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It’s nice when several guys are honored from your team in the All-District selections, but it’s real nice when all will return for another season.

Matthew Ratliff has been named second-team, All-District, 8-3A, while Aaron Francis and Sterling Jameson earned honorable mention. Only six players made the first squad, and five emerged from champion Liberty Hill and runner-up Burnet.

“Matthew was a big part of our offense,” head coach Shannon Taylor said of the 6’4”, 275-pound junior. “People adjusted their defense for him. He dictated what other teams did to us. He’s a good rebounder who’ll get better.”

Ratliff made huge strides under the glass, as the boys around him tried to get him the ball, so he could convert the pass into two points. The majority of the time he was awfully smooth, but that percentage should rise significantly in 2010-11. Matthew averaged more than 11 points a game, which led the team, and he pulled down 5.3 rebounds a night—second to Jameson’s 5.6. Ratliff will also get better utilizing his teammates’ offense when he’s double-and-triple-teamed.

“Sterling’s a very good athlete, probably our best athlete,” Taylor declared. “He’s capable of scoring and collecting the missed shots. He provided a lot of energy for the team.” Jameson, a junior, scored 8.9 points a contest in his first big year of varsity action. “His scoring wasn’t as high in district as in predistrict,” the coach advised, “but we think this will change next year.”

Aaron Francis doesn’t have the size of the two guys mentioned so far, and he doesn’t have their age, either. He led Llano with 39 three-point field goals in his sophomore campaign.

“He had 13 threes in eight district games,” Taylor advised, “and a lot of opponents used their defense to take him away as the shooter.” There’s a lot of pressure on Francis to come through with threes when a flurry of points are needed, and, “He’ll handle that pressure fine next season if our guard play improves, and we can get another long-distance threat on the opposite side of Aaron.”

Francis nailed three threes in each game against Burnet and Liberty Hill in the first round of play and four vs. Rouse, February 9. He totaled 14 points in that 55-37 win over the Raiders, one of the biggest victories of the season.

The Other Guys

Michael Farace, a Liberty Hill senior, was named Most Valuable Player in 8-3A. I’d watch the box scores the next two years to see how Matthew Martinez does. The 6’2” Rouse sophomore is the Offensive Player of the Year. He stuck 24 on the Jackets twice. Senior Stewart Berg, who can also score some points, is the top man on defense for the league, while Burnet teammate, sophomore Grant Cole, is the Newcomer of the Year.

The coaches did all the voting. There were no run-offs. When I tried to disagree with a selection or two, one said, “Don’t Mess with us.”

Liberty’s Fall from the Hill

The Panthers, who won 30 games, got none of those in the playoffs, losing in the area round to Wichita Falls Hirschi 72-58. “They lack an inside game,” Taylor disclosed concerning the Purple and Gold, “and their inside players score off steals from their press. Hirschi broke the press and didn’t allow easy baskets. Liberty Hill turned to shooting threes, but that didn’t get the job done.”

Trivia: The Panther football and boys basketball teams won nothing in the postseason.

Llano in 2010-2011

“We should be a lot better, having four or five seniors providing leadership,” Taylor observed.

“The district is one that will be tough, but we can compete in it.” The lineup: Burnet, Liberty Hill, Lampasas, Salado, and Taylor.

“Our junior varsity had a good year, and we want some kids who can be a third, fourth, and fifth hope getting us points.

“Layne Sprey did a real good job for us, and I’m looking forward to seeing him progress, and Matthew Center, just a freshman, will be a player with more skills. He should provide us with another big punch.

“Our whole system is geared to becoming more consistent. Consistency is the reason we did not make the playoffs.”