Sachse rising junior Abigail Leonard sprints to the finish line at the area 9-6A/10-6A meet at Wylie ISD Stadium. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media

By David Wolman

[email protected]

Another year has come and gone for student-athletes at Sachse High School.

It was a successful year in so many ways.

Here are the highlights from an incredible spring season for Sachse.

Three-peat for Mustang baseball team:

It was a battle until the end in District 9-6A with the top four teams being separated by just two games. 

Ultimately, Sachse, which went 14-2 in district play and 23-7-1 overall, prevailed. The Mustangs outlasted 13-3 Wylie, 13-3 Rowlett and 12-4 Wylie East to win their third consecutive district title.

An experienced team that returned 10 players with previous varsity experience, Sachse outscored its district opponents 114-17 and posted eight shutouts. 

Sachse was led by the play of District 9-6A MVP Zach Evans. The Ranger College signee hit .412 in 9-6A play with 16 RBIs and scored nine runs. On the mound, he didn’t allow a run in four appearances during district play and struck out 24.

The Mustangs weren’t able to translate that to postseason success. They lost a pair of one-run games to Rockwall in bi-district, falling by scores of 4-3 and 1-0.

Softball team extends playoff streak:

Two things have become synonymous with Sachse softball – winning and personal milestones for head coach Pete Vamvakas.

Vamvakas earned his 150^th career coaching win on March 11, when Sachse defeated North Garland 15-0.

One month later, he guided the Lady Mustangs to another playoff berth, but it didn’t come easy. They didn’t clinch their spot in the playoffs until the final week of the season. Sachse officially got in after Wylie East defeated Garland 1-0 on April 15. 

A big reason why Sachse made the playoffs was the right arm of alumna pitcher Logan Schultz. Named the 9-6A pitcher of the year, she went 10-1 against district opponents while striking out 75 and only gave up 23 earned runs in 14 appearances.

Sachse struggled against Rockwall rising senior pitcher McKinley Mann in bi-district. Mann recorded 22 strikeouts over the two games. Although rising junior Maya McClarity hit a three-run home run in Game 1, Sachse lost both games, losing the opener 10-4 and Game 2 by a 12-0 final.

The Lady Mustangs finished the season with an 18-12 overall record. 

Male golfers win District 9-6A Tournament:

Sachse’s boys’ golf team rose to the occasion, shooting scores of 296 and 298, for a 584 total, to win the district tournament, held March 24-25 at Firewheel Golf Park Bridges Course.

Dylan Wisener won the individual title after he carded a 36-hole score of 141. 

Sachse’s depth was a big reason why the Mustangs won the team title as all five golfers shot 90 or below on both days.

Landon Hilario turned in the second-best finish for Sachse, shooting a 145 with rounds of 71 and 74. Andrew Scott carded a 149 with rounds of 77 and 72, respectively. Riley Tobin finished with a final score of 159, shooting 80 on Day 1 and 79 on Day 2. Colton Henderson rode a strong first day 78 to finish the tournament with a 164. 

The Lady Mustangs also punched their ticket for regionals, placing second with a 725.

Sachse was paced by Taylor Kim’s 171. Annsley Creel finished with a 179. Valerie Dunaway had a strong day-two performance, shooting an 88 on the final 18 holes after a 96 on Day 1 for a 184 total. Hunter Cheek shot 193. Natalie Cheek finished with a 203. 

No one from Sachse qualified for the state tournament.

Distance runners set tone for Sachse track and field team:

Sachse had quite the spring season in track and field.

The Mustangs put together a solid showing to begin the postseason. They won six titles at the District 9-6A meet, held in chilly weather conditions at Garland ISD’s Williams Stadium.

Sachse posted a sweep of the 1-mile and 2-mile runs. Abigail Leonard won the girls’ 3,200-meter run in a time of 11:39.74 and the 1,600 with a 5:41.05. Samuel Ledbetter won the boys’ 3,200 with a time of 9:54 and the 1,600 in 4:38.78. 

Kamryn Harry captured the 9-6A title in the 100-meter dash (10.59) and 400-meter run (49.07), while Cameryn Fair was crowned district champion in the 200 (24.9).

At the area 9-6A/10-6A meet in Wylie, the Mustangs qualified for regionals in 11 events and won two titles. Harry won first place in the 100 dash (10.52). Leonard earned first place in the 3,200 (11:23.74).

