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Ever since its inception in 1999 – the North Crowley boys basketball team has been among the best in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and across the state. The Panthers won a state championship in 2008.
North Crowley has had just one head coach in program history – Tommy Brakel.
Brakel and the Panthers have over 750 wins all-time and have an impressive record both in district play as well as on their home court. They’ve made the playoffs all but one season. The Panthers have had some great players – one including McDonald’s All-American Willie Warren, who was on the 2008 championship team. Warren would later star at Oklahoma and be selected in the 2010 NBA Draft.
While North Crowley has had several top players to come through its program, a hall-of-fame coach, nearing 800 wins and a state title – there’s one unsung hero that many outside of the school doesn’t know.
His name – Brian Benton.
Benton has done PA and play-by-play for the team.
Overall, it’s his 23rd season with the Panthers.
“I started missing being around basketball, so I went to a game and discovered they didn’t have anybody doing the PA announcing. After the game I went and talked to coach Brakel and asked if he would like me to do it for them. He said sure and I have been doing it ever since.”
Benton grew up in Oklahoma and went to college at North Carolina.
After college, he returned to his alma mater and started to coach eighth grade basketball while doing the PA for the varsity games. A few years later, a job at Lockheed Martin brought he and his family to the Fort Worth area. His cousin was a JV football coach at North Crowley.
Benton then began doing PA for the JV football games.
His love for basketball, especially, began in elementary school.
“I was always interested in being around basketball growing up, particularly with respect to doing statistics. I started doing statistics and kept the book for basketball teams in the fifth grade,” Benton said.
Benton then was the manager in Oklahoma for back-to-back state championship teams and then was the manager for the basketball team at North Caroline.
On the radio side, Benton would do the morning announcements in high school, which he later continued to do while he was a teacher.
“I guess I have always felt comfortable speaking on a mic for people. When Bradley Parker from the CISD technology department came to me with the idea of starting a podcast for the basketball games, it seemed like a great opportunity and we have been doing it ever since.”
North Crowley is currently 30-3 overall and went 14-0 in District 3-6A. It’s the Panthers 25th playoff appearance in 26 years. They will face Byron Nelson in the bi-district round at 7 pm Monday from Aledo.
The Panthers are #2 in the GM Sports 6A area rankings.
They are also #3 in the TABC 6A state rankings.
The Panthers won the Class 5A state title in 2008, a 73-67 victory over Fort Bend Dulles. They have posted 20+ wins in 25 seasons. NC has won district 16 times and had both a 66-game home win streak and 77-game district win streak.
During Benton’s time with the program, NC is 238-13 at home.
He also started the radio broadcasts in 2012.
Benton has also called girls basketball, football, volleyball, softball and track.
He said working alongside Tommy Brakel is a dream situation. “He is obviously a great basketball coach as evidenced by the incredible success his teams have had – averaging 29 wins per season – but he is also a great coach to work for,” Benton said. “No matter who you are, he goes out of his way to make you feel like you are part of the team. He really tries to take care of the people that support his team and his players.
“He makes it super fun to be involved. He is also incredibly detail-oriented, which aligns with my work habits, and we have a similar idea about how a game environment or broadcast should look, sound and feel. So, we are able to give each other meaningful recommendations about how to make things better, or make sure things sound right. It is really a pleasure to get to work with coach Brakel and the North Crowley Panthers.”
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Some favorite memories…..
– Caleb Banks hitting a buzzer beater at NCHS to win a hard fought game and keep our home court streak alive against FW Paschal in 2014
– Climbing up to the rafters of Phillips Fieldhouse in 2011 to do a test run of a podcast
– Interviewing sophomore James Battley in one of his first games after football season as he scored the 100th point in a game at the Whataburger Tournament
– “Marvelous” Marvin Storey being the first and only player ever to run over during a timeout to ask for the music to be turned down
– Watching so many great players come through the gym – taking charges, flying all over the court, watching great defense and great passing
– Willie Warren, Kyan Anderson, Kevin Langford, Evan Risher, Kameron Price, Brandon Key, Chris Parham, Jason Fox, JR Duffey, countless guys… ots more
– Impossible to think about the 08 team without thinking about Willie Warren…he was just such a force, when he wanted to take over a game and he really could. The way Donte Kinney was such a force inside, despite being undersized. The way the defense just swarmed people too. We averaged over 24 steals a game that season. It was a lot of fun to watch
Congratulations to our 2023-2024 Undefeated DISTRICT CHAMPS 🏆 (14-0) We are headed to playoffs ➡️ jobs not done yet. 🔵⚫️⚪️🐾 #LockinUp817pic.twitter.com/AkY8GeeLWn
NEXT UP ➡️ The stage is set‼️ Bi-District PLAYOFFS is here. See y’all MONDAY. 🔵⚫️⚪️ #LockinUp817 IT’S WHITEOUT – EVERYONE WEAR WHITE‼️ 🗓️ Monday // January 19th ⏰ 7:00PM 📍 Aledo High School 🎟️ $3 Students // $5 Adults pic.twitter.com/KV2CUOyjc4
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