By Michael Adams
madams@onthesidelinessports.com

It’s a new year and the final full month of the 2023-24 Texas high school basketball season. This means that district races will heat up in the upcoming weeks.

The one to watch is District 23-5A where six of the eight teams have winning records. East View has won six straight since losing to Elgin right before the holiday break.

Georgetown (15-6) has a five-game winning streak. The Eagles won the Fredericksburg Tournament over the weekend, beating Huffman Hargrave 60-51 in the final.

Georgetown has a showdown with Pflugerville on Wednesday before a matchup with Elgin (13-2) on Friday in the On the Sidelines Sports Boys Basketball Game of the Week. The Wildcats have won four straight games since their last loss on Dec. 8 to Georgetown Gateway and are our new No. 1 team in Class 5A.

Cedar Creek (15-6) and Connally (10-8) are also teams to watch in arguably the area’s toughest district.

District 25-5A is also shaping up to be competitive. Liberty Hill (16-5) has won five straight games since losing its district opener to Leander.

Rouse, Glenn and Cedar Park are off to a 2-0 start in district play, while Hays and Lockhart are 0-2, but have won two and three straight games, respectively.

Here are this week’s rankings heading into the new year:

Austin-Metro Power 5s

Editor’s note: Records were taken from MaxPreps reporting.

Class 6A

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	LW
1	Stony Point	20-1	1
2	Lake Travis	19-3	2
3	Buda Johnson	17-3	3
4	San Marcos	17-4	4
5	Vandegrift	15-5	NR

Class 5A

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	LW
1	Elgin	13-2	2
2	Georgetown	15-6	NR
3	Cedar Creek	15-6	NR
4	Glenn	14-7	3
5	Rouse	15-7	1

Class 4A-1A

RANK	REAM	RECORD	LW
1	Thrall	18-1	1
2	Lago Vista	17-4	2
3	Thorndale	17-3	3
4	Wimberley	13-8	5
5	Gateway	10-9	4

Game of the week

Elgin at Georgetown, 8 p.m., Friday

In this District 23-5A showdown, two area boys teams with the longest active winning streaks will meet up at Georgetown High School on Friday night. Elgin has won four straight games and has a high-powered offense led by senior guard Nathen Lewis, who scored 25 points in the Wildcats’ win over East View on Dec. 23. Georgetown has won five straight games and is coming off a 4-0 performance at the Fredericksburg Holiday Tournament.

Five more games to watch

• Granger at Thorndale, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday
• Westlake at Bowie, 8 p.m., Tuesday
• East View at Cedar Creek, 7 p.m., Wednesday
• Buda Johnson at Westlake, 7 p.m.
• Bowie at Lake Travis, 7:30 p.m., Friday

Get the complete Austin-area boys basketball schedule for this week.