No one from Sachse qualified for the state meet.

Plano East alumna infielder Kylie Grant, right, helped to lead the Lady Panthers’ softball team to their first regional final since 2012. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media

By David Wolman

[email protected]

Another year has come and gone for student-athletes at Plano East High School.

It was a successful year in so many ways.

In today’s edition of The Murphy Monitor, we will look back at the highlights of the 2024-25 spring sports season for Plano East. 

Softball team reaches 1^st regional final since 2012:

Built around an offense that had a knack for working up the pitch count and a pitching staff that was anchored by District 6-6A MVP Jadyn Dawson, Plano East not only made the playoffs for the first time in six years but went on to make their first regional final since 2012.

That playoff run nearly didn’t make it past the first round.

Trailing 5-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Plano East was down to its final three outs. However, the Lady Panthers weren’t ready to see their season end. Incoming junior Gina Martin drove in two runs with a triple to tie the score at 5-5. Following an intentional walk to Dawson, rising junior Julia Wilson, named the District 6-6A newcomer of the year, hit a walk-off RBI single to give the Lady Panthers a 6-5 win over Hebron.

Plano East rode the momentum from that come-from-behind victory to earn a two-game sweep of South Grand Prairie in the area round and then won two games against Euless Trinity in the regional semifinals. In the Region I-6A final, the Lady Panthers battled but came up short in a pair of losses to Flower Mound.

Boys’ lacrosse completes turnaround with state title:

One year after winning four games, Plano East went 11-3 this season, capped off by defeating George Ranch 15-11 in the Texas High School Lacrosse League Class C state championship game.

Plano East outscored George Ranch 7-3 in the second half after trailing 9-8 at halftime.

The Panthers went ahead for good four minutes into the third quarter after alum Austin Egler finished a 2-on-1 with rising senior Brian Johnson II for a 10-9 lead. 

Johnson II was named the game’s most valuable player after he netted four goals.

Alum Vance Flick earned offensive player of the game.

Big strides made by baseball team:

Tommy Sparks only coached at Plano East for three seasons, but the Panthers made massive improvement under his watch.

After winning just two district games during the 2024 season, Plano East won seven district games this season but came up just two wins short of making the playoffs.

Plano West went 3-1 to begin District 6-6A play, beginning with a two-game sweep of Princeton, The Panthers’ offense struggled over the next two weeks as Plano East scored just two runs over their next five games and lost all five games, dipping to 3-6 in district play. Plano East didn’t give up on its postseason hopes, posting back-to-back sweeps of Plano and McKinney to improve to 7-7 in district action. But the Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention after two straight losses to Allen, finishing district play with a 7-9 record and an overall record of 14-15-1.

Former North Forney head coach Carey Willingham was hired as head coach June 17.

Reed hurdles to another state berth:

Alum Philip Reed concluded his standout career by running to eighth place in the boys’ 110 hurdles at the Class 6A state meet in Austin with a time of 14.3 seconds. 

Two weeks prior at the Region I-6A meet in Arlington, he broke the 24-year school record in the 300 hurdles.

Plano East qualified for the finals in the regional meet in five events – Reed in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, his sister, Hannah, in the 100 hurdles, Liana Wright in the 100, the girls’ 4×100 of Payten Cooper, Wright, Karis Jenkins and Ayaan Richardson and the girls’ 4×400 of Kosi Ngadi, Cooper, Goodness Dikeocha and Hannah Reed.

Incoming sophomore Kourtney Houston the freshman school record in the shot put.

Golfers capture 6^th place at district tournament:

The Plano East boys’ golf team finished in sixth place at the District 6-6A Tournament, held March 31-April 1 at The Courses at Watters Creek, with a score of 653.

Incoming senior Kristian Leask turned in the top individual score for the Panthers, placing 24^th overall with a 163. Finishing one stroke behind Leask was another incoming senior, Carter Cox, who placed 24^th with a 164. Alums Aadesh Sharma and Trevor Vecchio tied for 27^th place with a 165. Rising junior Jake Li captured 35^th place with a 166.

On the girls’ side, Plano East finished in ninth place with a 776.

Alumna Kate Polimeru turned in the top score for the Lady Panthers, finishing with a 177, good for 23^rd overall. The second-best score was turned in by incoming junior Michelle Phan, who finished 40^th with a 193. Alumnae Mackenzie Owen and Presley Elliott tied for 50^th, both shooting 203, while rising senior Georgia Martin placed 66^th with a 230.

