Prep Tournament Tour
By Ray Martin
rmartin@oklahoman.com
Just in case you have missed Ryan Aber and Brandon Chatmon’s Prep Tournament Tour coverage, check out the latest videos and blogs from their week-long journey to six of Oklahoma’s high school basketball tournaments.
Check out NewsOk for daily updates. Tonight, Aber and Chatmon are in Jenks at the Jenks Invitational. Tomorrow they travel to Poteau for the LeFlore County Tournament.
Day 1 at the Titan Classic
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Well, sorry, high school fans. No wireless at Carl Albert means you’ll only get day summaries as opposed to real-time thoughts.
Anyway, wow, what a day today at Carl Albert. I saw two boys games decided at the buzzer and in the other two, the stars came out to shine.
No. 1 thing that came to mind from today was Edmond Memorial can hang with the big boys.
Tulsa Union had no business winning, 48-47. None, I says. Well, maybe that’s too harsh. The Redskins came out fast and early on, it looked like my prediction of the Bulldogs upsetting the fifth-ranked team in 6A was pretty lousy.
Antonio Ross was dominating the paint, but then it seemed as Union went away from the stud.
Just like Tuesday, I tried to plan ahead and wrote a feature about Edmond Memorial’s Michael Maxwell. The senior guard broke his foot in the season opener and returned in Tuesday night’s shocker against Midwest City.
And this time, the gods were on my side as Maxwell was going off from long distance. He connected on four treys total and had 14 points.
And as Daniel White absolutely took control in the second half, finally, everything was going to come to fruition.
As Lee Corso would say, not so fast, my friends. The Bulldogs were up 47-43 but let this one slip away. Union didn’t hit a game-tying or game-winning shot. No, the Redskins took this game from the free throw line. Brian Higgins ended up the hero, draining two free throws.
White’s jumper was off the mark and Union escaped. I will say this for Union, the Redskins play some tenacious defense. They impose their will on teams.
Well, there goes that feature…for today.
Before that, Guthrie handled Ardmore pretty easy, 70-63. The Tigers made a nice run to start the second half, but the Bluejays quickly regained their footing and earned the win. Kent McDonald had 18 while Donte’ Foster had 17 and Keaton Callins had 16.
Next came Carl Albert and Del City. Having been burned twice in two days, I held off writing something on Del City’s D’Angelo Harris. He’s got quite the story to be told (but for another day).
Once again, it appeared as though Harris was going to steal the show as he was THE MAN in the fourth quarter. The Eagles just wanted it more. On one possession in the fourth, DCity had six shot attempts…6. Harris eventually scored the bucket.
Carl Albert has been one of my favorite teams to follow only because I can’t get a read on the Titans yet. Thursday was no different.
This game was a carbon copy of Ed Memorial and Union. Well, almost. Del City was up 50-46 but allowed Carl Albert back into the game.
Only difference was the Titans made the shots. Joe Stoner tied it up and senior guard Steven Johnson closed the show in true style, nailing a jumper at the buzzer for the 52-50 win.
Time constraints forced me to miss the Midwest City-Millwood contest. From the box, it appears Chuck Sanders came to play, notching 29 points in a 73-53 blowout.
Today’s results: Boys – Guthrie defeated Ardmore; Union defeated Ed Memorial; Carl Albert defeated Del City; Midwest City defeated Millwood.
Girls – Millwood defeated Putnam City (yes, that’s 3A beating a top team in 6A); Carl Albert defeated Westmoore; Choctaw defeated Ed Memorial; Union defeated Ardmore (and looked really really good).
Friday – boys semis: Union v. Guthrie (4 pm); Carl Albert v. Midwest City (5:30); Girls – Millwood vs. Carl Albert (7 pm) and Choctaw vs. Union (8:30).
No second-ranked jinx this time
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
See, that’s what I get for trying to plan ahead. At Tuesday night’s classic between Putnam North and Edmond Santa Fe (PCN won 70-66 in OT), I tried to save some time.
