The Oklahoma City Area Baseball Coaches Association will play its annual all-star game at 6 p.m. Thursday at Palmer Field at Dolese Park.

An all-star team made up from these two rosters will play a Tulsa-area all-star team in a doubleheader at noon Saturday at Bishop McGuinness. OCS’ Ken McQueen and Tecumseh’s Chad Trahan will coach the Oklahoma City team.

NORTH
Starters
Pitchers: Brock Stuber, Piedmont; Parker Rigler, Edmond Memorial; Kyle Stephens, Edmond North
Catchers: Mike Hale, Putnam City North; Jon Denney, Yukon
First baseman: Cody Daylor, Edmond North
Second baseman: Daniel Costello, Edmond Santa Fe
Third baseman: Bryan Dutton, Guthrie
Shortstop: Dalen Edgar, Piedmont
Outfielders: Landon Eason, Yukon; Jack Hale, Edmond Memorial; Cole Lindley, Deer Creek
Utility: Austin Brooks, OCS
Desgnated hitter: Jacob Jerome, Edmond Santa Fe

Reserves: Chiante’ McKee, Star Spencer; Bradley Fitch, Bishop McGuinness; Reed Brooks, Putnam City; Jonathan Sergent, Classen

Coaches: Ken McQueen, OCS; Kory Williams, Piedmont

SOUTH
Starters
Pitchers: Alexander Svetgoff, Westmoore; Gage Trahan, Tecumseh; Nick Ward, Southmoore
Catchers: Lane Paul, Tuttle; Cameron Knight, Westmoore
First baseman: Dylan Mauk, Blanchard
Second baseman: Daniel Herron, Norman North
Third baseman: DJ Gasso, Norman North
Shortstop: Tre Edwards, Southmoore
Outfielders: Chevin Noone, Carl Albert; Hunter Heath, Bethel; Quade Nelson, Blanchard
Utility: Damion Orr, Midwest City
Designated hitter: Joel Davis, Midwest City

Reserves: Cooper Owens, Putnam City West; Colin Webb, Moore; Matt Foster, Norman; Casey Bowlan, Shawnee; Jovanny Hernandez, U.S. Grant; Zack Howry, Capitol Hill; Landon Vodka, Mustang.

Coaches: Chad Trahan, Tecumseh; Travis Owen, Tuttle

Class 6A
BOYS
EAST
At Tulsa Rogers
Friday
Winner’s Bracket
Owasso vs. Broken Arrow, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Stillwater vs. Bixby, 8 p.m.

At Catoosa
Winner’s Bracket
Tulsa Union vs. Jenks, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Tulsa Washington vs. Bartlesville, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Catoosa
Stillwater/Bixby winner vs. Owasso/Broken Arrow loser, 8 p.m.
Tulsa Washington/Bartlesville winner vs. Tulsa Union/Jenks loser, 6:30 p.m.

WEST
At Choctaw
Friday
Winner’s Bracket
Midwest City vs. Edmond Santa Fe, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Edmond North vs. Putnam City

At Norman North
Winner’s Bracket
Edmond Memorial vs. Putnam City West, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Putnam City North vs. Lawton Eisenhower, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Norman North
Putnam City North/Lawton Eisenhower winner vs. Edmond Memorial/Putnam City West loser, 6:30 p.m.
Edmond North/Putnam City winner vs. Midwest City/Edmond Santa Fe loser, 8 p.m.

GIRLS
EAST
Thursday
At Catoosa
Winner’s Bracket
Muskogee vs. Tulsa Washington, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Jenks vs. Tulsa Union

At Tulsa Rogers
Loser’s Bracket
Broken Arrow vs. Mustang, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Bartlesville vs. Bixby, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Catoosa
Broken Arrow/Mustang winner vs. Bartlesville/Bixby loser, 1:30 p.m.
Jenks/Tulsa Union winner vs. Muskogee/Tulsa Washington loser, 3 p.m.

WEST
Thursday
At Choctaw
Winner’s Bracket
Edmond Santa Fe vs. Putnam City, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Norman vs. Southmoore, 8 p.m.

At Harrah
Loser’s Bracket
Lawton Eisenhower vs. Choctaw, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Norman North vs. Edmond Memorial, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Harrah
Lawton Eisenhower/Choctaw winner vs. Norman North/Edmond Memorial loser, 1:30 p.m.
Norman/Southmoore winner vs. Edmond Santa Fe/Putnam City loser, 3 p.m.

CLASS 5A
BOYS
EAST
Friday
At Bixby
Winner’s Bracket
Tulsa Memorial vs. Tulsa Kelley, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Chickasha vs. Guthrie, 8 p.m.

At Sapulpa
Winner’s Bracket
Coweta vs. Tulsa Edison, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Skiatook vs. Noble, 8 p.m.

At Bixby
Saturday
Skiatook/Noble winner vs. Coweta/Tulsa Edison loser, 6:30 p.m.
Chickasha/Guthrie winner vs. Tulsa Memorial/Tulsa Kelley loser, 8 p.m.

WEST
Friday
At Edmond North
Winner’s Bracket
Bishop McGuinness vs. Lawton MacArthur, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Del City vs. Capitol Hill, 8 p.m.

At Edmond Memorial
Winner’s Bracket
Carl Albert vs. Southeast, 6:30 p.m.
Western Heights vs. Piedmont, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Edmond Memorial
Western Heights/Piedmont winner vs. Carl Albert/Southeast loser, 6:30 p.m.
Del City/Capitol Hill winner vs. Bishop McGuinness/Lawton MacArthur loser, 8 p.m.

GIRLS
EAST
Thursday
At Bixby
Loser’s Bracket
Chickasha at Tulsa Edison, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Tulsa East Central at Collinsville, 8 p.m.

At Sapulpa
Winner’s Bracket
Tahlequah vs. Tulsa Memorial, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Grove vs. Tulsa Kelley, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Sapulpa
Grove/Tulsa Kelley winner vs. Tahlequah/Tulsa Memorial loser, 1:30 p.m.
Chickasha/Tulsa Edison winner vs. Tulsa East Central/Collinsville loser, 3 p.m.

WEST
Thursday
At Edmond North
Loser’s Bracket
Del City vs. Ardmore, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Shawnee vs. Piedmont, 8 p.m.

At Edmond Memorial
Loser’s Bracket
El Reno vs. Lawton MacArthur, 6:30 p.m.
Carl Albert vs. Deer Creek, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Edmond North
El Reno/Lawton MacArthur winner vs. Carl Albert/Deer Creek loser, 1:30 p.m.
Del City/Ardmore winner vs. Shawnee/Piedmont loser, 3 p.m.

Coach of the Year: Shelli Brown, Sand Springs

Player of the Year: Macklin Hitz, Jenks

Co-Pitchers of the Year: Haley Squier, Edmond Memorial; Mallory Collins, Sand Springs

Freshman of the Year: Kennedy Salyers, Sand Springs

First team

P: McKayla Hendrix, Jenks; Brittney Lockett, Stillwater

C: Halley Randolph, Stillwater; Shelbie Smith, Edmond Memorial

1B: Lindsay Littles, Edmond Memorial; Jenny Scarbrough, Stillwater

2B: Abby Lee, Enid; Sadie Marino, Choctaw

SS: Taylor Purdue, Sand Springs; Kate Myers, Jenks

3B: Kacey Taylor, Edmond Memorial; Paige Luellen, Jenks

OF: Kasey Burgess, Sand Springs; Ashley Rankin, Sand Springs; Kylee Morgan, Choctaw; Courtney Chelf, Enid; Adrianna Canard, Jenks; Kayla Crutchmer, Tulsa Union

U: Ashley Reese, Choctaw; Kelsey Goodwin, Tulsa Union; Krissy Crow, Sand Springs; Kaitlin Bell, Enid; Lacy Hudson, Enid

Honorable mention

Choctaw: Jessica Fairly, Hanna Kohl, Hanna Poplum, Halley Poplum

Edmond Memorial: Laura McHam

Enid: Ally Lewis, Clara Andrews, Hayen Bay, Shalley Mueller

Jenks: Audrey Estes, Kenzie Carpenter, Tristan Kuhn, Brooke Estes

Putnam West: Ashleigh Rolling, Chelsey Collins, Ann Smith, Dionne Robinson, Angelique Chandler

Sand Springs: Jennifer Wolf, Kendra Franks, Hailey Andrews

Stillwater: Anna Fowler, Abby Jessell, Courtney Hughes

Tulsa Union: Maddie Van Burkleo, Emily Harrison, Alexis Murray, Michal Ibison, MacKenzie Ibison, Brianna Trujullo, Maddi McGraw, Kayla Patterson, Kylee Randall

The struggles and triumphs of area public schools have been a frequent topic in The Oklahoman through the years. Here are a few of those stories: (Note: Some of the coaches, athletes administrators featured have moved on since the stories were originally written.)

Northwest Classen off to hot start

Sept. 2012  —  None of the players on this year’s team was alive the last time Northwest Classen was 2-0. That was 20 years ago, when the Knights opened with wins over Northeast and U.S. Grant before losing to Capitol Hill.

State Rep. Richard Morrissette brings in Joe Washington to motivate Capitol Hill football team

Oct. 2011  —  After watching Capitol Hill’s 52-0 loss to Ardmore on Oct. 13, Oklahoma State Rep. Richard Morrissette decided he’d had enough. He arranged for the team to tour the state capitol building on Thursday and got Oklahoma legend Joe Washington to speak to the players.
Putnam City West food pantry strives to help high school students battling hunger

Sept. 2011  —  Then-Putnam City West football coach John Jensen, along with fellow coaches, established a small pantry for athletes after noticing a problem of hunger and injuries among players.