A Historic Outdoor Season of Record-Breaking Excellence

Jane Hedengren’s 2025 outdoor track season was nothing short of historic-a tour-de-force defined by resilience, record-breaking excellence, and a seamless follow-through on her fall and indoor dominance. After rewriting the high school distance record books in 2024-25, Hedengren came into the spring determined to redefine the limits of high school athletics-and she delivered.

Jane Hedengren After 3000m National Record and Final HS Race

Smashing National Records and Making History

She opened her outdoor campaign by obliterating the high school national 5,000 m record at the Bryan Clay Invitational, clocking a staggering 14:57.93, becoming the first U.S. high school girl to ever break 15:00 on the track. Less than two weeks later at the HOKA Festival of Miles in St. Louis on June 5, she shattered the mile record again with a blazing 4:23.50 (splitting a 4:04.68 1500 m en route), exceeding Polly Plumer’s iconic mark and standing nearly five seconds ahead of her competition.

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LeBron James will play basketball next season. But for whom?

The Los Angeles Lakers are the clear leaders. James picked up a $52.6 million player option over the weekend, which could have inspired little analysis if not for the cryptic statement that followed.

Now, an awkward situation would make anyone wonder — how would the league react if the best player of his generation, if not of any generation, became available? After all, this is the NBA, where it’s always worth monitoring two entities with diverging philosophies.

At 40 years old, James wants to win, and win now. Meanwhile, the Lakers just bowed out in the first round of the playoffs. They are still without a center and lost Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency. They have made it clear, both through their actions and their words, that they are building around the 26-year-old Luka Dončić. An organization that once revolved around James and only James now has other priorities.

And thus, a divide builds.

One side thinks more about the short term. The other considers years down the line.

“LeBron knows the Lakers are building for the future, and he also wants to compete for championships,” James’ agent Rich Paul said to The Athletic and ESPN shortly after James picked up his option. “We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with (owner) Jeanie (Buss) and (general manager) Rob (Pelinka) and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.”

So, if James is evaluating what’s best for himself at this stage of his career, if he wants to make every season he has left count, and if he decides the Lakers can’t help him accomplish that, what’s next?

Most obviously, he and the Lakers could work together on a trade. Let’s break down the options.

One reason James would pick up the option, even if he were uncertain about his future, is for the money. He will make $52.6 million next season. No one else could pay him that on the open market.

The other reason is for security. James is one of two players in the NBA, along with Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal, to wield a no-trade clause. If James were to get dealt, he could choose his destination.

Trading James would be a headache. Given the no-trade clause, the list of teams couldn’t be long.

The San Antonio Spurs could cobble together the salaries to make a deal for him, but they won only 34 games last season. It would be difficult for him to argue that squad would have a better chance at a 2026 title than the more veteran one that costars Dončić. The Denver Nuggets could build a trade around Jamal Murray, but is there a contender in existence that needs an offensive hub less than the one that already employs the greatest one in the NBA, three-time MVP Nikola Jokić?

The James saga could end any way: Most likely in him remaining with the Lakers at least through the end of this season, but also, if the situation goes sideways, in a trade. Maybe if James wants a new home, the Lakers choose to do right by him, buying him out of his contract and sending him into free agency. Of course, the only motivation the organization would have to do this is for the good karma. Usually, if you say goodbye to an all-timer, you want players and/or picks in return.

Whether James would even consider a buyout could come down to how many more seasons he wants to play. If he believes he has three more years in him, then he’ll need another contract in 2026. Signing a cheap deal after taking a buyout this summer would make paydays in ensuing seasons more unlikely. But if he felt retirement was on the way in a year, that wouldn’t matter.

For now, though, James is a Laker. He is not negotiating a buyout with the team. He has not demanded a trade, and maybe he never will.

However, if he does eventually ask out and the Lakers comply, there are various franchises that could enter the conversation. Just as an exercise, let’s run through five of them (listed in no particular order), outlining how those teams could make James trades happen.

Cleveland Cavaliers

There is no team more obvious to throw on this list — from both James’ perspective and that of the Cavaliers.

On one side would be the romance. James could finish his career in the place he began it. On the other side is a squad that just won 64 games last season and sits in a conference that is falling apart.

The Cavs could be the favorites to win the Eastern Conference already. Add James to the mix, and they would vault into a tier of their own.