I wrote a nice feature about the return of a healthy Nic Combs for the Wolves. How he battled a stomach virus last week and dehydration. And came back on Friday and suffered cramps in the second half.
All I was going to need to finish the deal was talk with Nic after the game, presumably after an upset of second-ranked PCNorth.
Early on, Combs was smoking. In a 17-0 run in the first half, Combs notched 10 of the points. I felt like a genius as the story was playing out just like the way I needed it to.
But then dem fightin’ Panthers flipped the script on me. And well, I guess I just can’t get mad at that.
Watching Dennon Mitchell and Brentrell Friday just carry the team for PCNorth was quite the spectacle to watch as well.
The best part about last night’s game: both teams deserved to be there. There were no wide-eyed looks from anyone. The Panthers never got rattled, trailing 25-12 in the second quarter. Talking with coach Bill Roberton after the game, he basically confirmed what I was thinking. He said Santa Fe came out red hot and was hitting all its shots. Eventually, that shooting percentage comes down and everything evens out.
When Mitchell hit the jumper to tie the game up, I was thinking I now had the storybook ending if Combs could hit the game-winner. The Wolves never got off a shot, so to the extra session we went.
And that’s where Mitchell and Friday would not be denied. Combs scored 28 in the game, but only 11 in second half and overtime. And in OT (where he tallied seven), it was off of four free throws and a late trifecta. The Panthers made the necessary adjustments and shut down the Wolves.
You ever want to see an entire student body go silent? Find video of Brentrell’s dunk to make the score 67-63 Panthers. The rabid student section of PCNorth went nuts (rightfully so) and almost bumped into me a couple of times they were so elated while ESF was left stunned.
And right after the dunk, I deleted the Combs feature and began work on how two seniors just wouldn’t let their team die.
Other notes: ESF’s Victor Driver almost played the role of hero as he pitched in with nine points and had the game-winning free throws until Mitchell’s shot…PCNorth’s Eric Johnson impressed me. He wasn’t much of a factor in the first half, but the senior came alive in the second half.
Edmond Santa Fe is off to the Jenks Tournament while Putnam North is the team to beat at the Deer Creek tourney. As for yours truly, I’ll be at Carl Albert all weekend.
Look at this line-up: Ardmore vs. Guthrie (1 p.m.), Edmond Memorial vs. Tulsa Union (2:30), Carl Albert vs. Del City (7) and Midwest City vs. Millwood (8:30). Wow, I’m off to see some great basketball. The girls side is none too shabby, either: Putnam City/Millwood, Carl Albert/Westmoore, Edmond Memorial/Choctaw and Union/Ardmore. I’ll keep you posted.
Morris emerging as one of 3A’s best, despite first loss
By Ray Martin
rmartin@oklahoman.com
The Morris Eagles dropped their first game of the season Saturday night, 74-71 at the hands of Eufala in class 3A high school basketball.
Morris played Saturday without senior guard Jamel Rucker, who was on a football recruiting visit at Missouri Southern.
“He is our best athlete,” Morris coach Brent Giddens said. “He runs faster, jumps higher and gets more rebounds than anyone on our team.”
Senior point guard Jordan Reed missed a 3-pointer as time expired that would have sent the game to overtime.
Despite the loss, Morris has emerged as one of 3A’s top teams, as it is currently ranked No. 3 behind Verdigris and Sequoyah-Tahlequah. One could make a case for Morris to take the No. 2 spot, since Verdigris lost to class A’s Clayton.
“We have a lot of experience and a lot more of an inside presence then we did last year,” Giddens said.
Giddens said the stacked competition in the 8 Star Conference will prepare Morris to play the states best teams in the playoffs.
“I think we can play with anybody,” Giddens said. “Especially because our guards are so athletic.”
Watch out for these guys in March.