U.S. Grant faces an uphill climb in Class 6A

Aug. 2011  —  U.S. Grant is the only Oklahoma City Public School (or Tulsa Public School) in Class 6A. A school with all the challenges of the inner city – large dropout rates, often lack of parental involvement, minimal community support – faces one well-established football program after another. Lawton High. Mustang. Edmond North. Westmoore. Putnam City.

High school coaches know instilling pride is key to turning around a program

Aug. 2011  —  Several of the city area’s struggling football programs have new coaches this season, with new enthusiasm for turning their team around. But most of them seem to know that coaching isn’t among their primary tasks in building a winning football team at places such as Western Heights, Northeast, Northwest Classen, Capitol Hill or U.S. Grant.

Star Spencer’s championship game win over Douglass a night of hoping and believing

Dec. 2009  —  Star Spencer beat Douglass 34-21 in the Class 4A state championship game Saturday night, giving Oklahoma City Public Schools its first football title in 14 years. In a class with perennial powers Weatherford, Bishop McGuinness and Glenpool, the gold trophy is going home with one of the forgottens. One of the schools with inferior facilities and little hope.

The Pride of OKC: Douglass and Star Spencer will meet in a state title game

Dec. 2009  —  In both the Douglass and Spencer communities, people are excited. Not only are the teams playing for the state title, but they’re playing against each other — which is the first time in state football playoff history that two Oklahoma City Public Schools’ teams have met in a championship game. Now, for the first time since John Marshall won the 1995 Class 5A title, the Oklahoma City Public Schools is guaranteed of having a state football champion.

The Future of Athletics for OKCPS

Aug. 2009  —  District athletic director Phil Ingersoll has a plan to make OKC schools more competitive in football.

Home disadvantage for OKCPS teams

Aug. 2009  —  As a football player in the Oklahoma City Public Schools, Ken Berry doesn’t envy the things that other teams have. That might surprise those outside the inner-city schools, but the district has increased its commitment to football and upgraded uniforms, equipment, even facilities in recent years. The locker room that Berry and his teammates use is only a couple years old, thanks to MAPS for Kids, while the No. 22 jersey that the standout linebacker will wear on Friday nights is only a year old. Berry wants for nothing. Except wins.

Coaches at Oklahoma City Public Schools face big hurdles

Aug. 2009  —  Terrell Love admits it won’t be an easy job. The new football coach at U.S. Grant understands the challenges that lie ahead if he’s to help turn the Generals around.

“The boys are excited to get a win, and they did what we asked them to do,” Martin said. “The defense played well, and that was important for us.”

The Patriots also got a lift from running back Keontre Bryant, who helped fill the void of injured senior running back/safety Joseph Wilcots. Bryant rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries Thursday.

“He’s a physical runner and a hard-working player,” Martin said.

The win was the Patriots’ first since October 2010. But Martin knows the 1-0 record won’t mean much if the team doesn’t keep improving.

“We played well overall, but we’ve got a lot of areas to get better,” he said. “We’ve got a long ways to go, but for the first game, it was a good start.”

The Pats take on rival Putnam City in Week 2.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Putnam City West promoted linebackers coach Rocky Martin to head football coach on Friday.

Putnam City West didn’t look far to find its new head football coach.

The school promoted linebackers coach Rocky Martin to head coach on Friday to fill the void of John Jensen, who was removed from the position last month.

This will be the first head coaching job for Martin, who has an interesting resume.

His coaching career began at Cherry Creek (Colo.) High School, his alma mater, in 2002-03 then became an assistant at the University of Akron from 2004-07.

After that, he spent two seasons as an assistant at Irving Middle School in Norman before joining the PC West staff in 2010.

As a player for Colorado State, Martin went to four bowl games, starting on the 2000 squad that went to the Liberty Bowl and finished the season ranked 14th.

Like his predecessor, Martin plans to keep his players active in areas beyond the football field.

“We recognize that we are working with students first and athletes second. Our student-athletes will be held to the highest standards in the classroom and the community,” Martin said.

“I’m excited to start this new chapter in my life and excited to work in a new role with this great group of students. I’m ready to go.”

There will be an expectation of Martin to ultimately produce victories for the long-struggling football program. Jensen, who remains at the school as athletic director, was removed as head coach because principal Buster Meeks wanted the program to go “in a new direction,” despite a consistent growth in participation and support under Jensen. The Patriots have won three games in the last five seasons.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Londaryl Perry teaches his history class at Northeast Academy. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN

This is the final post in a five-part blog series, continuing the life story of Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Coach of the Year.

Perry was profiled in Tuesday’s newspaper, but his life story is too fascinating to be held to one story. This blog post will focus on Perry’s military career. Here is the full blog schedule:

Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career

Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers

Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job

Friday: Perry’s military career

Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today

****************************************************

At age 34, Londaryl Perry received word that another uncle had died because of drugs.

His uncle James, who had no insurance and had been a drug addict for most of his life, didn’t have an overdose. The drugs just finally took a toll on his body.

“This particular uncle, even though he was on drugs, he was probably the happiest druggie and alcoholic you’d ever meet,” Perry said. “He was always happy and he was going to make you smile.”

Perry was in Iraq for the second time, this time as a civilian contractor, when his cousin told him about James’ death.

The family was scrambling around, trying to find a way to pay for funeral and burial costs. They had decided to cremate him and not have a funeral because they didn’t have enough money.

Perry told his cousin to get with a funeral service and tell him how much it costs. He offered to pay for everything, on the condition that a letter he wrote would be read at the funeral.

The family agreed, and Perry wrote a letter pleading for his family to change. Getting off drugs was part of it, but Perry also wanted his family to be closer.

Now that Perry is back in Oklahoma City, he makes sure they live up to it. Every family holiday is spent at Perry’s home, with around 40 people there each time — including Perry’s mother.

She claims to be clean, but no one is really sure whether to believe her or not. She lives with one of Perry’s younger brothers.

“She’s 53, but she’s 21 in her head,” said Jermey Perry, Londaryl’s youngest brother who is 25 now.

“She doesn’t like talking about (the past). She knows she did wrong.”

Londaryl describes his relationship with his mother as “cordial.”

“We have conversations,” he said. “We speak, but it’s just different (than a normal mother-son relationship).

“If she’s not on drugs, what did she do to get off them? I don’t know. Because the whole time I was raising my brothers, she was still on them.

“I don’t know what her motivation was or is to get off drugs. … It’s fortunate that she’s still alive because of how long she was on drugs.”

But still, Perry said there is no bitterness about how he was treated as a child. He still wants his family to be close, and that’s why he tries to get everyone together on holidays.

“We try to get our family together because our family is not close-knit,” Perry said. “We try to have those times where we come together and try to enjoy each other.”

Northeast girls coach Londaryl Perry went to Iraq twice. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN

This is Part 4 in a five-part blog series, continuing the life story of Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Coach of the Year.

Perry was profiledled in Tuesday’s newspaper, but his life story is too fascinating to be held to one story. This blog post will focus on Perry’s military career. Here is the full blog schedule:

Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career

Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers

Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job

Friday: Perry’s military career

Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today

****************************************************

At age 28, Londaryl Perry joined the Army.

Perry had been an assistant coach at Putnam City West since he graduated from Central Oklahoma, but the student loan debt he was carrying became too much.

He was sent to Iraq in October 2003 — seven months after the war there began.

Perry was stationed at the Baghdad International Airport and worked with secure, encrypted telecommunications.

“We were getting bombed every. Single. Night,” Perry said of his time at the airport. “It became like clockwork; we’d get bombed somewhere around midnight, and then again between 5 and 6 in the morning.”

Fortunately, Perry didn’t lose any friends in Iraq.

After his tour in Iraq was completed, he stayed in the Army until 2007. Much of his time was spent playing for a military basketball team.

His last day in the Army was President’s Day in 2007. Almost immediately after that, he became a private military contractor, and returned to Iraq about seven months later.

“It was very different, being a civilian contractor vs. being a soldier,” Perry said. “Both experiences were very rewarding.”

As a contractor, Perry was responsible for putting Electronic countermeasures (ECMs) on vehicles, which send out radio pules and jam radio signals to stop insurgent’s bombs.

He said his job as a civilian contractor was “a little more rewarding,” because he knows he saved the lives of American military personnel. He worked more with the Marines and the Navy during his second trip to Iraq.

“We had a lot of instances where it was proven to have worked,” Perry said of the ECMs.

He spent a little over a year in Iraq the second time before he returned home to both reunite with his family and get back into coaching, which he missed.

Northeast coach Londaryl Perry's first coaching job was at Putnam City West under Mike Nunley. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN

This is Part 3 in a five-part blog series, continuing the life story of Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Coach of the Year.

Perry was profiled in Tuesday’s newspaper, but his life story is too fascinating to be held to one story. This blog post will focus on his first coaching job, when he was an assistant boys coach at Putnam City West under Mike Nunley. Here is the full blog schedule:

Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career

Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers

Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job

Friday: Perry’s military career

Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today

****************************************************

At age 24, Londaryl Perry got his first coaching job.

He became a boys assistant coach under Mike Nunley at his alma mater, Putnam City West.

Nunley became another important friend and mentor for Perry.

“When I first spoke with Mike, I just had a feeling that this man is somebody special,” Perry said.

For his part, Nunley knew pretty quick that Perry was a natural coach.

