Looking back on Douglass-Bridge Creek hoops
There are moments as a sports writer when — no matter how well you do your job — you can’t fully capture in words the drama and excitement and passion and uniqueness of a moment.
Saturday evening at the Big House was one of those for me. Simply seeing the State Fair Arena nearly full for the Douglass-Bridge Creek Class 4A boys title game was fantastic. Hearing the crowd screaming with every call, every shot, every rebound was a blast.
Bridge Creek’s Ryan Spangler simply tried to put his team on his back and carry them to a championship. He played point guard, wing and center. Handled the ball, drove to the basket, posted up, went to the boards, blocked shots, dished out assists.
He gave everything he could to will the Bobcats to the win. By the second quarter, he was exhausted. After halftime, he didn’t even bother warming up with his team. Just watched them from the bench, waiting for the third quarter to start.
But in the end, Douglass was just too much. Marquis Buxton-Hill and the Jenkins twins battled with Spangler all night. It was big-time basketball, and incredibly fun to watch.
Douglass sophomore Stephen Clark was cold from deep, but he kept at it, going to the bucket and doing other little things to help his team. DeVonte Smith showed why he’s one of the most underrated players around, getting to the rim with ease at times.
I still believe Douglass was the state’s best team in any class this season, though I’d love to see them play Tulsa Washington. And though there’s a debate to be had on the topic, I think Spangler might be the state’s best player.
It ultimately was a 12-point Douglass victory, but it was the most entertaining game I’ve watched in a long, long time.
Here’s our postgame video from the Douglass win:
Another great moment from the Big House Saturday night was the final game of the night, the Centennial boys winning the school’s first state title.
That was an fun one, too, with not only the students, but facutly members celebrating like 17-year-olds. One woman, who looked like an adminstrator, was clapping so hard that she broke one of the bracelets on her wrist, which broke into pieces and flew all over the court.
Here’s a link to my follow-up story on the Centennial victory, which also includes the postgame video.
Congrats to all the champions from the Big House the last two weekends. Lots of good basketball. Sad to see the season end.
Be on the lookout for our postseason awards, Super 5, Big and Little All-City, and all that good stuff in a few weeks.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
OKC Player of the Week: T’aries Taylor, Northwest Classen
Hard to imagine, but I think the All-City Athletic Conference might be better this year than it was last year. Northwest Classen is a big part of the surge.
The Knights took third place in a loaded field at the Edmond Open over the weekend, with T’aries Taylor leading the team in scoring in two of the three games.
Taylor scored 26 in the opener against Tulsa Central and followed it up with 19 in the third place game against Lawton Mac to earn all-tournament honors at the Edmond Open.
With Taylor providing a reliable scoring option alongside point guard Jamil Donovan, the Knights will be a team to watch in Class 5A this season. At 5-1 on the season, NWC is up to No. 4 in this week’s rankings.
Other contenders
Talmadge Lawrence, John Marshall: Lawrence averaged 18.5 points in a pair of wins over Star Spencer and Bethany last week. DeMontrey Mitchell also scored 19 against Bethany.
Caleb Crayton, Northeast: Scored 20 in a close win over Centennial, then he and Gabe Houston each had 18 in a win over Chickasha at the Harrah tournament. Crayton had 17, behind 24 from Eric Peabody, on Saturday in a close loss to Choctaw.
Delford Robinson and Michael Ervin, Millwood: Robinson led the Falcons in scoring twice at the Millwood tournament, including 14 in the opener. Ervin had a team-high 12 in the third-place game, an 18-point win over Capitol Hill.
Nico Meadows, Capitol Hill: Meadows had 24 points against US Grant as the sophomore continues to make an early impact for the Redskins.
Tona Edwards and Brianna Pendleton, Northeast: Edwards had 25 against Centennial and Pendleton had 19 in a win over Putnam City. Edwards had 15 against PC and scored 22 of the team’s 35 against Carl Albert. Pendleton led the team with 17 in the championship loss to Del City.