Southmoore redux: Outtakes on a complicated process
By Zach West
zwest@oklahoman.com
I must admit, summarizing the start-up process for Southmoore football into a small enough space to fit the newspaper was no easy task. Thankfully, I was given enough room to do an adequate job, but certain humorous or interesting items still had to be whittled down or cut out completely. Of course, that extra information is why we have a sports blog (or so I’m told), so here ya go.
One of the tidbits that didn’t survive the final cut was the following excerpt comparing Southmoore to Oklahoma City’s Centennial High School, which underwent a similar ‘starting from scratch’ process leading up to this past football season.
When Oklahoma City’s Centennial High School started its inaugural two-a-days last fall, 14 players showed up for the first practice. During a 1-9 opening season, the Bison often played with 20 or so players, and managed to finish the season with 34. Centennial head coach Randy Wilson said, however, that Southmoore has two distinct advantages over the situation the Bison were in. First, with the size of the Moore school district, overall numbers shouldn’t be a big problem. Second, since Southmoore head coach Chris Jensen was hired in December, he has a good head start on player identification and training.
“I was hired late (in May), and I didn’t have an opportunity to identify many of the athletes and get them in our program, and summer pride program,” Wilson said “It’s important to be able to identify your kids and know who they are, and what they can and cannot do. He’s going in knowing some of the kids, and that’s a big positive.”
Another intriguing aspect of the story that hit the cutting room floor was the situation facing the players who have a choice between going to Southmoore or staying at their original school (Moore or Westmoore). As you can see from the following excerpt, many of the players I talked to were torn in their decision, and for good reason. Choosing between the school you’ve grown up with and a new, exciting opportunity is a heavy load for a high school student. (Note: This idea was cut from the story because I’m going to develop it for a new story in a week or so, around when the players have to decide)
After several weeks of administrative discussion, it was decided that all upcoming seniors who live in the Southmoore district will have a choice between staying and switching. The only other players with a choice are upcoming juniors who lettered their first two years of high school.
Knowing which kids can choose, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Tracking them down and convincing them to play is a whole different story, especially when they’re scattered among two high schools and three junior high schools.
“We don’t get to run into them on a daily basis … that’s one of the first things that we’ve had to do is sit down and try to figure out how we’re going to go to four different schools and meet with all of these kids that are potentially Southmoore SaberCats,” Jensen said. “We want to communicate to the kids that we want them to come to Southmoore, but we’ve got to make sure that we can’t make promises that we can’t keep.”
For players who have grown up cheering and playing for Moore and Westmoore, changing loyalties can be extremely difficult. Detrek Wallace, a current Moore sophomore, has gone back and forth for weeks trying to decide.
“A lot of people are going, and I know a lot of people there. But I also know a lot of people here (at Moore),” said Wallace, who indicated he’s about 60 percent in favor of Southmoore. “It’s been one of those choices that you have to make when you grow up.”
When he chose Southmoore, fellow Moore sophomore Kyaunn Thompson felt the sting of disappointing his former teammates.
“Some of them are upset, because they really depended on me to play with them this year. It’s hard leaving because Moore is the first team that I’ve played for, and I didn’t really want to play for another team,” Thompson said. “But I wanted to try a new thing, and I’m hoping that my decision will be a good one.”
One of the more humorous stories came from assistant head coach Jason Melot. This was probably the hardest cut, just because it effectively shows just how overlooking the smallest detail could potentially cause major problems down the road for an upstart football program.
Jason Melot couldn’t believe it. Scanning the inventory – a checklist of 85 items supposedly covering all equipment needed by the team – he couldn’t find one of the most basic football items.
“The one thing I didn’t see was mouth pieces,” Melot said, laughing. “That always comes up late, you know: ‘Where’s the mouthpieces?’”
Sure enough, despite having everything from goal post covers to elbow pads, mouthpieces were nowhere to be found. Thanks to Melot’s catch, the players won’t be short in the mouth department for spring practice. Every item on the list, however, still has to be purchased, with many of them needed by May for 10 days of practice in pads.
Also, just as a reminder, you can go to gosabercats.com for more information on the team.