“What he had was a passion for teaching kids the game of basketball,” said Nunley, now the athletic director for Edmond Public Schools.

Nunley remembers that kids were drawn to Perry, and just generally wanted to be around him. Perry still has that appeal to kids today at Northeast, where he regularly gets hugs as he walks through the school halls.

But what really impressed Nunley was Perry’s attitude.

“Early on, we had a parent meeting,” Nunley said. “Someone was unhappy.”

Nunley remembers Perry looking at him and putting his hand out, palm side up.

“Coach Nunley, most people are looking for a handout,” Perry told him before twisting his hand.

“I’m looking for a handshake.”

That outlook was especially impressive considering Perry’s difficult background.

“He had every right to not be a positive member of society,” Nunley said. “There was nothing. But he never used it as a crutch or an excuse.”

Perry said Nunley taught him patience, and also gave him the opportunity to learn how to be a coach.

“Sometimes, he would just walk out of practice and let me take over,” Perry said. “He would put me there to take control and get the feeling of being a coach.”

Nunley remains a mentor for Perry today. Early in this — his first — season with the Northeast girls, he called Nunley when he had trouble getting through to his team.

The girls weren’t responding to Perry’s aggressive approach; Nunley said Perry was so good at basketball, that he sometimes struggled to communicate with those who weren’t as talented.

“The game was so easy to him,” Nunley said. “He was Russell Westbrook before Russell Westbrook.”

But he also had to learn that girls sometimes need a different sort of leadership.

“I told him he needed to treat all of those girls as if they were his daughters,” Nunley said.

Once he started looking at it from that perspective, things improved.

“I can not talk to Mike for several months, and when I do it’s a great conversation,” Perry said. “He’s a great man and mentor.”

Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN

This is Part 2 of five-part blog series, continuing the life story of Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, who I featured in Tuesday’s newspaper.

Today, I’ll focus more on Perry’s relationship with his mother and two brothers. Here is the full blog schedule:

Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career

Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers

Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job

Friday: Perry’s military career

Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today

****************************************************

At age 13, Londaryl Perry almost decided life was too much.

“Who gives a damn about me?” Perry thought as he briefly considered suicide.

“Who cares if I live or die?”
He watched his uncle die with his own eyes after a drug overdose. His father died after overdosing on heroin.

But the continuing nightmare was the home life with his mother, who regularly called him a “bastard” and “ugly.”

Yes, Londaryl Perry’s mother wasn’t just dismissive and unattentive. She displayed a genuine disdain for her oldest son.

Londaryl’s mother has claimed for years that she was raped as a 16-year old, which is how she became pregnant with him.

“She says she wasn’t sexually active (when he was conceived),” Londaryl said. “My mother has never changed that story after all these years, that he raped her.”

Because he shares some physical features with his father, Londaryl believes much of the anger his mother showered him with is because of the alleged rape.

“I feel like I was a reminder of him, and all that hatred was taken out on me,” Londaryl said. “To know you’re born out of that, and to be treated like that …

“I was like, ‘What do I do?’”

Even though his mother’s addiction resulted in her often neglecting his two younger brothers, they never got the insults that Londaryl did.

“For both of my little brothers, it was different,” Londaryl said. “She cherished them, and she resented me.”

Perry’s wife Shana, who he’s known since he was in the eighth grade and dated throughout high school, remembers coming home with Perry after a game one night.

There was a house full of addicts, getting high with Londaryl’s mother.

He kicked all of his mother’s friends out of the house, and the two began arguing.

Perry’s mother picked up his basketball, clutched it between her hands and said she was so upset that, “I wish I had a rock this big that I could smoke.”

“You think of home as being a safe place, and it wasn’t for him,” Shana Perry said.

Still, he made sure to come home every day to look after his brothers. After a two-year career at Seminole State junior college, he walked on to Central Oklahoma’s basketball team. A short while later, he decided he’d had enough of his mother’s treatment of his brothers.

No food in the house, a lack of clothing. It had to stop. Shana, now principal at Del Crest Middle School, and Londaryl had just gotten married and were both in college to become teachers.

Londaryl and Shana, now the principal at Del Crest Middle School in Del City, were both in school to become educators.

“The conversation we had was about how we are both wanting to be educators so we can make a difference in children’s lives,” said Shana Perry. “Here are his brothers that need someone to make a difference for them right now.”

The difference they made was substantial. Clifford, then 13-years old, and Jermey, then 10, suddenly lived with adults who cared about them. Who asked questions about what they were up to, and made sure they were fed and clothed.

“As kids, we would just leave for seven or eight hours at a time,” said Jermey Perry, now 25-years old. “She was more worried about her friends than us.”

Both of Londaryl’s brothers are now married with careers and children.

Jermey Perry admits he’d “probably be in jail” without Londaryl and Shana taking custody.

After Londaryl Perry graduated from UCO in 1998, he took a job as an assistant coach at Putnam City West under Mike Nunley, who is now the athletic director for Edmond Public Schools.

Nunley thinks Londaryl Perry did more for Clifford and Jermey than keep them out of jail.

“He didn’t save them from a life of crime,” Nunley said, “He saved them from death.”

Nunley remembers things being very difficult for Londaryl as he tried to be both a parent and a brother to the two kids.

“It was super challenging,” Nunley said. “One of his brothers played for us, and that was really hard on Londaryl. He had huge expectations for him; he wanted his brother to experience the success that he did.

“He wore every single hat. He was his big brother, his coach and his father figure.”

Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry during the Class 2A state tournament. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN

I wrote a story for Tuesday’s newspaper about Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, who was raised in a home with a drug-addicted mother and his two younger brothers. When Perry was 21-years old, he took his mother to court and was given custody of his two brothers. Both of them now have careers, wives and children.

Perry’s childhood was extremely difficult, and his life story goes well beyond what was in Tuesday’s newspaper article. I decided to continue Londaryl Perry’s story in a five-part blog series. I’ll release a new blog each day focusing on a different aspect of Perry’s fascinating, often chilling, life story.

Today, I’ll write about his basketball career and how hoops, in many ways, saved his life. Here is the list of the blogs I’ll release each day:

Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career

Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers

Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job

Friday: Perry’s military career

Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today

****************************************************

At age 8, Londaryl Perry was introduced to basketball.

His family bounced around Oklahoma City from apartment to apartment, and in the summer before his third-grade year, he was playing with some kids at a park.

One other boy asked Londaryl to play on his summer league team, the Colts.

“We would just go out there and play, and I just kept playing,” Londaryl said.

He had natural talent and loved the game, but basketball was also a welcome distraction from a miserable home life with a mother who not only ignored her oldest son, but showed genuine disdain toward him.

She made fun of him in front of her friends, mocking the clothes he wore and calling him awful names.

The one family member Londaryl remembers really showing him affection and love was his uncle Jerome, who also lived in Oklahoma City and now lives in Denton, Texas.

“I remember him coming to me one day, telling me how he didn’t think his mom loved him because she was doing drugs and she was never there for him,” Jerome Perry said.

“Like a lot of little kids, he always wanted to make his mom proud. But she never took out time for him.”

She didn’t even take out time to watch him play basketball. In a hoops career that lasted through four years of college, Londaryl’s mother saw him play exactly twice, and she had to be dragged there both times by other parents.

“Even when he was a little boy, he was a great basketball player,” Jerome Perry said.

“I used to always try to tell his mom, ‘You need to go see him; your son is great out there,’ but she was too busy worrying about getting high and doing drugs.”

Perry didn’t realize a college basketball career was possible until he was 16 and a junior at Putnam City West.

One day, PC West coach Dick Balenseifen walked down the hall with Perry and handed him a letter from a junior college in Kansas.

“What is this for?” Perry asked his coach.

“This is the middle of my junior year, and I had no idea I could go to college and play basketball,” Perry said. “I never even thought I could.”

Through that point in high school, Perry’s grades were bad. He was never ineligible during basketball season, but made C’s, D’s and F’s otherwise.

“I was ignorant to everything,” Perry said. “My environment that I grew up in was totally different than those other kids around me.”

From that point on, though, Perry’s grades improved dramatically while he continued to shine on the hardwood.

Perry played AAU ball between his junior and senior year. His team, the Oklahoma Trotters, went to AAU nationals at Wake Forest and did well, making it to the top 10.

He was playing in the same tournament as guys like Allen Iverson, Joe Smith, Jeff Capel and Jerry Stackhouse.

After one game, Perry was surrounded at his locker by college recruiters, who began asking him questions. But when they asked about his grades, Perry became defensive and told them to leave him alone.

“I told them they were wasting their time, because I don’t have the grades to go to college,” Perry said. “I had this high moment, being surrounded like that, and then I hit a low.”

As a senior, Perry averaged 20.5 points per game and earned a spot on The Oklahoman’s Big All-City team. But still, his early grade issues likely cost him an opportunity to play Division I basketball.

He went to Seminole State College, where he played for two seasons.

Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, he came home to Oklahoma City and worked every day at a tree service.

He would work from early in the morning until 5 p.m. each day, and then take college courses in the evenings.

“By doing that, I had no basketball in the summer and I gained weight,” Perry said. “Because of that, a lot of my options went away.”

Perry remembers one Division I coach coming to Seminole and saying that, because he had gained weight, it didn’t look like he cared about basketball.

According to Perry, word spread from that point and his options for big-time hoops after junior college became very limited.

So he walked on at Central Oklahoma, where he eventually earned a scholarship. He graduated from UCO in 1998.

“When I look back on it, it was a blessing,” Perry said, because he was able to take custody of his brothers and help raise them.