Sharane Campbell and LaKeitha Watson, Star Spencer: Campbell, an OU signee, had 25 in a win over John Marshall and 17 to help Star take third at the Millwood Invitational. Watson had a team-high 20 in the third-place game.
Meshelle Parker, Northwest Classen: Scored 19 points in a win over Classen last Tuesday.
Dayla Threat, Millwood: Averaged 17.5 points over four games last week, helping the Falcons to a runner-up finish at their own tournament.
Te’era Williams, Douglass: Had a team-high 21 against Chickasha on Friday.
All-City Athletic Conference football honors
Here are the All-City Athletic Conference postseason honors for football, as chosen by the coaches:
All-City Athletic Conference Football Team
Coach of the Year – Michael Branch, Southeast
Player of the Year – Marcus Caddell, Douglass; Brandon Swindall, Millwood
Defensive Player of the Year – Devante McKinney, Douglass; Davion Pierson, Millwood
Offensive Player of the Year – Aliston Cobb, Douglass; Kevonte Richardson, Millwood
Special Teams Player of the Year – Josh Turner, Millwood; Carlos Hudson, Star Spencer
Defensive Lineman of the Year – Clifford Lawrence, Millwood
Tri-Linebacker of the Year – Erik King, Douglass; Larry Seals, Millwood; Denzelle Johnson, John Marshall
Defensive Back of the Year – Jay Gogue, Southeast; Brison Currin, Centennial
Offensive Lineman of the Year – Ravi Riley, Douglass
Offensive Back of the Year – Kody Shields, John Marshall
Receiver of the Year – Tyrone Jones, Centennial; Michael Cole, Millwood
All-City Athletic Conference 1st Team Defense
Defensive Line – Dejon Brison, John Marshall; Shawn Hudson, Southeast; Tyrele Pendleton, Centennial; Markus Jackson, Southeast
Linebackers – Ian Robinson, Douglass; Tre Jones, Northwest; Allen Starks, Millwood; Tavin Deloney, Southeast
Defensive Backs – Donnell Ward, Douglass; Stevo Henderson, Star Spencer; Robert Bui, Northeast
Punter – Irving Roa, John Marshall
All-City Athletic Conference 1st Team Offense
Quarterback – Shon Bridges, Douglass
Running Backs – Ontinneil Zavala, Capitol Hill; Anthony Frazier, Southeast
Receivers – Johnny Do, Capitol Hill, Aljone Stringer, Centennial
Offensive Line – Michael Blackmon, Douglass; Kody Stamm, John Marshall; Spencer Davis, Centennial; Ramon Miller, Star Spencer; Kyvonta Smith, Douglass
Place Kicker – Tony Zamarripa, Northwest Classen
Honorable Mention
Capitol Hill – Deantre Williams, Brandon Johnson, Zack Dixon
Centennial – Charles Sebree, Chad Hester
Douglass – Jason Holloway
Millwood – Michael Ervin, Shevin Patton,
Northeast – Alvin Scott, Josh Ray, Justin Moore
Northwest Classen – Larry Mathis, Berkeley Lopez, Tarig Ismil
Southeast – Jovan Ramos, Nelson Williams, Jose Cardoza
Star Spencer – Marcus Singleton, Lashan Penny
OKC Player (Team) of the Week: Douglass football
No reason to nit-pick in trying to find one player who was more valuable to the Douglass Trojans winning the Class 4A state football championship with the 20-13 overtime victory against Wagoner Saturday night in Stillwater.
It could have been Aliston Cobb, with his 240 rushing yards and two TDs. Or Donnell Ward and Marcus Caddell for the passing connection on the winning TD, as well as their stout pass defense, including Ward’s two interceptions. Or Erik King for his interception in overtime to seal the victory. Or the offensive line for their run blocking. Or the defensive front for their seven sacks. Or…
OK, so you get it. A state championship is a team effort, and that was truly the case for the Trojans Saturday night. Everyone played well, and they all get the honor as the OKC Player of the Week… though I’m sure the gold ball is all the congratulations they needed.
