Eisenhower claims district tile with win over Alief Taylor

As far as transformations go there is more than meets the eye for Eisenhower.

When Robert Stevenson and Steven Taylor were sophomores the Eagles struggled mightily. The program lacked competitiveness and lollygagged its way to five victories.

Stevenson and Taylor are seniors now, and thanks to second-year coach Mark Patton everything is different. The Eagles are district champions.

Eisenhower defeated visiting Alief Taylor, 53-39, on Friday night to clinch at least a share of the 18-5A title. Taylor is three games back of Eisenhower (24-5, 10-1) with three games left in the regular season.

It is the Eagles' first district championship since the 2008 team won 30 games. Before Patton took over last season Eisenhower it had not had a winning season since then.

After going 5-28 as a sophomore, Stevenson said he wondered if he'd ever experience success in his high school career.

"I was just trying to keep my head up two years ago," said Stevenson, who scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter on Friday. "I didn't think we'd be here now, but we're here."

The Eagles have arrived thanks to Patton's program overhaul.

He changed the culture by emphasizing hard work and discipline. Patton said the Eagles needed to learn how to compete at the Class 5A level. A large part of that was putting individual gain aside in favor of teamwork.

It worked like a charm in his first season. The Eagles went from five victories in 2011-12 to 25 wins in 2012-13. They placed third in district play and made the playoffs.

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Eisenhower claims district tile with win over Alief Taylor