Cinco Ranch has come so close to the playoffs each of the past two seasons.

Each year the Cougars have finished a game back of fourth place and each year have battled all the way to the wire, but this year they want to get back to where the Cougar program is used to being, competing in the playoffs.

That goal has had Cinco Ranch hungry since last season and they have come out with a fire to start this season, taking down teams left and right on the way to a 12-2 start and one of the strongest resumes in the area thus far.

That strong play continued on Friday as the Cougars took down George Ranch 55-50 during the second day of the Katy ISD Tournament in a strong effort, coming from behind to win and continuing what has become the norm this season with another win.

“There’s just a lot of chemistry and comradery with this group,” said sophomore point guard Dylan Jones-Bynum. “We’re all brothers on and off the court and it’s showing in our game. We return five guys and we’ve continued to build on last year and we all trust each other and the coaches to put us in the right spot to win.”

Cinco has been in the right spots a lot so far this year. The Cougars have won five straight games and were dominant in their district opener against Taylor, continuing that into the Katy ISD Tournament. A big part of that has been the duo of brothers Dyland and Prince Jones-Bynum. Both know that they can step up for the other at any time and make plays when the other needs it. On Friday it was Dylan who stepped up in the first half with seven points while Prince struggled from the field and then Prince took over in the second half, scoring nine points and helping lead the Cougars to the win.

“If one of us drives the other is always open for the kick, if one isn’t on their game, the other one of us always steps up, we just know how to play together because we have done it for so long,” Prince Jones-Bynum said. “When the two of us are going, it gets everyone else on the team going as well, so we just know that we have to find a way to make this offense go.”

Cinco jumped out to a big lead in the fist quarter, but it was trimmed to 19-14 by the quarters end. George Ranch took the lead in the second quarter and went into the half 23-21, but Cinco bounced right back to make it 39-33 at the end of the third and then stretched it to double digits in the fourth quarter. George Ranch made a late comeback, but two clutch free throws from Prince sealed the deal and gave Cinco the win.

“We talked at halftime about our transition defense and the rebounding because they had hurt us on the boards,” said Cinco Ranch head coach Neil King. “We focused in on that, made it a half-court game and that worked for us. That is one thing that these guys have been great at this year is making adjustments when we ask them to. We have some great leadership and hard workers and it’s helped us get off to this start.”

The goal now for Cinco is to continue this the rest of the way through district play. They know they have the pieces to do it and the fire in the team to do it, but they also know they cannot overlook anyone in Katy ISD.

“There aren’t going to be any easy ones, not with this district,” King said. “It’s going to be challenging every night and it’s going to be up to us to go out, execute our gameplan and find a way to win. It’s fun because all these kids know each other, they grew up together and they all have a connection, but this district is tough, and it is a grind. The key is to be focused, be ready and stay healthy. There’s a lot of good teams in this district and we have to find a way to be there at the end.”

Katy ISD Tournament

Cinco Ranch 55, George Ranch 50

Points: (CR) Dylan Jones-Bynum 18, Prince Jones-Bynum 9, Kellen LeCronier 10, Campbell Turner 6, Joseph Kanyinda 5, Melijah Battiste 4, Brayden Gonzalez 2, Noah Pearce 2;

Halftime: George Ranch 23, Cinco Ranch 21; 3-Pointers: (CR) Turner 2, Prince Jones-Bynum, Dylan Jones-Bynum, Kanyinda; Record: Cinco Ranch: 12-2, 1-0;