Mid-Del girls showdown: March-like matchup
By Justin Harper
jharper@cox.net
For those wanting a sneak peek at March madness, the prep version, you can get it Saturday. In Class 6A girls basketball, the Midwest City at Del City battle pits perhaps the two best teams that have a chance at unseating defending 6A champ Sapulpa.
The Mid-Del rivalry makes any game between the two schools eventful, but when the girls basketball squads square off at 6:30 p.m. at John Smith Fieldhouse, it will be a pairing worthy of a state semifinal — maybe even the final. Either way, it’s a monster game. You get the idea.
Midwest City is unbeaten (11-0) and ranked second in Class 6A, while
Del City is 12-1 and ranked fourth. The Eagles’ lone loss came to the Bombers earlier this season.
“We didn’t play very hard and we had a bad game,” said
Del City coach Karrie Sears. “We were 9-for-22 from the free throw and we lost by seven. Our leading scorer had four points. So we want to show them what kind of team we can be. We want to play them at our best and we didn’t do that the first time.”
Desiree Jeffries leads the Eagles in scoring at 12.0 points an outing, while Toni Young is just behind at 10.0.
Midwest City is led by sophomore center Richa Jackson, who is quickly becoming one of the top post players in the metro.
That Keiton Page — he’s not half bad
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Well, it was just another ho hum night for Pawnee’s favorite son, Keiton Page. You know, the usual, 61 points, 11-16 from downtown, beating a sixth-ranked team by 31 points. It doesn’t get more pedestrian than that.
Even if sarcasm doesn’t connect with the written word, you get the point. Keiton was out of his mind Tuesday night in a 93-62 thumping of Class A No. 6 Frontier.
Talking with both Keiton and his father/coach, David, they said the key to the game was early. Pawnee raced off to a 24-4 start and never looked back. Using a press, the Black Bears were able to get a lot of turnovers and convert them into easy buckets.
And then the fun really started. Keiton made five consecutive 3-pointers at one point as Pawnee was in cruise control with a 50-27 lead at halftime.
I’m sure there were several reasons for the big night, but one of them is rather simple: Frontier decided to play Keiton and Pawnee man-to-man.
Say wha? Jenks is the only other team to use such a strategy and on that night, Page was “limited” to 40 points.
The official stat line for the Oklahoma State commit: 24-32 FG, 13-16 from two-point range, 11-16 from downtown, six steals, five assists, one turnover, 61 points.Keiton tallied 17 in the first, 18 in the second. He followed that with 21 in the third and closed out with five in the fourth. He was taken out of the game with 4:50 left.
Talking with David, it was easy to hear how proud he was of his son. I asked him how hard is it on a night like that to stay a coach instead of being a beaming papa. David was honest and said it was difficult but did say the two have a special bond and are able to separate the coach/player and father/son relationships.
Pawnee is quite busy, starting with a road trip to Pawhuska on Thursday. Homecoming is Friday against Newkirk, followed by a Monday bout with Luther. Hmm, three games, no way Keiton gets 3,000, right? At 2,756 points, he would need to average more than 80 per contest in the next week. So it’s a pipe dream, but give it another week, and we will be talking about the next 3,000-point club member.
The win moved Pawnee to 6-2 but look at the schedule: two games with Frontier, Heritage Hall (No. 4 in 3A), Verdigris (No. 2 in 3A), Stringtown (No. 1 in B) and Jenks (No. 2 in 6A). There’s something to be said about going out and playing the best.
Life without Nic Combs
By Ray Martin
rmartin@oklahoman.com
Edmond Santa Fe guard and leading scorer Nic Combs (17.8 ppg) will miss tonight’s game against Mustang, and likely Friday night’s matchup with Edmond North after spending most of Monday in an Oklahoma City hospital.
According to Combs’ father, William Combs, the senior became ill after No. 3 Santa Fe beat Norman last Friday in the McGuinness tournament. He was lethargic, and ultimately ineffective (scoring only four points) in Santa Fe’s final round loss to McGuinness Saturday night.