Other contenders
Kevonte Richardson and Brandon Swindall, Millwood football: Richardson, the Falcon QB did all he could, overcoming two early interceptions to have a strong performance, despite the loss. Swindall had six grabs for 120 yards and a TD, as well as another interception — his state-leading 18th on the year.
Marquis Buxton-Hill, Douglass boys basketball: The 6-foot-9 senior poured in 27 in the Trojans’ rout of US Grant in the All-City Conference opener.
Eric Peabody, Northeast boys basketball: Peabody had 28 points as the Vikings pulled out a 70-67 win over Wichita Falls-Hirschi.
DeQuante Taylor, John Marshall boys basketball: Taylor scored 18 to lead the Bears to a season-opening win over Heritage Hall.
Nico Meadows, Capitol Hill boys basketball: Scored 23 and 18 points as the Redskins opened the season with a pair of wins.
Te’era Williams, Douglass girls basketball: Williams had 22 in the opener, a 42-point win over US Grant.
Tona Edwards and Brianna Pendleton, Northeast girls basketball: Scored 15 and 14 sports, respectively, in NE’s rout of Wichita Falls-Hirschi.
D’Carla Kirk and Kebrina Hartfield, Centennial girls basketball: Kirk had 16 and Hartfield 14 in the Bison victory over ASTEC.
– Send POW nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com
District 3A-3 honors
There’s no doubting District 3A-3 was the toughest in the class — just check the semifinals for verification.
And when you look at the players of the year, you see just how impressive that group of teams was. So here they are, all the “… of the Year” honors for District 3A-3:
Coach of the Year: Andy Bogert, Heritage Hall
MVP: Derek Patterson, QB, Kingfisher
Offensive MVP: Blake Riojas, RB, Newcastle
Defensive MVP: Darren Daveport, DT, Bethany
Quarterback of the Year: Cooper Cloud, Heritage Hall
Running back of the Year: Devin Campbell, Bethany
Wide receiver of the Year: Tyrone Jones, Centennial
Offensive lineman of the Year: Gonzalo Delatorre, Kingfisher
Tight end of the Year: Spencer Davis, Centennial
Defensive lineman of the Year: Landon Chapple, Newcastle
Defensive end of the Year: Kody Stamm, John Marshall
Linebacker of the Year: Denzelle Johnson, John Marshall
Defensive back of the Year: Jeremy McDade, Newcastle
Returner of the Year: Jeremy Smith, Kingfisher
Punter of the Year: Kevin Shoebinger, Newcastle
Co-Kickers of the Year: Preston Waltman, Kingfisher, and Irving Roa, John Marshall
OKC playoff prognosis
A lot can happen in the last two weeks, but here’s a look at where some of the OKC teams stand in their playoff races:
Looking good
Douglass (6-2, 5-0)
Remaining games: vs. Glenpool, vs. Cleveland
Prognosis: Win this week and it’s all over. Douglass will sew up the 4A-2 title with a win against Glenpool on Friday. That would put them against the No. 4 from 4A-1, where Woodward and McGuinness are currently tied.
Millwood (8-0, 4-0)
Remaining games: at Northeast, at Lexington
Prognosis: One more win is all it will take to assure the Falcons of a district title and a playoff opener against the No. 4 seed from 2A-1 (right now it would be OCS or Tonkawa). Of course, that’s not what they’re chasing. Their goals are focused in December.
Barely hanging on
Northwest Classen (1-7, 1-4)
Remaining games: at Durant, at Lawton MacArthur
Prognosis: Must win out and get some help. The Knights are sitting in seventh one game behind a three-way tie for the fourth spot.
Northeast (2-6, 1-3)
Remaining games: vs. Millwood, at Jones
Prognosis: The good news is the Vikings could win twice and potentially get in. The bad news is they have to play the two best teams in the district the final two weeks.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Heritage Hall vs. Centennial Capsule…
By Robert Przybylo and Scott Wright
BPrzybylo@opubco.com; SWright@opubco.com
Heritage Hall vs. Centennial
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Moses F. Miller Stadium (game moved to Douglass)
Heritage (W – Casady 35-16, W – Clinton 37-17, W – Davis 21-12)
Why the Chargers can win: Because there isn’t a test this team can’t pass. Win against a physical team like Clinton? Done. Win on the road in a tough environment at Davis? Done. This team is growing up right before our eyes in what could develop into an extremely special season.