A few years later, when he was in the Army, Perry joined a military basketball team. He got to travel all over Europe playing basketball. In 2006 his team, the Wiesbaden Eagles, won the Army-Europe community-level basketball tournament. Here is a Stars and Stripes story on the championship game victory, during which Perry scored 31 points. There is also a photo of him playing with the article.

****************************************************

Finally, when I Googled “Londaryl Perry,” I came across this highlight video on YouTube that his son posted. The video shows highlights of Perry playing basketball in high school and college, so enjoy.

John Jensen will no longer coach the Putnam City West football team, but he does plan to stay with the school as athletic director.

John Jensen’s tenure as Putnam City West’s football coach ended this week after five seasons.

Jensen said will stay on as the school’s athletic director going forward. Jensen’s teams went 3-47, though the program routinely grew in numbers and support over his five years.

But ultimately, it wasn’t enough.

“They wanted to go a different direction. They want to win games,” Jensen said. “I think we all want to win games, and we all want what’s best for Putnam City West football. If that means finding a new coach, then that’s what needs to be done.”

A press release issued by the school district was to the same effect.

“Putnam City West principal Buster Meeks says Jensen’s sincere desire to improve students’ lives and strengthen the school have been important, but that new direction is necessary to move the football program forward,” the release said.

Meeks will accept applications through April 30, with the hope of filling the position by early May. The application process can be handled online at www.putnamcityschools.org/jobs.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

All-Metro Athletic Conference
Coach of the Year: A.D. Burtschi, Putnam City
Player of the Year: Joe Summers, Putnam North
Offensive Player of the Year: David Bush, Putnam City
Defensive Player of the Year: Omega Harris, Putnam West
Newcomer of the Year: Justin Jones, Edmond Santa Fe

First team
David Bush, Putnam City
Aaron Anderson, Edmond Santa Fe
Tavionne Pennon, Putnam West
Shaquille Morris, Edmond Santa Fe
Ronnie Boyce, Putnam City

Second team
Omega Harris, Putnam West
J.R. Simon, Putnam North
T.J. Jones, Putnam North
Zach Laurie, Mustang
Tyler Lester, Choctaw

Third team
Justin Jones, Edmond Santa Fe
Kevin House, Putnam West
Ed Baker, Edmond North
Rodney Teal, Putnam North
Orlando Goldsmith, Putnam City

Honorable mention
Choctaw: Carson Clay, Reggie Wright
Edmond North: David Montgomery, Blake Ruben
Mustang: Levi Lum, Robert Shaw
Putnam City: Dexter Dean, Richmarr Smith
Putnam West: Deonte Ogles

All-District Team
Quarterbacks: Hunter Collins, Jenks; Zac Mills, Broken Arrow; Tyler Williams, Sapulpa.
Running backs: A.J. Leinewebber, Putnam West; Andrew Long, Southmoore; Bradley McGee, Muskogee; Forest Myers, Norman; Cameron Ousely, Muskogee; Donovan Roberts, Norman;
Inside receivers: Trevor Hall, Sapulpa; Victor Williams, Muskogee.
Outside receivers: Will Armstead, Broken Arrow; Levi Copelin, Broken Arrow; George Kittle, Norman; Levi Pickering, Sapulpa; Quad Ware, Broken Arrow; Isaac Whitney, Southmoore.
Tight ends: Ryan Boatright, Jenks; Kenneth Dennis, Norman; Sam Laptad, Jenks; Zac Veatch, Broken Arrow.
Offensive Linemen: Samuel Ayeni, Southmoore; Massey Barnett, Sapulpa; Tyler Davis, Broken Arrow; J.T. Dotson, Jenks; Aaron Farris, Jenks; Alex Frazier, Broken Arrow; Gintrell Frazier, Shawnee; Blake Garrity, Putnam West; Foster Hare, Norman; Tyler Loudenback, Putnam West; Harrison Madden, Norman; Sam Sabin, Jenks; Caleb Stainaker, Southmoore; Chris Tabor, Broken Arrow; David Vogt, Sapulpa; Caleb Washington, Southmoore.
Defensive tackles: Jeremy Barrientos, Shawnee; Chase Duke, Sapulpa; Jeremy Gunter, Broken Arrow; Ashton Henderson, Jenks; Orion Jones, Jenks; Kyle Lewis, Muskogee.
Defensive ends: Matt Frazier, Broken Arrow; Chandler Heath, Muskogee; Jamel Ingram, Muskogee.
Inside Linebackers: Will McDonald, Broken Arrow; Derek Morris, Broken Arrow; Dominic Rossetti, Norman; Wes Starr, Muskogee; Kaleb Thompson, Southmoore
Outside Linebackers: Levi Jennings, Southmoore; Chris Ladd, Broken Arrow; Bryan Pisklo, Jenks; Colton Shackelford, Southmoore.
Safeties: Travis Burge, Southmoore; Brad Davis, Norman; Josh Fleak, Sapulpa; Sidtrel Grayson, Muskogee; Xavier Hunter, Muskogee; Matt Linscott, Jenks; Mason Mullings, Broken Arrow.
Cornerbacks: Levi Copelin, Broken Arrow; Aaron Fowler, Muskogee; Rico Hogan, Norman; Dalton Pridemore, Sapulpa; Jaylen Rayford, Norman; Torrence Reed, Jenks.
Purple heart awards: Chris Carpenter, Shawnee; Trevor Davison, Norman; Chase Duke Sapulpa; Andrew Long, Southmoore; Derek Morris, Broken Arrow; James Richardson, Muskogee; Alex Ross, Jenks.

Honorable mention:
Broken Arrow: Calvin Mann, OL
Muskogee: Ed Baker, RB; Mikel Smith, OR; Parker Wilkerson, Muskogee
Norman: Nick Gaines, DE; Dylan Stout, DE
Sapulpa: Kegan Fox, TE; Lane Youngblood, S
Shawnee: Dillon Garcher, ILB; Andrew Smith, OLB


The Wes Welker Foundation’s board of directors have approved $29,000 in grant money to four Oklahoma City-area schools, the organization announced Monday.
The grants were awarded to Star Spencer’s volleyball and athletic department, U.S. Grant’s football program, Putnam City West’s football and athletic department and Crooked Oak’s athletic department.

The foundation, founded by former Heritage Hall and current New England Patriots standout Wes Welker, was founded five years ago with the aim of helping underprivileged kids.

The foundation awards grants twice a year to schools and organizations in the Oklahoma City area. It also provides free sports camps for at-risk youth and a coach and leadership development program.

The foundation has given more than $192,000 in grant money in the past four years.

U.S. Grant is a two-time recipient.

Other organizations that have received the grants in the past have included Life Change Academy, Astec Charter School, Douglass High School, Memorial Park Boys and Girls Club and Western Village Academy.

Coach of the Year: Alan Green – Mustang

Most Valuable Player: Josh Richardson – Santa Fe

Offensive Player of the Year: Dominique Raney – Putnam City

Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Berry – Mustang

Newcomer of the Year: Tavionne Pennon – Putnam City West

1^st Team
Dominique Raney – Putnam City
David Glidden – Mustang
Armon Provo – Putnam City North
Kyndall Dudley – Putnam City West
Ben Berry – Mustang
Aaron Anderson – Santa Fe

2^nd Team
RonQuis Lewis – Putnam City
Joe Summers – Putnam City North
Dante Lewis – Putnam City West
Michael Onuoha – Santa Fe
Matt Burton – Yukon

3^rd Team
D’Anthony Perkins – Yukon
Deonta Samilton – Choctaw
Terrell Savala – Santa Fe
Jacob Strassle – Mustang
Kevin House – Putnam City West

Honorable Mention
Trey Thomas – Putnam City, Zac Grismer – Mustang, Keipher Hotella – Choctaw, Ed Baker – Edmond North, Ricco Smith – Putnam City North, JR Simon – Putnam City North, Zac Brown – Choctaw

MVP- Elizabeth Donohoe- Edmond North­­­­­

Offensive- Courtney Walker- Edmond Santa Fe

Defensive- LaShawn Jones- Putnam City

Newcomer- Mallory Brothers- Mustang

Coach of the Year- Paul Bass- Edmond Santa Fe

1^st Team All Conference:
1.  Elizabeth Donohoe- Edmond North­­­­­
2.  Courtney Walker- Edmond Santa Fe
3.  LaShawn Jones- Putnam City
4.  Joh’vonna Mitchell- Putnam City North
5.  Layton Hurley- Choctaw

2^nd Team All Conference:
1.  TaNita Dewberry- Edmond North
2.  Mallory Brothers- Mustang
3.  Jade Hardy- Yukon
4.  Whitney Dunn- Mustang
5.  Anna Kimsey- Edmond North

Honorable Mention:
1.  Alexis Watson- Putnam City North
2.  Daisha Gonzaque- Edmond Santa Fe
3.  Sydney Wyatt- Choctaw
4.  Cameerah Graves- Edmond Santa Fe
5.  MacKenzie York- Yukon
6.  Sarah Magness- Putnam City West
7.  Allison Altman- Putnam City West
8.  Kelsey Abraham- Putnam City North
9.  Jamie Moore- Putnam City
10.  Jasmine Sievert- Choctaw
11.  Kiersten Deckard- Yukon
12.  Jamiece Nelson- Putnam City
13.  Amanda Biorato- Mustang

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

Bruce Gray Invitational
Boys
McGuinness JV 55, Star Spencer 54 – seventh place
OCS 74, Western Heights 72 – fifth place
Deer Creek 53, Enid 31 – third place
Mustang 72, Putnam North 64 – championship

Ahh, so that’s why Mustang is good. I said Sunday that neither myself nor Scott Wright had seen why the Mustang boys were getting so much respect.