But it’s not that simple.

A hypothetical James-to-Cleveland trade is impractical, if not impossible.

Forgetting about James’ and Cleveland’s wants, the math it would take to get James traded back to Ohio would leave Pelinka writing on windows. The Cavaliers, as currently constructed, are the one organization certain to be above the dreaded second apron, a payroll threshold that limits a team’s resources, hinders the types of transactions it can pull off and forces significant luxury-tax payments.

Because of this, there is no way for the Cavs to trade for James without losing two of their top players: starting center Jarrett Allen and All-Star point guard Darius Garland.

One of the second-apron rules that dings Cleveland is about “aggregation.” The Cavaliers cannot aggregate players together to trade more than one at a time — unless they find a way to dump salary. At the moment, Cleveland is $23 million above the second apron.

Let’s say the Cavs trade Allen, an essential contributor, and Dean Wade, who combine to make $26 million next season, without taking any salary back, dipping them below the second apron. (Already, this is an aggressive move to make just to acquire a soon-to-be 41-year-old.) There would still be issues.

Because they would remain above the first apron, they would not be allowed to take in more money than they send out in a trade. The Cavaliers would need to compile enough salary to surpass $52.6 million and then some. If they flip four or five players for James, they need to leave enough room below the second apron to fill out the rest of the roster, since a trade where they aggregate players would hard cap them there.

De’Andre Hunter, Max Strus and Lonzo Ball combine to make less money than James does. And thus, Cleveland would need to include more players than just those three, but its remaining ones make make either too little (remember, sending out minimum salaries is not helpful in this scenario because the Cavs would just have to sign other minimum guys to replace them) or are too good to part with: Garland, Donovan Mitchell or Evan Mobley.

And thus, the only way a James acquisition could make sense for Cleveland would be if he somehow became a free agent and could sign there for cheap.

Dallas Mavericks

If there is one activity the basketball world has mastered, it’s connecting dots. The relationships are already in Dallas.

There’s injured All-Star Kyrie Irving, who James teamed up with for a title in Cleveland and who he has tried to play with again since. There’s 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, who the Lakers flipped for Dončić only five months ago — and who James never hoped to see leave. Mavericks GM Nico Harrison is a former executive at Nike, where James has a lucrative shoe contract. As became front-page news after the Lakers acquired Dončić, the two guys who would negotiate this deal, Harrison and Pelinka, go back a long way.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks could make an offer of just role players — albeit, important ones.

Future Hall of Famer Klay Thompson along with versatile contributors Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington would get the deal done financially. Dallas could trade a future first-round pick, as well, though draft picks would become complicated in a trade for James. Teams wouldn’t be excited about giving up chunks of their future to acquire a 40-year-old, even if there has never before been a 40-year-old as good at basketball as James is now.

On the other side, Pelinka recently said that the Lakers are focused on creating significant cap space in the summer of 2027. Gafford just agreed to an extension that will stretch into 2029. If Los Angeles were picky enough about its cap situation that it lost an imperative role player, Finney-Smith, who signed a four-year deal with the Rockets, over long-term money, then it may not be so enthusiastic about taking on Gafford, even if he already has experience excelling alongside Dončić.

Golden State Warriors

Ease your brain. The mathematics in northern California are not nearly as strenuous.

James is close with two-time MVP Stephen Curry, with whom he finally played last summer, when the couple paired up at the Olympics. He and former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green share an agent. He played for head coach Steve Kerr with Team USA. And the Warriors have the lure of … well, the Warriors.

Golden State has one obvious offer for James: Jimmy Butler for the quadragenarian.

Butler makes a tad more than James does, marking the trade legal, though if it were constructed this way, it would hard cap the Lakers at the first apron, since they’d be absorbing more money than they send out in a deal. If the Lakers were fine with that, they could execute the one-for-one trade. However, they may want to maintain flexibility, which they could do somewhat easily.

Golden State and Los Angeles could find a third team willing to take on one of the Lakers’ minimum salaries (say, Jordan Goodwin’s) without giving any salary back. This way, the total money leaving the purple and gold is above Butler’s incoming salary.

Beyond Butler, Golden State wouldn’t have many options in a trade for James. It could combine Green with role players Buddy Hield and Moses Moody, but that package isn’t as enticing for the Lakers. Plus, Moody would present the same issue that Gafford would or Finney-Smith would have: He’s under contract beyond 2027.

