Little All-City basketball game rosters set
Rosters for the Little All-City boys and girls basketball games have been finalized. The games will be played Monday at Oklahoma Christian. The girls game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start and the boys game will follow.
Girls
West: Lauren Crenshaw, Newcastle; Alicia Crigler, Millwood; Kelsey Grellner, Okarche; Cami Loveless, Bridge Creek; Kristin Milster, Washington; Brittany Pfaff, Okarche; Lauren Pittman, Washington; Cara Pugh, McGuinness; Paige Pulliam, Newcastle; Bailey Wilkerson, Cashion.
Coaches: Rocky Clarke, Washington; Arnelia Spears, Millwood
East: Christa Beasler, Wellston; Brenna Burnett, Dale; Kaetlyn Carver, Chandler; Gillian Foster, OKC Knights; Kalie Lucas, Harrah; Heather Mullendore, Bethel; Taylor Posey, Wayne; Annie Taylor, Lexington; Kayla Thomas, Harrah; Brittany Watson, Bethel.
Coaches: Benny Burnett, Dale; Curt Knox, Harrah
Boys
West: Blaine Brooks, Blanchard; Kevin Caruthers, McGuinness; Kyle Crossley, Newcastle; Silas Day, Bethany; Tavion Fleeks, John Marshall; Denzel Goudeau, Harding Prep; Jabe Karr, Okarche; Dalton Newsome, Mt. Saint Mary; Han Thun, Oklahoma Christian Academy; Jordan Woods, Kingfisher.
Coaches: Ray West, Okarche; Lenny Hatchett, Mt. Saint Mary.
East: John Cooksey, Star Spencer; Jimmy Doolin, Dale; Cale Jackson, Bethel; Jordan Leggins, Northeast; Kyle Lewis, Bethel; Ryan Shelley, Casady; Adonis Sumlin, Coyle; Kendre Talley, Star Spencer; Detrek Wallace, Wellston; Henry Weaver, Tecumseh.
Coaches: Terry Long, Douglass; Jeff Edmondson, Dale.
Youngsters atop scoring leaders in girls soccer
Given the youthful talent Chickasha’s girls soccer team has at its disposal, the future is definitely bright. However, the team appears to be too impatient to wait.
With two freshman and a sophomore among the leaders in goals and assists in Class 5A and with a record of 8-2, Chickasha is making waves in the present. Hannah Elrod, just a ninth-grader, leads the team with 14 goals and has added five assists. Sophomore Kylie Williams has eight goals and five helpers, while another freshman, Kelsey Taylor, leads the team in assists with 7 and has five goals.
That trio has accounted for all but four of Chickasha’s goals and all but four of the team’s assists. The threesome accounted for all the team’s goals in a 7-1 win over Altus Friday, including a hat trick by Taylor.
Coach Steve Scott’s club faces its biggest challenge of the season Tuesday, visiting Class 5A No. 5 Carl Albert at 5:30 p.m.
Norman North girls snapped their win-loss string when they absolutely had to
After running its string of alternating wins and losses to 11 straight games, Norman North snapped it when it had to and advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2002.
In his second season, coach Jeff Blough has returned the program to prominence as senior Madison Marquardt and juniors Mariah Turner and Hayley Scott have paced the balanced T-Wolves attack. Andee Wayne, Payge Wilson, Tori Thomas and Kiana Moridi have been invaluable as well.
Saturday, No. 9 North, which is playing in the east-side 6A playoff bracket, knocked off No. 8 Owasso 47-41. It was the T-Wolves’ first back-to-back wins since a 17-day break in the season from Jan. 19 to Feb. 2. Before the layoff, North had been 11-2.
Blough said at the time he was concerned that the long break — which was caused because of missing a tournament (long story) and the snow storms that caused so many games to be postponed — could halt the momentum his club had built. Turns out he was right. Still, North broke the streak when it absolutely had to if it wanted to keep playing, which says a lot about the character of this team.
So, now it’s on to state. Edmond North awaits.
Southmoore girls could contend for title next year; could mirror football team’s one-season turn-around
Usually a seven-win seasons isn’t reason for a lot of excitement. But usual doesn’t describe the Southmoore girls basketball team.