Monday night I found out why. They do the little things. Especially Jacob Strassle and Zac Grismer – they do the dirty work necessary to earn the tough victories.

Any 50/50 ball last night went to the Broncos, no doubt about it. Putnam North made a nice run to make it interesting in the fourth quarter, but Mustang deserved this win.

I still don’t think Mustang has the greatest perimeter shooting team out there. But it doesn’t have to be if you execute in the other parts of the game, which is exactly what Alan Green’s boys do.

Another good game from PCN’s Armon Provo and Joe Summers. And with the Panthers going east, I could definitely see this team making the state tournament.

Mustang also made its free throws to get rid of any drama. David Glidden was 7 of 8 alone in the fourth quarter. Well played game.

Deer Creek 53, Enid 31

Nice statement by the Antlers here. A well-balanced effort sparked by the post players to earn this victory.

Josh Fields and Anthony Clark are both just juniors and the last two games they both looked good. This team has to be more than Garrett Hermanski, and it is so intrigued to see what happens against Piedmont and Carl Albert later this week.

After Alex Patterson went down, seemed like Enid was a little deflated.

OCS 74, Western Heights 72

Ah, the most fun game of the day. It was all Jack Warren of OCS and Alton Whittaker of Western Heights.

Then in the second half, it was all T.J. Holland of OCS and Western Heights’ Kenneth Mayfield. Warren and Holland – 51 points. Mayfield and Whittaker – 54 points.

Mayfield went nuts in the fourth quarter. He scored 23 points and shot the lights out. He made a three and Deer Creek’s Grant Gower was trying to announce it when the lights went out.

Almost a huge comeback by Western Heights who were down 65-51 midway through the fourth.

Warren had 27 with 19 in the first half. Holland had 24 with 18 in the second half.

OCS didn’t play McGuinness JV as I thought because no matter what, the Irish were going to play in losers’ games. They understood that and were fine with it. Even if McGuinness JV had beaten Mustang on Friday, Mustang would have advanced. For what it’s worth, the JV team went 2-1 and beat Star Spencer on Monday.

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

Bruce Gray Invitational
Girls
OCS 52, PC West 45 – seventh place
Deer Creek 53, Western Heights 50 – fifth place
Enid 40, Star Spencer 30 – third place
Putnam North 44, McGuinness 42 – championship

There it is. Putnam North making me look stupid.

Going into the championship, I thought the Irish were going to handle the Panthers. But by the end of the first quarter, knew differently.

Was a little worried for Putnam North after Joh’Vonna Mitchell picked up two fouls in the first four minutes, but Kelsey Abraham kept the team rolling in the first half and rightfully earned the MVP honors of the tournament.

Likewise, that was the best game I’ve seen from McGuinness’ Caroline Cameron, who scored 13 of her 18 points in the first half to keep the Irish within striking distance.

Rae Rae Brannon came up huge in the second half for PCN, scoring all 12 of her points after halftime.

Tremendous atmosphere in a game that pitted two non-hosting teams in a tournament final. Great battle down the stretch. And while last year Putnam North didn’t make that final basket, this year, yep, Mitchell did it.

Enid 40, Star Spencer 30

Seriously, Enid fans are lucky to get to watch Courtney Chelf every single game. She is something special. She had 13 of the team’s 15 points at halftime.

In the second half, more Pacers got involved and Enid really took control. Kept waiting for that Star Spencer run, just wasn’t in the cards this time around.

Enid’s a solid team, but solid won’t get the job done in 6A girls competition. Gonna be a dog fight in the next month for those state berths.

Deer Creek 53, Western Heights 50

The Antlers are coming around. You look at that lineup and see a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, but it’s coming together.

Sophomore Alexa Adair looks so much more confident than she did back in December. This team is learning to win the close games, and I think they’re right back in the hunt for a state berth.

Bayli Blanchard is doing a good job in the post, and it was a good battle between Blanchard and Western Heights’ star Dilan Webster.

The Jets made a big comeback in the fourth and took a 50-49 lead, but Adair hit four free throws in the final minute to earn the win.

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

Bruce Gray Invitational
Monday (I’ll be there)
At Deer Creek
Seventh place: McGuinness JV vs. Star Spencer, 11:30 a.m.
Fifth place: Western Heights vs. OCS, 2:30
Third place: Deer Creek vs. Enid, 5:30
Championship: Mustang vs. Putnam North, 8:30

I felt Deer Creek would have to play a near perfect game to beat Putnam North. The Antlers didn’t, and the Panthers cruised in the fourth quarter to a 69-53 victory.

I have never seen Garrett Hermanski bottled up like that. PCN’s Armon Provo, an explosive scorer in his own right, put the clamps on one of the best juniors in the state. Provo frustrated Hermanski, was extremely physical with him and never let Hermanski get into that groove.

Hermanski had five points at halftime and nine points total. Great job by Provo.

If it was Provo on defense, then it was the Joe Summers show on offense. He hit three 3s in the first half that really set the tone for his game. Antlers had to come out and guard him, and he’s too strong off the dribble.

It was interesting because Deer Creek’s Jalen Burnett is a really talented player. However, the size of Summers was something he simply could not deal with it. Burnett still managed to have a really good game, but it was a clear difference of 5A and 6A in terms of the size there.

In contrast, the Panthers learned why the Deer Creek community goes ga-ga over sophomore Joel Blumenthal. He was trying to put the team on his back in the third quarter. He scored 11 points, including connecting on three 3s to pull the game within 41-38. However, all runs must come to an end, and Deer Creek couldn’t muster a response after JR Simon hit a three-point play and Provo drained a 3 at the end of the third to make it 50-42.

Mustang 46, Enid 38

Interesting Mustang team. First time I’ve gotten to see them. Do a lot of the gritty things, not afraid to go in there and mix it up. Not sure if the Broncos have the perimeter shooting for a long run.

Impressed with Ben Berry and David Glidden. Speaking of Glidden, he took a nasty shot to his shoulder in the third quarter but missed minimal time. After getting checked out, he was right back out there.

I see why Mustang is so highly regarded by opposing coaches, but neither myself nor Scott Wright has seen Mustang on its best day. Perhaps that will be Monday?

Looking ahead to Monday…

Rematch of last year’s final when Provo absolutely went off for 33 points and a PCN title. I don’t see this one being a blowout at all, but I stated earlier I thought Rick Harris’ boys would win it so I’ll stand by that.

Deer Creek coach Matt Bailey faces his former squad, Enid, in the third-place game. It’s not as simple as Hermanski vs. Alex Patterson and whoever has the better game, his team wins, but it’s close. They trigger so much on their respective teams when they’re playing well.

And OCS, who I almost left for dead after Thursday, has a chance to claim fifth place against a surprising McGuinness JV team. After losses to Heritage Hall and Deer Creek, big response by the Saints against Star Spencer.

Bruce Gray Invitational
Monday (I’ll be there)
At Deer Creek
Girls
Seventh place: OCS vs. Putnam West, 10 a.m.
Fifth place: Deer Creek vs. Western Heights, 1 p.m.
Third place: Enid vs. Star Spencer, 4 p.m.
Championship: McGuinness vs. Putnam North, 7 p.m.

Somebody asked me Thursday to predict the winners in the Bruce Gray Invitational, and I said the McGuinness girls and the Putnam North boys. I was three minutes away from being wrong Saturday.

The Irish girls trailed Star Spencer 35-29 before going on a 13-2 run to win 42-37 and advance to Monday’s championship game.

I’ve never seen McGuinness look so lost as it did yesterday. Coach Jennifer Burch gave Star Spencer a lot of the credit as the 1-2-2 zone befuddled the normally efficient Irish.

Burch said when the offense is down, the defense can’t let up. It didn’t. Eventually it was the defense that spurred the run. The press was able to create turnovers and Elyse Hight came up big down the stretch as she has for basically the whole season.

Another great game by Sharane Campbell of Star Spencer. She’s a fighter, no doubt. Felt like Star had set up McGuinness for that knockout blow but simply never delivered it.

Putnam North 45, Enid 37

Another two years with Courtney Chelf, Enid fans are lucky. She’s a good one and her three-pointer at the end of the third made it 30-29 Enid going into the fourth.

However, this was a good statement made by the Panthers. I always look to Joh’Vonna Mitchell and Alexis Watson, but Kelsey Abraham was the star in this one. And give a lot of credit to Blaire Hall’s eight points off the bench.

Watson took a nasty fall midway through the third with PCN leading 27-23. She missed the rest of the third and start of the fourth before coming back in. She seemed OK, hope she is for Monday night.

Looking ahead to Monday…

I think Rae Rae Brannon is going to have to come up big for the Panthers. She’s tiny, but she has more quickness than what the Irish are used to dealing with. Mitchell cannot get in foul trouble against Hight and Alexa Lienhard (and vice versa on that one).

Third-place game should be a  good battle between Chelf and Campbell. I like Enid in a close one. Fifth-place game is intriguing in the grand scheme of things as Western Heights and Deer Creek might be still standing when it comes to the 5A state tournament. I like Dilan Webster to help the Jets prevail in that one.

The hits keep coming in the Tulsa area. The Arvest Invitational at Bartlesville has been canceled. The boys-only tournament featured a good mix of top 5A and 6A teams, including Ardmore and Bishop Kelley in 5A and Putnam City West, Edmond Santa Fe, Broken Arrow and Bartlesville in 6A.