The Warriors could try including talented 22-year-old Jonathan Kuminga, who is a restricted free agent at the moment. But signing and trading Kuminga comes with speed bumps. A deal like this would fall victim to a niche CBA quirk called “base year compensation,” which complicates any sign-and-trade involving a player who earns a raise of more than 20 percent, as Kuminga would. Essentially, Kuminga’s outgoing money for Golden State would be treated as a different number than his incoming money to Los Angeles, which creates even more obstacles.

LeBron and Steph together at last in the NBA? (Photo by Gregory Shamus  /Getty Images)

LA Clippers

Let’s get wild. James stays in Los Angeles — just not at Crypto.

The Clippers could toss together a trio of shooting guard Norman Powell, who was sneakily better than ever last season, bench scorer Bogdan Bogdanović and defensive stopper Derrick Jones Jr., who was a starter next to Dončić on Dallas’ 2024 finals team. However, doing so would eat into the depth that made them so dangerous a season go.

Presumably, they would not want to part with starting center Ivica Zubac, who made his first All-Defensive team in 2025-26 and who they reportedly would not entertain in conversations with the Suns about former MVP Kevin Durant only a couple of weeks ago.

There’s another way the Clippers could go about this too — and yes, it’s one that would happen only in fantasyland. They could trade their highest-paid player, two-time finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, for James.

As he showed at the end of this past season, Leonard can still annihilate teams on both sides of the court when healthy. But he is often hurt. The goal is to forget about the first 82 games, to make sure his body is in its best shape come April. In that sense, even an older James projects to hold up better throughout a season.

The swap could clean the Clippers’ books, too. Leonard’s contract expires in 2027. James’ expires next summer.

With James’ money coming off the roster in 2026, the Clippers would enter what could be a star-studded free agency with enough cap space to sign a max player and then some.

However, the Lakers might not want to absorb more than $50 million of 2026-27 money for an oft-injured player who will be 35 years old by then. Unless the Clippers sweetened the deal with draft picks, Los Angeles may rather hold onto James in this scenario.

The Lakers may have a difficult time extracting draft picks from anyone, too, considering front offices around the league are locked into Giannis Antetokounmpo’s situation with the Milwaukee Bucks — if Tuesday’s moves didn’t change things. Parting with picks while also giving up the salary slots it could take to acquire Antetokounmpo may not be worth it for some of these organizations who are waiting to pounce if the two-time MVP were to become available.

New York Knicks

This is another situation that combines basketball with cleaning up the finances.

Purely from a standpoint of matching salaries, the Knicks could construct various types of offers for James. The most chaotic deal would be flipping All-NBA big man Karl-Anthony Towns for James, straight up — two teams betting on the other’s star. Of course, this could leave the Knicks center-less, given Mitchell Robinson’s injury struggles.

They could pair a couple of wings, OG Anunoby and either Josh Hart or Mikal Bridges, in a trade for James. They could piece together a trio to offer for James: Anunoby, Robinson and point guard Miles “Deuce” McBride.

But Anunoby will make $45 million in 2027-28 and has a player option for the following season, which would eat into the Lakers’ possible cap space two summers from now. Meanwhile, the Knicks — or any other team — may not want to part with three key rotation pieces (and three of their four best defenders) for a 40-year-old.

The Knicks could justify Towns-for-James with a similar financial argument the Clippers could use in a Leonard-for-James one. New York owes Towns $110 million over the next two seasons. The five-time All-Star has a $61 million player option for 2027-28. Meanwhile, the Knicks are at risk of climbing into the second apron next season, a possibility that does not excite them but could be inevitable if they keep their current top five or six together.

Bridges, who is eligible for an extension now, can become a free agent in 2026. His new salary could drive the Knicks past that feared threshold.

James could double as a basketball fit, as well as a giant expiring contract to avoid the second apron in 2026-27 and maybe beyond. In Los Angeles, Towns and Dončić could destroy any defense they face.

But the Knicks are also made up of prime-aged contributors. This would make them older. Like in the other hypotheticals, a James trade to the Knicks, even in a world where both he and the Lakers agree it’s best for the two to part ways after seven years, isn’t likely. The Knicks didn’t get in on the hunt for Kevin Durant. Like so many others, they could be saving up salary and assets for a guy in Milwaukee. They may not handle this hypothetical much differently.

(Top illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photo: David Liam Kyle / NBAE via Getty Images)