Centennial
Why Centennial could win: This Bison offense, led by QB Brison Currin, has been able to score points every game, and that will be what they need to do Thursday. Currin has a lot of weapons around him, and if he can utilize them, the Bison should be able to move down the field.
Boneman’s key matchup: Centennial offense vs. Heritage defense. With Sterling Shepard and Barry J. Sanders, the offense gets a lot of love. But only giving up 12 points to Davis was impressive and there are so many playmakers on this side of the ball.
Scott’s key matchup: Centennial defense vs. Barry J. Sanders. The Bison struggled to slow down another strong junior running back, Anadarko’s Sheldon Wilson. If you can’t stop Sanders, it’s hard to beat the Chargers.
Boneman’s pick: Heritage Hall 38, Centennial 13. Healthy dose of Sanders early combined with top-notch defense gives Chargers another road win.
Scott’s pick: Heritage Hall 35, Centennial 20. This Charger team just looks too good. Centennial has playoff potential, but pulling off this upset is asking a lot.
Boneman’s Heritage prediction record: 3-0.
Centennial-Heritage Hall game moved to Douglass
Thursday night’s football game between Centennial and Heritage Hall has been moved to Moses F. Miller Stadium at Douglass High School.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Star Spencer’s Twidwell Stadium, but had to be moved because of a large water main break at the field.
Kickoff is still scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
OKC: Previewing district play
Sometimes I just abandon all creative instincts and copy what Boneman does. This is one of those times.
So let’s take a look at what some of the OKC schools face as we get ready for the start of district play:
Millwood (3-0)
It’s going to be a while before the Falcons face a team as good as what they’ve seen the last two weeks in Douglass and McGuinness. Those are two of the best teams in 4A, and none of the competition in 2A-2 is going to exceed that.
Jones (Week 6) and Lexington (Week 10) are a couple of big games to look ahead to, but with easiejr competition, the key for the Falcons will be making sure not to let their guard down. They’ve got the talent to win every game they play. It’s just a matter of staying focused.
Week 4: The new seven-team districts in most of A-3A have led to some scheduling craziness. Millwood closes out the preseason portion of its schedule at Alva Friday night, then opens 2A-2 play at home against Luther the following week.
Douglass (1-2)
After finally getting into the win column, the Trojans are heading into district play on a high note. And in terms of west-side districts, 4A-2 is much more favorable than 4A-1, which has teams like McGuinness, Elgin, Elk City, Cache and Woodward. The Week 9 meeting with Glenpool (the two teams are 4 and 5 in the rankings this week) could be for the district title.
Though Douglass won last week, there was some difficulty, with coach Willis Alexander sending his starting QB, Shon Bridges, and RB, Aliston Cobb, to the bench at one point. But I’d expect Alexander to get everything sorted out.
Week 4: The Trojans open district play with a visit from Tecumseh, which lost 35-13 to Deer Creek last week. The Antlers hit some big plays with the run, so look for Douglass to try the same thing.
Star Spencer (0-3)
I paid a visit to Star Spencer practice on Monday, and there’s some sense of relief in the arrival of district play. After battling through a difficult preseason, the Bobcats are ready for a fresh start.
And district action gets off to a fast start, too. Friday’s game at home against Chandler pits the two teams who were viewed as the preseason favorites in 3A-4. Perkins is a team that has looked good in the first three weeks, and the Bobcats go there in Week 6.
Star gets its break from district action in Week 9 with a game against Victory Christian.
Week 4: As I said, it starts with Chandler this week. No one in the district is currently ranked in the 3A top 10, and these two teams would like to change that.
Southeast (3-0)
Michael Branch has his team off to a great start, but as we’ve discussed before, the Spartans are in possibly the toughest district around. Two top-three teams await in Guthrie and Carl Albert, as well as No. 7 Deer Creek. The move of Jay Gogue to running back seems to have inspired the running game, and the defense has been solid all year.