This one has driven me nuts today. It went from Friday, Saturday and Sunday to simply Friday and Saturday (with semis and championships being played Saturday) to now just outright canceled.

Very interesting to keep tabs on how these teams fare in their first games back after all these cancellations, playing against teams who aren’t nearly as rusty.

I would seriously like to relax at this point in the night, that too much to ask? See ya Friday for the Power Lunch chat and a whole day of tournament basketball.

Bruce Gray Invitational
At Deer Creek
Thursday
Boys
Mustang vs. McGuinness JV, 11:30 a.m.
Putnam City North vs. Star Spencer, 2:30
OCS vs. Deer Creek, 5:30
Enid vs. Western Heights, 8:30
Girls
McGuinness vs. Putnam West, 10 a.m.
Putnam North vs. OCS, 1 p.m.
Western Heights vs. Star Spencer, 4 p.m.
Deer Creek vs. Enid, 7 p.m.

So I wanted to take a minute to hit some of the highlights, school-by-school, and look ahead to some potential big moments in the near future as we get ready for what could be a wild second half of the season.

Yukon

Let’s start with the Millers, who have had a roller-coaster 2011. Coming into the year with the momentum of a tournament championship in Ardmore, the Millers lost at home to rival Mustang, then lost three at the McGuinness Classic. But things turned up on Tuesday when Micole Nicholson scored 21 points in an upset of No. 5 Putnam City. Their tournament schedule is complete, but they’ve got big games against Choctaw and Edmond Santa Fe coming soon.

The Millerettes also face Choctaw and ESF before opening tournament play in Moore as Kelly Clarke’s girls try to get back in the top 20. Outside of an ugly loss to Mustang, Yukon has been playing well, and they showed their ability to defend inside by holding LaShawn Jones to nine points in an 11-point win over Putnam City on Tuesday.

Mustang

Sitting at No. 6 in the polls this week, the Broncos are showing that they’re legit. Avenging the loss to PC North from the Duncan tournament final with a 14-point win on Tuesday was a big statement behind 18 points from Robert Shaw and 14 from Ben Berry. Following Edmond North and Choctaw on the schedule is the Deer Creek tournament, which signaled the turnaround for this team last year, when they surprisingly went from No. 7 seed to tourney runner-up.

The Bronco girls looked like they had turned a corner wit the 20-point win at Yukon on Jan. 4, and that might still be the case, even though they’ve lost four straight. There’s not a bad team in the bunch among those four losses, though it certainly hurts confidence, especially the fourth-quarter performance at PC North, getting outscored 9-1 in an eight-point loss. But Robert Foreman will get his team to bounce back, though the schedule doesn’t get much easier, with Edmond North, Choctaw and the ultra-loaded Carl Albert Tournament coming up.

PC North

A tough couple of weeks for the Panthers as they wait to get coach Rick Harris back from his medical issues. Having traded text messages with Harris, I can tell how frustrating it is for him that his recovery hasn’t gone as fast as he’d like and that he isn’t back on the court with his players yet. And there’s no time to rest, with a showdown at PC West coming Friday.

On the girls side, it’s been hard to figure out the Panthers, but Tuesday’s win over Mustang was solid. They’ve got an interesting mix of big wins (or strong performances in defeat) and ugly losses. But with three straight wins and potentially four heading into a big game with Edmond North, we might have seen this team get everyone on the same page. Both PCN squads will be at Deer Creek for tourney play next week.

Putnam City

A.D. Burtschi’s Pirates are one 18-foot jumper away from a three-game losing streak, and they’re still trying to build some consistency. They played well at the PCI, despite losing to Midwest City in the finals, but the loss to Yukon Tuesday was painful. Making things worse, they don’t have what you would consider an “easy” game until February, starting with a top-five showdown against No. 3 Edmond Santa Fe on Friday.

The girls’ schedule is just as dangerous, if not moreso, because they’ve got the Carl Albert tourney in the middle, and as I’ve said, that field is packed with talent. The Chickasha tourney title was big after such a rough start that was in large part a product of a super-tough schedule.

PC West

The Patriots are no fluke. They’ve got four guys who have shown they can go for 15 any night, and Kyndall Dudley continues to put up big games. They’ve got back-to-back PC rivalry games, first PCN then PC, prior to the Bartlesville Tournament next week, so there are a few more chances to make some noise on a large scale.

Offense seems to be coming around for the PCW girls, having scored 48 or more in two of the last four games, and with a couple of rivalry games on tap, this could be the chance to build some momentum. They’ve also got the Deer Creek tournament ahead, where they will see some good competition as well.

The final two games of the night were decided by two points or less, one with a (controversial) game-winner going in with 1.8 seconds left, and another with the potential game-winner bouncing off the rim just before the buzzer.

Here’s a look at Friday’s scores and Saturday’s schedule:

Friday’s results
Putnam City North 85, John Marshall 53
Stillwater 61, Lawton Eisenhower 48
Putnam City 58, PC West 56
Midwest City 44, Tulsa Union 43

Saturday’s games
John Marshall vs. Lawton Eisenhower, noon (seventh place)
Putnam City North vs. Stillwater, 1:30 p.m. (fifth place)
Putnam City West vs. Tulsa Union, 4:30 p.m. (third place)
Putnam City vs. Midwest City, 6 p.m. (championship)

First, let’s discuss the end of the PC-PC West game. If you were there, I know you have an opinion about it, and feel free to share in the comments section. For those who weren’t, PC’s Dominique Raney drove toward the top of the key, there was contact between he and PC West defender Dominique Carrasco, and Raney pulled up for an open 18-foot jumper that won the game.

Did he push off to create some separation? Certainly possible. Raney didn’t deny it after the game. “It was what it was. I’ll just say that,” he told me.

For a better visual, think back to June 1998, Michael Jordan’s last game as a Chicago Bull. Did he push off on Utah’s Bryon Russell for the winning jumper in Game 6? If you think so, you probably think Raney pushed off, too.

There are really three ways to look at the play:

1) The PC West view — definitely a push-off.

2) The PC view — maybe a little nudge, but not enough for a foul call.

3) The Bad News Bears view (Let them play!) — you’re the person who wants to see a game decided by the players, not the refs, in the final seconds.

Groups 2 and 3 left the gym feeling good Friday night. For Group 1, all I can offer is this: the rest of us should stop being surprised when your Patriots are beating/playing close with really good teams. Three wins over top 10 teams and nearly a fourth? OK, time to accept that these Pats can play. And it’s not a one-man show.

Kyndall Dudley wasn’t scoring like he had been of late, but Kevin House, Dante Lewis and Tavionne Pennon added plenty on the offensive end to keep the Pats in the game.

As for the Pirates, Raney admits that sometimes — like in the second quarter when PC fell behind by 10 — he tries to do too much on his own. The team is much better when he’s getting everyone involved, like he did in the second half. The Pirates have other capable scorers, and getting Raney off the ball helps him get open more often as well.

The biggest thing that came out of Midwest City’s win was another knock against the value of size in 6A this season. Union is a lot bigger than the Bombers, but Midwest City — like several 6A teams around the metro — are quick and can score, even against height.

Putnam City isn’t huge, and their bigs are inexperienced, so Saturday’s title game should be a thriller. Last year’s state final was great, and I think the teams are pretty evenly matched once again.

The third- and fifth-place games won’t be too shabby, either, with a top-10 matchup in the fifth-place game between Stillwater and PC North, followed by Union vs. PC West. This tournament has clearly lived up to the hype.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

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

Thursday’s Results
Girls
Ardmore 58, Lawton 45, seventh place
Northwest Classen 64, Putnam City West 50, girls fifth place
Mustang 68, Southeast 50, third place
Fort Smith-Northside 54, Yukon 32, championship

Boys
Guthrie 45, Southeast 40, seventh place
Midwest City 62, Ardmore 58, fifth place
PC West 82, Carl Albert 67, third place
Del City vs. Yukon, 7 p.m., championship

4:05 p.m.: The Mustang girls have a 22-point lead on Southeast in the girls third-place game with just under two minutes left to play. More exciting, however, we’re running pretty well on time after a dreadfully long day yesterday that ended around midnight.

5:07 p.m.: After holding a 10-point halftime lead, Putnam City West has started the second half fast and leads 54-35 on Carl Albert midway through the third quarter in the boys third place game.

5:15 p.m.: One thing we’ve learned this week: PC West is for real. They didn’t get lucking in a couple big wins. This is a good basketball team. Kyndall Dudley has hit six 3-pointers. He and Dante Lewis could each go for 20 in this game. The Pats are up 21 as we near the end of the third quarter.

5:40 p.m.: PC West takes third in the boys tournament with an 82-67 win over Carl Albert. Dante Lewis finished with 28 and Kyndall Dudley had 25 for the Pats. The girls title game is a few minutes away.

6:07 p.m.: Northside leads Yukon 8-4 at the end of the first quarter.

6:24 p.m.: Impressive run by the Millerettes gets them a brief lead late in a wildly exciting, fast-paced second quarter, but Northside finishes strong for a 21-17 advantage at the break.

6:50 p.m.: Big third quarter from Northside for a 39-22 advantage heading into the fourth.

7:14 p.m.: Northside takes the girls title, 54-32, over Yukon. The boys title game between Yukon and Del City will get going in about seven minutes.

Here is your girls All-Tournament team: Whitney Dunn, Mustang; Mackenzie York, Yukon; Jade Hardy, Yukon; Mannasha Bell, Northside; Taylor Green, Northside; MVP: Chauntel Terry, Northside.

