SAN ANTONIO, TX — The preseason state rankings certainly didn’t anticipate the Wall and Central Heights girls basketball teams meeting in the Class 3A Division II state final.
Wall was No. 22 in the initial rankings, while Central Heights wasn’t ranked at all.
Both programs, however, were clearly underestimated.
Wall, now ranked No. 1, has run through an absolute gauntlet of a schedule with 11 wins over state-ranked teams — including No. 2 Coahoma, No. 3 Idalou and No. 6 Paradise in the playoffs.
The Lady Hawks have emerged with a record of 36-3 and are one win away from the third state title in program history when they square off with Central Heights at 1 p.m. Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Central Heights (32-5) doesn’t have near the resume as Wall, and the Lady Devils were ranked No. 24 when the playoffs began.
They hit their stride in a big way late in the season, though, and knocked off No. 23 West, No. 7 Buffalo and No. 19 Jourdanton in their last three games to reach the second state final in program history.
In Central Heights’ only other appearance in 2001, they brought home the 2A state title.
A big reason why Wall and Central Heights weren’t more highly regarded heading into this season was they only combined for three playoff wins last year.
Wall was bounced in the second round by Tolar, while Central Heights lost in the third round to West.
In fact, neither team had advanced past the third round since 2022 when the Lady Devils reached the regional final. This is Wall’s farthest playoff push since a state semifinal appearance in 2019.
Wall quickly began to vault up the rankings after upsetting state-ranked Abilene Wylie, Seminole and Fredericksburg in the first five games of the year.
After a 12-1 start that included two more state-ranked wins, the Lady Hawks jumped to No. 1 in the state.
They continued to back up that ranking all season and will take a 15-game winning streak into the state final. They haven’t lost since a 40-25 setback against the No. 1 team in 4A, Decatur.
Wall's Kennedi Graves prepares to shoot a free throw earlier this season.
Central Heights lost three of its first six games and started 11-5 overall — which included a 37-25 loss to San Angelo Central — but the Lady Devils have now won 21 games in a row.
Wall is led by second-year head coach Silas Crisler, who was playing college basketball just four years ago at Quincy University in Illinois. He’s married to Maddi Chitsey, who was the state final MVP for Wall during each of its state titles in 2014 and ‘16.
Crisler has a talented roster that includes only four seniors — Kennedi Graves, Kathrine Lewis, Emery Harper and Aliyah Vera.
Wall girls basketball coach Silas Crisler and Kylee Holik perform a pregame routine before playing Jim Ned on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
The Lady Hawks have an exciting group of underclassmen, including sophomore Jewels Johnson, who had 23 points in the last round against Paradise, and junior McKenzie Lopez, who had 19 points in the regional semifinals against Idalou.
Central Heights is led by head coach Danielle Templeton, who has overseen the program just north of Nacogdoches since 2016.
The Lady Devils have two girls who have topped the 1,000-point mark for their careers, junior Peaches Gallien and her sister, senior JaKenzie Gallien. Peaches was a Texas Girls Coaches Association All-Star last year as a sophomore.
The Gallien sisters will present a difficult challenge for Wall’s defense, but the Lady Hawks have passed every test so far this postseason. If they can do it one more time, they’ll add to what has already been a remarkable school year for Wall’s athletic program — joining the football team’s first state title, the volleyball team’s first trip to the state semifinals, and the girls cross country team’s fourth-place finish at the state meet.
The Central Heights girls basketball team celebrates after its state semifinal win Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
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