston-area girls basketball teams — Episcopal, Kinkaid and St. John's – could be in the title hunt at the Southwest Preparatory Conference Winter Championships in Houston later this month.

St. John's was last year's losing SPC finalist, but Episcopal and Kinkaid are having stellar seasons and are battling the Mavericks for South Zone supremacy.

The much-improved Knights will host the always competitive Falcons on Tuesday night at Crum Gym.

ABOUT THE GAME

• Matchup: Episcopal Knights at Kinkaid Falcons

• When: 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 1

• Where: Crum Gym, Episcopal

• What's at stake: Both teams are fighting to finish among the top four in the South Zone, a requirement to qualify for the SPC's upper division.

• Kinkaid players to watch: G/F Chinna O'Suji, F Lailee Taghdisi, G Brecca Thomas, W Sloan Childress, G Carly Gray, F Allison Bolin, G Katherine Sullivan, G Maddie Holmes, G Kate McMillan.

• Episcopal players to watch: G Alex Burroughs, G Heidi Sihvola, G Bria Goodman, G Deandra Breen, G Dasia Batiste, P Annie Murchison, P Shannon Swisher, G Alysia Anderson.

TEAM HIGHLIGHTS

• Kinkaid: The Falcons stayed on a roll, dominating HCYA 63-47 before putting the clamps on John Cooper in a 56-10 win. Thomas and O'Suji tallied 22 and 21 points, respectively, in the first game. Against John Cooper, Kinkaid relied on a stingy defense.

• Episcopal: The Knights had a disappointing week, dropping a heartbreaker to Tomball Rosehill Christian 57-56 and falling to conference rival St. John's 45-42. Burroughs powers a deep guard rotation that might be the best in the SPC.