7:40 p.m.: The first quarter goes to Yukon with a 15-10 advantage on Del City. Yukon’s D’Anthony Perkins has shown he is as athletic as just about any guard in the city area.

7:55 p.m.: A late rally for the Millers gives them a 25-21 edge at halftime. Del City led 21-18 with under two minutes to play in the half.

8:16 p.m.: Del City keeps scoring, and Yukon keeps answering, particularly with 3-pointers — one apiece from Shon Willilams, D’Anthony Perkins and Matt Burton, while Jordan Brown added a three-point play inside. Yukon leads 43-33 after three quarters.

8:32 p.m.: Yukon pulled out to a 49-38 lead, but seven straight points from the Eagles has it down to a four-point game with just over three minutes left to play.

8:47 p.m.: It came down to free throws, and the Millers held on for a 55-52 win.

Boys All-Tournament Team: Kyndall Dudley, PC West; Steffon Herd, Del City; Brett Cannon, Del City; Shon Williams, Yukon; Jacob Koontz, Yukon; MVP: D’Anthony Perkins.

The Yukon boys and girls are both in the finals at the Ardmore Holiday Classic, where I have been camped out the last three days. The Millerettes face Fort Smith-Northside in what should be a good battle of two teams with good size inside and shooters on the perimeter.

The Millermen face Del City in a matchup of two different but equally well-coached squads. Del City is more athletic and

And the Mustang and Putnam City North boys will square off for the title at the Duncan Invitational, pitting two undersized but extremely athletic squads against each other — and two teams off to very good starts with state tournament goals ahead of them.

Should be a fun day, and I’ll try to keep you updated on as much of it as possible.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

For the Millers, this will be their first time playing for a tournament championship since the current seniors were freshmen.

“It’s gonna be good,” said senior guard Shon Williams, who led the Millers with 16 points Wednesday. “We’ve been working hard, working together for the last four years. We think we can win this, so we’re gonna go out and try our hardest to play well and se if we can win it.”

Added coach Ralph Nigro: “I think it means a lot (to play for a title). We have seven seniors and they’ve been through some bad times. Last year, we won, what, five games? The year before, we won six. So it means a lot to them. I’m happy for them. I’m happy to see them smiling and winning. It’ll be a tough game tomorrow, though.”

Mike Nicholson had 13 points for Yukon, while D’Anthony Perkins and Matt Burton added 10 apiece and Jacob Koontz had nine. Kyndall Dudley led the Patriots with 15 points and Dante Lewis added 14. Kevin House had 11, hitting three of the Pats’ eight 3-pointers.

Here’s the Ardmore Holiday Classic schedule and results, with more game-by-game updates below:

Wednesday’s results
Girls
Northwest Classen 41, Lawton 38
PC West 49, Ardmore 41
Yukon 47, Southeast 28
Fort Smith-Northside 58, Mustang 39

Boys
Midwest City 63, Guthrie 41
Ardmore vs. Southeast, 3 p.m.
Del City 52, Carl Albert 46
Yukon 58, Putnam City West 48

Thursday’s games
Girls
Ardmore vs. Lawton, 11:30 a.m., seventh place (at middle school gym)
Northwest Classen vs. Putnam City West, 11:30 a.m., fifth place
Southeast vs. Mustang, 2:30 p.m., third place
Yukon vs. Fort Smith-Northside, 5:30 p.m., championship

Boys
Guthrie vs. Southeast, 1 p.m., seventh place (at middle school gym)
Midwest City vs. Ardmore, 1 p.m., fifth place
Carl Albert vs. PC West, 4 p.m., third place
Del City vs. Yukon, 7 p.m., championship

Updates below…

4:55 p.m.: Today’s winners so far are the Northwest Classen and Putnam City West girls, who will meet in the fifth-place game Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Midwest City’s boys rolled past Guthrie and Ardmore is up on Southeast 33-26 midway thorugh the third quarter.

5 p.m.: Ardmore standout Nino Jackson is sitting out again today. When I spoke to coach Mark Wilson after the game Tuesday night, he expected Jackson to play today, so I’ll see what the situation is after this game concludes. Ardmore leads 42-32 at the end of the third quarter.

5:15 p.m.: Southeast coach Walt Brewer already had one guard out with a broken foot and he lost another in Tuesday night’s game, so he has had to turn to 6-foot-5 forward Trai Jordan as one of his primary ball-handlers — and he’s doing well. It’s a tough situation for a team with a lot of talented pieces to work with. They’ve got good outside shooters, led by William Brewer, and (when he’s in the paint, not at the point) a strong post presence with Jordan. A floor general with handles is all this team really needs to make a significant jump.

5:57 p.m.: Word out of the Ardmore locker room was that Nino Jackson’s absence today was related to an illness that had him feeling pretty bad at morning shoot-around. Ardmore won by 15. Yukon has an eight-point lead on Southeast in girls winner’s bracket action right now.

6:35 p.m.: Yukon holds a 37-21 advantage on Southeast in the girls semifinals entering the fourth quarter. More stout defense today from Kelly Clarke’s Millerettes.

7:37 p.m.: Mustang trailing Fort Smith-Northside 25-16 late in the first half. We’ll need a Bronco rally if we’re going to get Canadian County Bedlam in the Ardmore final. Of course, the two teams play in Yukon next Tuesday anyway.

8:27 p.m.: FS-Northside up 16 with under a minute left to play, so it’ll be Northside vs. Yukon in the girls final Thursday night at 5:30. We should be underway with the 7 p.m. boys game between Del City and Carl Albert in 15 minutes or so.

8:56 p.m.: Del City grabs the early 13-7 lead on Carl Albert at the end of the first quarter. Six points for Anthony Holland for the Eagles.

9:19 p.m.: Carl Albert pulled back in it to give us a tight one at the break. Del City is clinging to a 25-23 lead. Dondre Brookins has three 3-pointers for the Titans and Holland has nine points for the Eagles as well.

9:50 p.m.: Del City extends its lead to 39-30 at the end of the third. Del City freshman Brett Cannon had a pair of big buckets in the third and has 11 points for the game.

10:05 p.m.: CA and DC all tied up with two minutes to play.

10:15 p.m.: The Eagles take the Mid-Del battle, 52-46. Anthony Holland finishes with 14 points to lead the way. Yukon and PC West are about to get started in our final game of the night.

10:54 p.m.: Yukon takes a 28-18 lead on PC West to halftime. Del City is waiting for the winner in the finals, set for Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Tuesday’s games
Girls
Southeast 34, Lawton 28
Yukon 45, Northwest Classen 36
Fort Smith (Ark.) Northside 69, Putnam City West 30
Mustang 66, Ardmore 27

Boys
Putnam City West 70, Midwest City 62
Yukon 41, Guthrie 34
Carl Albert 66, Ardmore 59
Del City 54, Southeast 35

Wednesday’s games
Girls
Loser’s bracket
Lawton vs. Northwest Classen, 11 a.m.
PC West vs. Ardmore, 12:20 p.m.
Winner’s bracket
Southeast vs. Yukon, 4:20 p.m.
Fort Smith-Northside vs. Mustang, 5:40 p.m.
Boys
Loser’s bracket
Guthrie vs. Midwest City, 1:40 p.m.
Ardmore vs. Southeast, 3 p.m.
Winner’s bracket
Carl Albert vs. Del City, 7 p.m.
Putnam City West vs. Yukon, 8:20 p.m.

Updates below…

2:30 p.m.: Shola Adebayo scored 20 of Southeast’s 34 points on the way to a win over Lawton. The Yukon girls played some good defense down the stretch to hold off a NWC rally. Jade Hardy led Yukon with 17 points. Meshelle Parker had 11 for the Knights and Alysia Whitaker added 10. We’re nearing halftime in the first boys game, where PC West is hanging with Midwest City, trailing 24-23. Cortrael Colbert already has 13 for the Bombers.

2:40 p.m.: PC West closes the first half with a 15-4 run to take a 27-24 lead at the half on Midwest City. Kyndall Dudley leading the Patriots with 12 points.

3:35 p.m.: PC West pulls off the upset, 70-62. Kyndall Dudley hit a pair of huge 3s down the stretch and finished with 24 points. Tavionne Pennon added 16, spoiling Cortrez Colbert’s 27-point outing for the Bombers.

4:12 p.m.: Speedy first half from Yukon and Guthrie. The Bluejays lead 13-10 at the break.

4:53 p.m.: The Millers pull away in the fourth for a 41-34 win. It’ll be Yukon and PC West at 8:20 Wednesday night in the boys semifinals.

5:20 p.m.: Not pretty in the third girls game of the day. Fort Smith-Northside leads PC West 20-2 after one quarter.

6:13 p.m.: Northside takes it 69-30 over PC West. The final girls game of the night, Ardmore vs. Mustang, is just a couple minutes away.

7:10 p.m.: Mustang girls out to a 50-20 lead midway through the third quarter. A win would put Mustang against Fort Smith-Northside Wednesday. Yukon faces Southeast in the first semifinal at 4:20 p.m.

8:20 p.m.: Ardmore and Carl Albert tied at the half, 33 apiece. Nino Jackson has not seen the floor for Ardmore so far.

8:45 p.m.: Carl Albert takes a 45-44 lead to the fourth quarter on top-ranked Ardmore.

9:32 p.m.: Sorry for the delayed update, but Carl Albert pulled off the upset of No. 1 Ardmore, 66-59. Ardmore standout Nino Jackson was held out of action by coach’s decision. He is expected to play in Wednesday’s loser’s bracket game against the Del City-Southeast loser.