The SaberCats concluded a terrific postseason run Saturday, falling in the area tournament to No. 3 Norman. Standout sophomore Sidney Cook led the SaberCats with nine points, which is nothing new as Cook — a Division I prospect — is Southmoore’s leading scorer on the season. However, Cook is far from a one-player show. Kayla Tucker had seven points and Rosa Meadows scored six, as did Kaylan Haywood. Reagan Widener chipped in with five.
Of those five players, only one, Meadows, won’t return next season. In fact, the SaberCats will bring back 11 of its top 12 players in 2011.
And that fact gives me reason to believe Southmoore’s girls basketball team could equal Southmoore’s football team in regards to unreal turn-arounds in one season. The football squad went from a 2-9 season in 2008 to an 11-2, state semifinal showing in 2009.
This SaberCats club could likely — actually, I’m going to say that they will — be a state tournament team next season. Maybe even contend for the title if the youngsters gain big-game savvy, which only comes from experience. And that’s where this surprise postseason will help. It gives them confidence that will stay throughout the offseason. The Cats will begin next year feeling as if they are already among the elite in 6A because of what they did in the playoffs. It won’t take several weeks of the season to foster that attitude.
For those who don’t know, this team had just five regular season wins, but was one of the biggest stories of the 6A postseason. The SaberCats had the biggest first-round upset, beating No. 8 Lawton. Then they eliminated defending champion Del City in the area tournament.
It all spells out a great outlook for the future. And, as said before, generally a 19-loss season does not inspire greatness. But this particular one most certainly could.
Mossman’s legacy grows as Norman makes it seven straight
With each passing season, Norman girls basketball coach Matilda Mossman further proves she’s among the state’s elite coaches. And that goes for all seven classes. Mossman showed she’s as good as any coach in Class 6A long before now.
Saturday, with a 60-35 win over a Southmoore team that had been on quite a roll, Norman advanced to the Class 6A state tournament for the seventh consecutive season.
Jeannie Ramon scored 13 points, Kamra King had 10 and Jordan Franks 10 as the third-ranked Tigers steadily pulled away from the SaberCats, then blew the game open in the fourth quarter. Norman led by two after one quarter, nine at halftime and 12 after three quarters. But a 20-7 run in the final period sealed the Tigers’ third win in three tries against Southmoore.
Mossman, the winningest coach in school history in both number of wins and winning percentage, now has Norman atop Class 6A in regards to consecutive seasons in the state tournament. And with Claremore not reaching state this season, Mossman’s and Norman’s streak is now the second-longest in the state, trailing Washington’s run of 10 straight.
Norman boys basketball coach resigns; next in line will be under pressure to produce
Sometimes things just don’t turn out like most would expect.
Norman boys basketball coach Wes Clark resigned after eight seasons as the Tigers’ coach, ending a third tenure that further exemplifies what a job Doug Tolin did in his six seasons as coach.
Since Tolin left the Norman program following the 2000 season, Norman has not had near the success in boys basketball. Tolin, who is in his 10th season as Oklahoma Baptist’s men’s coach, took four teams to the state tournament. Remarkably, half of his Norman teams advanced to the state championship game (1996, 1999 and 2000), winning it all in 1999.
In the immediate two seasons after Tolin left, Norman had two coaches (Steve Hudson and Mark Vancuren) last just one season each. That’s when Clark was hired. And, given that he was an assistant for Tolin, many thought the program would get back on track.
Clark, who has been coaching high school for 14 seasons as an assistant and head coach, never duplicated Tolin’s success. It’s more of a testament to Tolin than it is a detraction of Clark. However, the program has a rich history, one that has been a distant memory for quite a while now.
When Sherri Coale was the Norman girls coach she used to say “With great responsibility comes great expectations.” That’s the case when you sign on to lead a program with a bunch of banners on the ceiling and trophies in the hallway.
Norman was 5-17 this season and lost to Southmoore in the opening round of regional play. Losing seasons and early playoff exits have unfortunately become all too common for the Tiger boys. Meanwhile, the Norman girls have made it to five straight state tournaments and will almost certainly make it six later this week.
Clark’s assistants and potential replacements are Mark Webb and Gary Harper, both of whom are former Norman players. Harper played in the 1970s, while Webb was a senior on Tolin’s 1996 squad that played for the Class 6A title. Whether one of them get the nod or if NHS hires from outside, a rebuilding job is at hand.
