District 3A-3 postseason honors
Here are the coaches’ postseason awards for District 3A-3:
Coach of the Year: Andy Bogert, Heritage Hall
MVP: Sterling Shephard, Heritage Hall
Offensive Player of the Year: Barry J. Sanders, Heritage Hall
Defensive Player of the Year: Markus Wakefield, Heritage Hall
Back of the Year: Brett Gilstrap, Bethany
Co-Quarterback of the Year: Ryley Clayborn, Bethany
Co-Quarterback of the Year: Quinn Shanbour, Heritage Hall
Offensive Lineman: Hunter Endres, Kingfisher
Receiver of the Year: Cale Courtney, Heritage Hall
Defensive End of the Year: Quintaz Struble, Heritage Hall
Defensive Tackle of the Year: Willy Hanvold, Kingfisher
Outside Linebacker of the Year: Ross Clifton, Heritage Hall
Inside Linebacker of the Year: Colton Cheap, Kingfisher
Defensive Back of the Year: Grayson Haws, Bethany
Co-Kicker of the Year: Cole Rinke, Bethany
Co-Kicker of the Year: Ryan Ross, Newcastle
Special Teams Player of the Year: Gage Diffee, Bethany
Special Recognition: Mark Ryan, Centennial head coach
Injured Athlete Recognition: Brent Gaddis, Heritage Hall
Injured Athlete Recognition: Garrett McGrady, Bethany
All-City Athletic Conference postseaon honors
All-City Athletic Conference 2011 Football Team
Coach of the Year: Tony Henry, Millwood
Coach’s Special Recognition: Mark Ryan, Centennial
Player of the Year: Cayman Bundage, Douglass
Defensive Player of the Year: Jas’Sen Stoner, Douglass
Offensive Player of the Year: Dametric Sanders, Millwood
Co-Special Teams Players of the Year: Quincy Rideau, Star Spencer; Juan Campos, Northwest Classen
Defensive Lineman of the Year: Bobby Wilkes, Millwood
Co-Linebackers of the Year: Marc Robinson, Millwood; Gumaro Murphy, Southeast
Defensive Back of the Year: O’Sha Clark, Douglass
Co-Offensive Linemen of the Year: Devin Dobbins, Millwood; Dale Burch, Star Spencer
Offensive Back of the Year: Luis Leyva, Capitol Hill
Receiver of the Year: Kameron Bryant, John Marshall
First Team Defense
Defensive Line: Christian Nicholson, U.S. Grant; Kevin Williams, John Marshall; Codie Nolan, Northwest Classen; Genaro Monter, Southeast; Justin Woody, Northeast
Linebackers: Derrick Ward, Star Spencer; Andrew Bailey, Douglass; Malcolm Scales, Millwood; Francis Taylor, Capitol Hill
Defensive Backs: TyLiq Braziell, Southeast; Brandon Morse, Capitol Hill; Derrick Young, U.S. Grant; Chris Compton, Douglass
Punter: Carlos Morales, U.S. Grant
First Team Offense
Quarterback: Christian Gorham, Northwest Classen; Michael Thomas, Northeast
Running Backs: Cory Hooks, U.S. Grant
Receivers: Trevon Willis, Northeast; Marvin Kerbo, Northwest Classen; Deonte Childs, Douglass
Offensive Line: Diamonte McClellan, Douglass; Charles Hayes, Star Spencer; Jacob Tavarez, U.S. Grant; Harvey Hightower, Millwood; Michael Holder, Southeast; David Johnson, John Marshall
Place Kicker: Antonio Cueto, Southeast
Honorable Mention
Capitol Hill: Maleke Dixon, Jerrad Fomin
Douglass: Davon Barber
Millwood: Marquise Kemp
Northeast: Savon Peevy, Demarkus Long
Northwest Classen: Marcus Ervin
Southeast: Nolan Payne, Michael McAnelly, Dominique Schweitzer, Nicholas Chamberlain
Star Spencer: Quintrae Kendrick
U.S. Grant: Eric Benevue, Javier Tarrazas
All-City Preview basketball tournaments begin Tuesday
Douglass junior Stephen Clark and the two-time defending Class 4A state champion Trojans will be in action at the All-City Preview tournament, which begins on Tuesday night.
The All-City Preview, the preseason basketball tournament featuring the Oklahoma City Public Schools and Millwood, begins Tuesday evening at Northwest Classen and Capitol Hill. The tournaments will be concluded on Thursday with championship and third-place games, as well as loser’s bracket competition.
Each site will host seven games on Tuesday, between both boys and girls teams. All 11 schools from the All-City Athletic Conference will participate, including a pair defending champions, the Douglass and Centennial boys teams.