Combs was taken to the Mercy Hospital emergency room Monday morning and did not leave until midnight. Doctors said Combs experienced severe dehydration, and likely became ill because of parasites or food poisoning.
I wish Combs a quick recovery, and I’m sure his teammates do as well.
So how will Santa Fe manage without its star? For all practical purposes, we saw how it played without Combs Saturday against McGuinness. Not to negate McGuinness’s win, but a healthy Combs would have changed the entire tone of that game. I think Santa Fe can survive against Mustang and Edmond North, but if Combs decides to wait until next Thursday to return (when Santa Fe plays in the Jenks tournament), expect a loss to No. 4 Putnam North next Tuesday.
Santa Fe won at PC North earlier this season. PC North wants revenge, and they would love to try to get it without having to worry about containing Combs.
UPDATE: Well, I was wrong about Santa Fe surviving without Combs until next Tuesday. The wolves lost to Mustang tonight, 50-46. Santa Fe coach Shawn Schenk, though, said the absence of Combs is not to blame for tonight’s loss.
“We didn’t block out and gave up a ton of offensive rebounds. We didn’t guard anybody, didn’t get to the free throw line,” said Schenk, who made his team run through an additional practice after the game. “They played harder than us, and they deserved to win.”
By Justin Harper
Staff Writer
Millwood is on fire.
Not the school, the girls basketball team. Few squads in the state are on as hot of a roll as Millwood. The Falcons are 12-0 and coming off a title-winning showing at the SNU/Bethany Classic in which it beat two Class 4A teams that were ranked in the top four in the Oklahoman’s rankings and previously undefeated. Both by double digits, too. Millwood is in Class 3A.
Because they play in the top-to-bottom toughest class, the Falcons are ranked third this week. Three-time defending champion Sequoyah-Tahlequah is No. 1 and defending Class 2A champion Washington is at No. 2. Nonetheless, Millwood is proving that it could very well challenge for the state crown behind seniors Brittany Demery and Ronita Coleman.
Here are my current Class 3A rankings:
Class 3A
1. Seqouyah-Tahlequah (1) 10-2
2. Washington (2) 7-2
3. Millwood (4) 12-0
4. Kansas (7) 10-1
5. Verdigris (NR) 8-7
6. Adair (NR) 9-4
7. Kingfisher (5) 7-2
8. Bethel (3) 8-2
The class is absolutely loaded top to bottom. Area tournaments are going to have state-tourney atmoshpere because of the multitude of strong teams.
Class 4A is looking really strong, too, thanks to some surprises. Check back for more on that.
Look out for Edmond North?!?!
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
On Thursday night, the Edmond North girls basketball team upset sixth-ranked (4A) Idabel. It wasn’t the win that was shocking, but the 56-40 handling of Idabel was.
Kevin Korstjens’ girls followed that with a victory over Ada, the host team of the East Central Classic.
It was a cute little story, but there was no way the Lady Huskies could topple Choctaw, right?? And not after trailing 18-1 in the first quarter, right?
Wrong. Behind stellar play from wise-beyond-her-years freshman Elizabeth Donohoe, Edmond North pulled off a fitting end in the final act, winning 54-53 on a game-winning free throw by Donohoe with eight seconds left.
That’s just how quickly 4-7 becomes 7-7.
Korstjens credits the turnaround to something basic: being healthy. He said no one has been severely injured or anything like that, but girls have been nicked up for a while.
Donohoe has been the spark for the Lady Huskies. This team was 6-16 last year and is another example of a fine turnaround.
Right now, Donohoe is playing in the post, but Korstjens said it varies as Donohoe has a fine perimeter game as well.
All ‘n all, a pretty good week for the Huskies. The boys won the consolation championship at McGuinness with a convincing 65-43 victory over Northeast.
It just gets tougher from here as Edmond North is at Choctaw on Tuesday night. You know full well the Lady Yellowjackets have revenge on their mind – should be fun.