I won’t be surprised to see this team step up and upset someone at some point during the season.
Week 4: The district action begins with Ada coming to Southeast this Friday. This could be a more important game than it seems right now. These two teams could be battling for the final playoff spot in this district if things go well for Southeast.
John Marshall (2-1)
As expected, the Bears have been strong on defense so far this year. Even in their loss to Cache, they still only gave up 15 points. They’re stuck in a challenging district, with Heritage Hall, Kingfisher, Bethany, Newcastle and Centennial. So with opponents like that, a good defense will come in handy.
The question will be whether the young offense can come along and put up enough points to win some big games.
Week 4: The Bears open with Bethany Thursday night at Taft Stadium. It should be a good test for the JM defense. Bethany brings a balanced offensive attack with QB Ryley Claborn and RB Devin Campbell.
Centennial (2-1)
No sense in waiting around, and that’s the case for Centennial, which opens district play with one of the hottest teams in the state, No. 3 Heritage Hall.
It’s a tough district, and there are a couple of key games waiting in next few weeks, with games against Newcastle and John Marshall. Both of those games will go a long way toward separating the middle of the district. The Bison are one of the teams who got stuck with Week 10 as its district off week. They’ll close out the season against 2A Hennessey.
Week 4: The opener against Heritage Hall on Friday night will be a big test for the Bison defense, which struggled to slow down Anadarko — certainly no shame in losing to a team like the Warriors, but like Anadarko, Heritage Hall has a strong running game that few have been able to slow down.
Other OKC teams
US Grant opens district play Thursday night with the suddenly scary Putnam City Pirates, who are 3-0 and routed Choctaw last week… Capitol Hill begins district action against one of 5A’s best teams, Duncan, on Thursday… Northeast, also in 2A-2 with Millwood, will try to build on last week’s success in its district opener against a Lexington team that has earned its spot in the top 10… Altus visits Northwest Classen on Friday night for the 5A-2 opener.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
OKC Player of the Week: Millwood defense
You could throw a dart at the Millwood roster and probably hit someone who made a significant play in the Falcons’ 48-41 win over McGuinness last Friday.
And though the numbers might not appear to make sense, I’m going with the Millwood defense as the Oklahoma City Players of the Week. Yes, the Falcon D gave up 41 points and 362 yards, but less than 100 of those yards came in the second half when Millwood needed their defense the most.
And the defense got takeaways on McGuinness’ first two possessions of the game — including the interception Clifford Lawrence took back 73 yards for a touchdown — to help the Falcons build a 20-0 lead.
Kevonte Richardson’s 200 passing yards and 144 rushing yards — including a 92-yard TD run — were ultra-impressive. Smae for Mike Cole’s three catches for three TDs. Brandon Swindall had multiple important catches and Shevin Patton averaged more than 10 yards per carry at running back.
And Millwood needed all of those contributions, but the top award goes to the defense, guys like Lawrence, Larry Seals, Josh Turner and Davion Pierson.
Seals was all over the place all night long, despite playing with a huge cast on one hand. Pierson battled dehydration throughout the night, but came up with two huge plays on McGuinness’ final offensive series, making a tackle in the backfield and sniffing out a screen pass to make another stop at the line of scrimmage.
That play came right before Swindall’s interception that sealed the victory.
Other contenders
Marcus Caddell and Diontay Washington, Douglass: Washington rushed for 60 yards on 10 carries, including two early TDs, and Caddell made the game’s biggest play, a 38-yard interception return for a score.
Jay Gogue, Southeast: Gogue led the Spartans to a third straight win, knocking off Capitol Hill. Gogue rushed for 165 yards and five TDs.
Brison Currin, Centennial: Coach Mark Ryan praised his quarterback for managing the offense well as the Bison head into Week 4 with a 2-1 record.
Aron Gaines and Migual Potts, Northeast: Each player had two TDs, with Gaines pulling in scoring receptions of 12 and 30 yards, and Potts rushing for scores of 48 and 54 yards as the Vikings defeated Riverside 38-6.
Send nominations for OKC Player of the Week to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com