Here is the schedule for Tuesday’s games:
Girls
At Capitol Hill
5 p.m.: Star Spencer vs. Centennial
6 p.m.: Classen SAS vs. Capitol Hill
7 p.m.: Northeast vs. Star/Centennial winner
8 p.m.: Douglass vs. Classen/Capitol Hill winner
At Northwest Classen
5:30 p.m.: US Grant vs. John Marshall
6:30 p.m.: Northwest Classen vs. Southeast
7:30 p.m.: Millwood vs. US Grant/John Marshall winner
Boys
At Northwest Classen
5 p.m.: Southeast vs. US Grant
6 p.m.: Millwood vs. John Marshall
7 p.m.: Northwest Classen vs. Southeast/US Grant winner
8 p.m.: Centennial vs. Millwood/John Marshall winner
At Capitol Hill
5:30 p.m.: Star Spencer vs. Classen SAS
6:30 p.m.: Capitol Hill vs. Northeast
7:30 p.m.: Douglass vs. Star/Classen winner
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
Video: Douglass QB Chris Compton after All-City Preview
Douglass won the All-City Preview championship once again on Friday night, but just like last year, the discussion turned to a much more important trophy than the one the Trojans claimed Friday.
It’s all about another state title for this team, which starts its season Sept. 5 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, against DeSoto High School
It won’t be an easy game, and the Trojans know that. For the sake of comparison, DeSoto’s official enrollment is 2,750. Douglass’ is 495. If you moved DeSoto to Oklahoma, they’d be the fourth-largest school, right behind Jenks (2,843) and just ahead of Owasso (2,604).
I’ll get into the game a little more throughout the week, and I’ll be traveling down to Texas for the game as well.
Here are a few other thoughts from the semifinals and finals of the All-City Preview:
-Millwood still has a lot of talent, and even though they graduated so many Division I players from last year’s squad, I don’t expect to see a ton of drop-off. Dametric Sanders is a very athletic quarterback who is dangerous when he gets to the edge. Marc Robinson didn’t get to play in the scrimmage because of OSSAA rules as he completed his required one year of sitting out after transferring from Heritage Hall. He’ll be a big boost, especially on defense. He and Larry Lambeth will be one of the better linebacker pairs around.
-John Marshall is still young, even though some of those guys, like quarterback Devion Smith, got some good experience last year. Kameron Bryant is a tall, athletic receiver with good ball skills, and he could be in for a big breakout year. He’ll be a tough matchup for any cornerback in that district. Tyler Stamm provides a big, athletic tight end target as well, so look for the passing game to take a step forward this year. Defensively, the secondary is the strenght of the team, but the front seven seems to be coming together.
-Star Spencer coach James Harding always talks about making his players accountable, and he’s clearly going to be a man of his word. The Bobcats opened fall camp with 62 players but had fewer than 40 suited up Friday night. Players who missed practices or got in trouble at school were held out as Harding implements his value system in his new program. On the field, the Bobcats will rely on defense, especially with a couple of athletic, hard-hitting players in the front seven. Kenneth Davis and Derrick Ward are two good leaders and both — but Davis especially — can pop the pads.
Lastly, don’t forget that our state-wide, class-by-class season preview publication will be included in Sunday’s paper. Be sure to pick one up. We have everything from preseason rankings, all-state teams and feature stories on some of the best dynamic duos in the state. It’s a little different than in past years. Instead of having separate sections for OU, OSU and high schools, it’s all one big section together, so don’t miss it.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
Construction won’t be a distraction for John Marshall
Construction crews broke ground on what will be John Marshall’s new football stadium back in the spring and the work will make finding a spot for fall camp a little tricky.
But Bears coach Bruce Troxell is in no mood to hear any of his players complaining about the situation.
“No excuses,” he said. “You take what you’ve got and you go from there. We can get on the practice field. We can get on the baseball field.
“The kids are excited about what’s happening. There’s a buzz around the school, people asking all the time, ‘When’s it gonna be done?’”
The track has been laid, and the stripes were scheduled to be painted last week, but the heat caused a delay. The football field and stadium will be ready to open for the 2012 season.