Whoever takes the job had better take that aspect seriously, because parents won’t have patience for continued losing campaigns. Coaches from Chet Bryan to Max Marquardt to Tony Robinson to Paul Meuser all had great success guiding the Norman boys. And Tolin did so even after the school district split, which eliminates that as an excuse.
As does the continued Norman girls success. In fact, Mossman has become the winningest coach in program history in number of wins and in winning percentage all while coaching since the split. What’s more, Norman North’s boys program, under former Norman player Butch Roberts, is having sustained success.
All those facets pretty much demand that the next Norman boys coach get the program back to winning ways. Clark, an Altus product and a two-time NAIA All-American as a player at Central Oklahoma, got eight years. But the next coach may not be afforded so much time without more results.
Boys basketball rankings: Change sets up 1 vs. 2
With its 74-70 win over then-No. 2 Putnam City West at the Bartlesville Tournament last week, Broken Arrow jumped from No. 7 to No. 2 in this week’s OKRankings.com coaches’ poll for Class 6A.
That sets up a 1-vs.2 showdown tonight at Muskogee, where the top-ranked Roughers will try to hold onto the top spot. With its win at the Edmond Open, Edmond Santa Fe moved to the No. 3 spot, ahead of PC West in fourth and Putnam City in fifth.
That was a big win for BA, but I’ll have to see them win more than one big game to believe they’re a top-three team right now. They hit 16 3-pointers to beat PC West. You can’t count on shooting like that every night.
Boys hoop rankings: Another new No. 1
For the third time this season, there’s a new No. 1 in the Class 6A boys basketball coaches’ rankings at OKRankings.com.
And none of them have played a game yet.
It’s Muskogee this week, after Putnam City held the honor in the preseason poll, and Putnam City West last week. All three have identical 0-0 records.
Before you ask, no, I can’t explain it. My guess as to the changes would be sporadic participation from coaches this early in the season. Hopefully as the teams start getting on the court this week and next, the issue will begin to take care of itself.
In other classes, Tulsa Memorial is atop 5A after knocking off former No. 1 Tulsa Edison, and with two wins against stiff competition in Dallas last week, Douglass is now No. 1 in 4A. No significant changes atop the other classes.
Here are the full rankings:
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Rankings Preview: Nov. 15
For one more time before the playoffs end, here’s the rankings in all their glory:
EDIT: I’ve got to get this in above the jump: I messed up in my Class 2A rankings this week. I initially (and in Sunday’s paper) had Washington above Lindsay. Lindsay beat Washington comfortably during the regular season in a win that started the Leopards on a 7-1 run that has them going to Heritage Hall for a second-round playoff game.
Class 6A
1. Jenks (1)#11-0
2. Tulsa Union (2)#10-1
3. Broken Arrow (3)#9-2
4. Southmoore (4)#10-1
5. Midwest City (5)#9-2
6. Bartlesville (6)#9-2
7. Lawton (8)#9-2
8. Edmond Memorial (9)#8-3
9. Putnam North (10)#7-4
10. Mustang (7)#7-4
The top six teams here all win and remain the same. I seriously considered switching Southmoore and Midwest City and would’ve if the Bombers would’ve been more convincing in their win. Mustang drops from No. 7 to 10 after a 38-7 loss to Edmond Memorial. Lawton and Edmond Memorial each moved up a spot. Putnam North, despite the loss, moved up a spot to No. 9.
Norman North Hoops: T-Wolves’ boys and girls teams make preseason rankings
The preseason coaches rankings have been released on okrankings.com.
Norman North has both teams ranked, with the girls sitting in the top 10 at No. 9.
Girls
Jeff Blough has the program on the rise and could make a run at the state tournament this season.
Four seniors were lost to graduation, most notable Madison Marquardt, but there is plenty of experience coming back and one of the best players in the Mid-State Conference in Mariah Turner. Turner, who has started since she was a freshman, has the ability to average a double-double and could be a Division I recruit.
The Lady Timberwolves went 13-14 a year ago and advanced to the area tournament.
Boys
Coming off a 10-14 season, Butch Roberts’ squad is ranked 17th in the poll.
The T-Wolves were knocked out of the playoffs in the regional tournament after gaianing a tough draw against a hot Southmoore team.
