One of the best boys basketball teams in the state happens to be in TAPPS.
At 16–1, Parish Episcopal has challenged the state’s boys hoops power structure with numerous marquee wins over top UIL programs.
Private school Parish, which won the TAPPS 6A state championship last season, boasts victories over state-ranked public school teams in Kimball, Denton Guyer, Lake Highlands, DeSoto and others.
“In basketball and all sports, the level of play has increased across the board and there’s more parity. Any school has an opportunity to compete if they have the right group of young men or young women,” Parish coach Ahmad Ajami said. “From a private school perspective, we’re real fortunate because we have a good group this year.”
The roster includes junior twins Armon and Antoine Almuttar, along with junior Hudson Lucas, senior Torrey Mitchell and other returners from last season.
Ranked third in Texas by MaxPreps, Parish’s only loss this season came to Missouri prep school Link Academy. Link boasts some of the nation’s top boys basketball recruits and was a training ground for Dallas-area products such as Tre Johnson, now at Texas, and Jordan Walsh, who won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics last season.
Parish lost 54-37 to Link during Thanksgiving Hoopfest. It was a 4-point game at halftime.
Right before the start of the fourth quarter, Ajami said Parish was on the wrong end of a questionable call that handed Link a 3-point opportunity and extended its lead to seven.
Then, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, one of Parish’s star players went out with an injury.
“It just sort of took the sails out of us,” Ajami said. “The game was closer than the score indicated. Now, all the respect in the world to link, but we left that game knowing that we left an opportunity on the table.”
Ajami said Parish is trying to become the first TAPPS 6A boys basketball program to win back-to-back state titles. The team hopes to dominate the private school circuit, but Ajami said the program is up for any challenge.
“I’m enjoying watching the parity and I hope that people embrace it because I think it’s great for high school basketball and I think it’s great for Texas basketball,” Ajami said.
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