I’ll be checking in on the Bears later this week to see how camp is going. I heard a lot of good things over the summer, so they could make things even tougher in an already brutal district.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Boys basketball All-City Athletic Conference awards
All-City Athletic Conference Selections
Co-Coaches of the Year: Terry Long(Douglass)and Scott Raper(Centennial)
Co-Players of the Year: Devonte Smith(Douglass) and Tyrone Jones(Centennial)
Newcomer of the Year: Caleb Cryton( Northeast)
First Team:
Dorrian Williams – Douglass, Stephen Clark- Douglass, Ramond Jenkins- Douglass, Romond Jenkins- Douglass, Tre Jordan- Southeast
Second Team:
Jamil Donovan- Northwest Classen, Marcus Johnson- Centennial, Marquis Buxton-Hill- Douglass, Nico Meadows- Capitol Hill, Dre’ Triplett- Millwood,
Third Team:
Korihon Jackson- Northeast, Dominique Manuel- Douglass, Craig Hackney- Centennial, DeSean Carolina- Centennial, DeMontrey Mitchell- John Marshall
Honorable Mention:
Capitol Hill- Josh Thompson, Aaron Brown, Darrin Tucker
Classen- Cameron McClure, Anthony Bolar
Douglass- Darris Mitchell, DeAngelo Clark
U.S. Grant- Anthony Hartfield, G’vonte Bonds
John Marshall- Talmadge Lawrence, Tyler Harrison
Centennial- Darius Lacey, Austin Garner
Northeast- Eric Peabody, Gabe Houston,
NW Classen- Paco Jones, Anthony Hardrick
Southeast- William Brewer, Travis Morris, Jay Gogue
Star Spencer- Gary Ford, Symon Smith
Star Spencer’s Symon Smith puts on a show
Star Spencer junior Symon Smith made seven 3-pointers to lead the Bobcats to a playoff upset of John Marshall Thursday night.
I didn’t know what to expect from Star Spencer Thursday night. Based on the last time I had seen them play, I knew it could be bad, but you always expect to see a good battle between All-City Conference teams, especially in the playoffs.
Still, it was hard to shake the memory of that 104-26 loss to Douglass back in January the last time I saw the Bobcats.
But Symon Smith helped me put that memory behind me quickly. He came out gunning from 3-point range, and I don’t think he even hit the rim on the first four he made. He hit seven in all and finished with 28 points in the 66-63 upset of No. 13 John Marshall.
This was a huge win for Star. With the season they’ve battled through, these kids deserved something good to happen.
Gary Ford doesn’t have the size some of Star’s big men have had in the last couple years, but he’s long, and he works hard on the boards. He also has the offensive skill to go out on the perimeter, which makes him a tough matchup.
It’s easy to forget how good Star was last year, and the fact that all five starters went on to play college ball somewhere. Not only did they fill up the starting lineup, they ate a lot of minutes, so Smith and Ford were the only two guys who really got a lot of varsity action off the bench.
The most impressive thing Thursday night was that after grabbing the early lead — Star went up 21-9 in the first quarter — and seeing John Marshall slowly chip away at it, the Bobcats never caved in. The Bears’ Tyler Harrison started matching Smith swish for swish from long range, and JM eventually pulled within three points late in the third quarter.
But despite the fact that they had only won five games coming into Thursday night, the Bobcats stayed focused and held on for the win.
Ford finished with 14 points and Anthony Hardimon had 13. Sophomore Jaylen Mustin only scored two points, but his two clutch free throws with less than 20 seconds remaining iced the game for the Bobcats.
“We’re just happy to get this win,” Smith said. “We’re turning it around in the playoffs. It’s been a hard season.
“Everybody’s been counting us out, and that’s why this feels so good.”
The Bobcats will be back in action Saturday night at Harrah against a stout Piedmont team. The Wildcats will pose a tougher matchup, especially with a 6-foot-5 horse like Keith Vick creating a tough matchup. But Thursday’s win guarantees Star a spot in the area tournament next week in Chickasha.
John Marshall faces McLoud in an elimination game tonight at 8 in Harrah, needing two wins to get to area.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Wild Day 1 at the PCI
I remember looking at the bracket for last year’s Putnam City Invitational and thinking it was a great tournament.
And they topped themselves this year.
Seven of the teams are ranked in the top 20 of their class, and the only unranked squad is Lawton Eisenhower, which was a preseason top 10 team, but is playing without 6-foot-8 junior D’Andre Wright, out with a broken leg since the season opener.
Of the seven ranked teams, Tulsa Union and Putnam City West are the only ones outside of the top 10 in their class — and they both won in Thursday’s first round.
So, yeah, this tournament is pretty loaded. Here’s a look at Day 1, with Friday’s schedule out at PC West:
Thursday’s results
Putnam City 59, Lawton Eisenhower 49
Midwest City 69, John Marshall 45
Tulsa Union 65, Putnam City North 64
Putnam City West 65, Stillwater 60
Friday’s games
John Marshall vs. PC North, 2 p.m.
Lawton Eisenhower vs. Stillwater, 3:30 p.m.
Midwest City vs. Tulsa Union, 6:30 p.m.
Putnam City vs. PC West, 8 p.m.
A few things that stood out to me…
– A.D. Burtschi is playing a lot more young/inexperienced guys than you typically see from a Putnam City team. But after losing four players who were full- or at least part-time starters a year ago, that was to be expected. The talent is there, but the Pirates have some growing up to do. With Burtschi’s passion for fundamentals and doing things right, you know he’ll get the youthful kinks worked out by March. Dom Raney and Ron’Quis Lewis are big-time talents, so as long as the other guys come together around them, this team will be fine.
– PC West guard Kyndall Dudley is ready to become a star. He would put some good games together last season, but you always wondered if he would be able to do it without Tyler Neal and Amric Fields drawing all the defensive attention. The answer is yes, loud and clear. He hit a pair of big 3s and a couple very impressive short-range jumpers on his way to 27 on the night.
– PC North just can’t catch a break. Top scorer Armon Provo has played through flu-like symptoms in two games this season, including Thursday night. He missed another with an ankle sprain, and was hampered by the injury in another. On Thursday, the last-second loss to Union came when the Redskin point guard tried to drive the lane, but lost the ball, which bounced to Geb Osifeso for a winning 12-foot jumper. Joe Summers, who also played sick in a game earlier this year, made several big plays and scored 22 Thursday. Oh, and the Panthers are still without coach Rick Harris, who has not recovered from an emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding over the holidays. Assistant Brian Beale has done a fantastic job in his place, but best wishes for a quick recovery to Harris.
– Like I wrote in the paper earlier this week, Midwest City is still looking for the right mix in their starting five and rotation. Coach Dewayne Bradley made a good point when I spoke to him at Ardmore last week. A year ago, he had seniors Kendall Parks and Xavier McClish in the gym all year, and those were his two leaders on the floor. This year, the Colbert twins and Greg Austin are the leaders, but all three played football, so there’s a transition period, especially since the leadership role is a change from last year. I think the team is still trying to get comfortable without a clear point guard, like Parks was last year. But they have too much talent to not be tough night in and night out.
Friday should be fun, too, and I’ll be there for all of it.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Northwest Classen’s Quinton Hardwick plays big
Northwest Classen's Quinton Hardwick reaches for the ball over John Marshall's DeMontrey Mitchell Tuesday night.
They call him Big Baby, and at 6-foot-4, 220- pounds, Northwest Classen senior Quinton Hardwick is a good-sized high school forward. By Class 5A standards, he’s not huge, but here’s the key: he plays big.
He has long arms and broad shoulders, which help him position for rebounding and in blocking shots, two things he did well Tuesday night in the Knights’ 63-53 win over a tough John Marshall squad. He finished with 12 points, 14 boards and six blocks, eating up space in the paint all night long.
Coming off a tournament weekend, the Knights were a little sloppy at times and neither team could get shots to fall early on.
The big difference between this year’s NWC squad — which is ranked No. 4 in Class 5A this week — and last year’s is the depth of viable scoring options. Six players scored and all had at least six points.
Freshman Keandre Nelson, a 6-foot-1 wing, is an impressive young kid. He led the team with 16 points and made some very athletic plays. T’aries Taylor didn’t score the way he did over the weekend at the Edmond Open, but he’s clearly capable of putting up 25 any night.
Paco Jones gives them another big body. Terry Arnold provides another athletic guard who can come up with big plays when they need it.
Point guard Jamil Donovan is still the motor that makes the team go, but I don’t expect him to average near 20 points again this season as he did as a sophomore. That’s not a knock on him, it’s just the nature of the team this year. He’ll be asked to distribute the ball and run the show more than get to the rim and score like last season.
The Knights aren’t huge, but they’re very athletic and very active on defense, which is what will keep them around the top of the class as they try to get back to the state tournament and challenge defending champ Tulsa Washington for the title.
John Marshall has moved up to No. 8 in the 4A rankings this week, and they’ve got a good core of scoring options as well, led by Talmadge Lawrence. Demontrey Mitchell and DeQuantae Taylor are both scoring threats as well, and Chad Campbell always has his team coached up.
After losing so much scoring from last year, led by Tavion Fleeks, I didn’t know what to expect from the Bears, but they actually might be better as a team than a year ago, even if they don’t have that one guy who is a threat to go off for 30 a night.
Obviously, Class 4A is a fight for the chance to get your shot at Douglass, but the Bears will be hanging around in March.
– 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.