9:55 p.m.: Del City boys out to a 30-14 lead on Southeast in the final game of the night.

10:38 p.m.: Del City finishes off the night with a 54-35 win over Southeast. We’ll do it all again tomorrow.

But when it all shook out, the Putnam City West victory over Edmond Santa Fe was the biggest win. And senior guard Kyndall Dudley had the biggest impact down the stretch, so POW honors go to him.

It was hard to overlook what Mustang accomplished last week, beating No. 2 Putnam City and winning the Harrah Panther Classic. But I had higher expectations for Mustang than a lot of people, and I knew they’d pull off some wins like beating PC. There were a lot more questions around PC West, so to make that kind of statement in the first week of December was huge.

Dudley hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and two more in overtime of the Patriots’ 55-51 win at ESF last week. He finished with 17 points. Dante Lewis and Deonte Ogles both played key roles in the win as well.

Interestingly, the two teams leading the upset charge last week will face off tonight when Mustang hosts PC West.

Other contenders

Armon Provo, PC North boys basketball: It was hard to deny Provo yet again after he poured in 34 in the Panthers’ second game of the year against Choctaw. Provo tore it up over the summer and he has carried it into the season.

Ben Berry and David Glidden, Mustang boys basketball: Glidden scored 20 in the upset of PC, and Berry was the leading scorer in all three of the Broncos’ victories at Harrah, including a 23-point effort in the opener. Over the three games, he averaged 17.3 per game.

D’Anthony Perkins, Yukon boys basketball: Perkins scored 14 points in Tuesday’s 21-point rout of Edmond North, leading four double-figure scorers.

Ron’Quis Lewis, Putnam City boys basketball: Lewis scored 24 in the loss to Mustang. At 6-foot-6, Lewis already has an offer from Western Kentucky and his stock will continue to climb with games like this.

Ashley Callahan and Amanda Biorato, Mustang girls basketball: Callahan scored 16 and Biorato 15 in the overtime win over Putnam City.

LaShawn Jones, Putnam City girls basketball: Jones had 24 in the loss to Mustang and 34 total over two games at the Harrah tournament.

Joh’Vonna Mitchell, PC North girls basketball: Averaged 14.5 points over four games last week, including 21 in an eight-point win over Durant Friday.

No. 1 Edmond Memorial rallies from 13 down in the fourth quarter to knock off No. 3 Midwest City on its home floor, hitting four of four free throws in the final 13 seconds to avenge the overtime loss to the Bombers in the first round of the state tournament (well, sort of, though let’s not equate December wins to March wins).

Had to be the biggest drama of the night, right?

Wrong.

Three metro-area games go overtime, with Shawnee nipping Western Heights, Norman North taking down Southmoore and the big one — Putnam City West winning 55-51 at No. 4 Edmond Santa Fe.

That’s a huge win for the Patriots, simply to show themselves and the rest of Class 6A that just because Tyler Neal and Amric Fields are gone, the Pats aren’t going to be a doormat.

Guard Kyndall Dudley hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and overtime to spark the win and Dante Lewis had 10 boards and three blocked shots as the pair of seniors carried PC West to the victory.

“All our kids stepped up and made big plays,” first-year PC West coach Lenny Bert said. “They left their heart on the floor. After the game in the locker room, it wasn’t some big celebration. It was like we were supposed to win. It’s good to get that feeling early, because it showed us we can beat a legitimate team and gives us the belief that we can be good if we do what we’re supposed to do.”

Mustang didn’t need overtime to take down No. 2 Putnam City at PC. David Glidden scored only six points in a loss last week, so I wondered if maybe the ankle he injured in the final football game was still an issue. Then he busts out for 20 against the Pirates. Robert Shaw added 14 and Zac Grismer had 13 in the win.

Back to Memorial-MWC… these are two really good teams who will be hanging around in March. Memorial’s Obi Emegano is a horse, but we all knew that. The Bulldogs play some tough defense, too.

Sophomore Jordan Woodard is a budding star who will only get better. For such a young kid to step to the free throw line with 6.1 seconds left and a one-point lead and be able to hit two free throws — he was 2-of-4 at the line before that — was very impressive. He and his brother, James, are both very athletic and will make it tough for teams to figure out how to defend the Bulldogs this year, especially with Emegano.

“It’s hard to guard (Emegano) one-on-one,” Memorial coach Shane Cowherd said. “And if you foul him, he’ll make you pay at the line.”

He certainly did Tuesday, hitting 14 of 16, including two with 12.9 seconds left.

The Bombers look about the same as last year. Not huge inside but very tough on defense to create easy offense, and they can get going on some serious 3-pointer streaks. They might even have a little better depth than last year, too.

There was plenty more drama around the metro area last night, and a few big performances as well. Bridge Creek’s Ryan Spangler had 46 points, 26 rebounds, seven assists and six blocked shots in a rout of Crooked Oak. Armon Provo had his second straight 30-point game, scoring 34 against Choctaw, and his night ended when the Panthers held a 33-point lead after three quarters. And Deer Creek’s Garrett Hermanski scored 38 in a win over Chickasha.

We’re only two weeks into the season. How much better can this year get?

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Dominique Raney got off to quite a start himself, scoring 30 in the Pirate victory. The athletic 6-foot-5 senior will be asked to do a lot more on this team, which doesn’t have the interior presence of last year’s squad. He’ll handle the ball a lot more and he’ll be asked to lead the offense.

Raney said he’s letting his father and coach A.D. Burtschi handle most of his recruiting right now so he can focus on the season, but he’s got a chance to be the state’s top recruit this year — especially if he keeps putting up numbers like this.

Other contenders

Armon Provo, PC North boys basketball: Had the Panthers been able to pull off the upset, here’s your POW. Provo poured in 35 in the loss to PC.

Mackenzie York, Yukon girls basketball: York was the only player in double-figures as Yukon opened with a 15-point win over PC West.

Alexis Watson and Joh’Vonna Mitchell, PC North girls basketball: Watson scored 15 and Mitchell had 14 as the Panthers won a thriller in overtime against rival Putnam City.

LaShawn Jones, Putnam City girls basketball: The Oklahoma State-bound Jones scored 18 in the narrow defeat to PC North.

Send West Metro POW nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Putnam City girls basketball player LaShawn Jones signed with Oklahoma State.

At 6-foot-4, Jones has been on the radars of college programs for a while, and she was glad to get her decision made early. Jones signed with Oklahoma State last week, noting that she enjoy’s Kurt Budke’s coaching style. But Jones is still focused on her senior season with the Pirates after averaging 14 points and 13 rebounds last year.

“I really want to improve on my footwork this year,” she said. “We’re ready to make a playoff run.

“I think offense is our strength. We have a good inside-outside game.”

Congrats to all of the West Metro athletes who signed with colleges during the early signing period. Here are the ones I know about. If there are more, e-mail me at swright@opubco.com.

Baseball
Brian Brightwell, Putnam City (Oklahoma)

Girls basketball
LaShawn Jones, Putnam City (Oklahoma State)

Softball
Kayla Kingsley, Putnam North (Missouri)
Kylie Lang, Yukon (Southern Nazarene)

Volleyball
Tori Cox, Putnam City (Baylor)

With another strong performance from the offensive line, RB Casey Curtis posted his fifth 200-yard game of the season. He went for 236 and three scores in the 33-12 win over Santa Fe, which sported one of the better defenses in the district.

Curtis concluded his junior season with 1,659 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has started to gain some recruiting attention from some big schools. His top-end speed and strength in his 5-foot-8, 175-pound frame will keep him on the radars of D-I programs through the offseason.

Other contenders

Jon Luckey, Mustang: The senior WR/DB had TDs of 60 and 50 yards early for the Broncos before Del City pulled away. Luckey bulked up prior to the season and he’s been playing well on both sides of the ball. He’ll be key in run support from his safety position in Friday’s playoff game against Lawton Eisenhower.

Kollin Retter, Yukon: Retter had eight catches for for 129 yards and two touchdowns, though the Millers go into the playoffs on a sour note after the 38-21 loss to Edmond Memorial.

Dre Holman, Sam Wolfe and the PC North defense: The pair of running backs powered the Panther offense to a solid outing and the defense did what it needed to do in order to give the Panthers a shot at the postseason, but they didn’t get the help they needed from Yukon.

Putnam City West (1-8) at Southmoore SaberCats (5-4)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Moore Stadium

PC West (1-8)
Why the Patriots can win: One last shot. This senior class has been through a lot, and getting that victory earlier this year was huge for them — and well-deserved. They have one last chance to taste victory, and they want it more than anyone could understand. The Pats will need RB Johnny Smith come back from the ankle injury he suffered last week and be effective.

Southmoore (5-4)
Why the SaberCats can win: Pursuit of Perfection. It’s the motto Southmoore coach Chris Jensen has used all season and it’s about all the SaberCats have left to play for. Kendal Thompson will be behind center, but running back Andrew Long won’t play because of a high ankle sprain. We’ll see how perfect the SaberCats can be.

Key matchup: Southmoore’s Karltrell Henderson vs. his nerves. Henderson will be thrown into the starting lineup for the first time all season. With Long out, the sophomore has his first chance to shine. He’s been good this season rushing for 670 yards and eight touchdowns. But he’s always been the backup.

Scott’s pick: Sabercats 35, Patriots 12. Southmoore just has too much firepower.

Justin’s pick: Southmoore 37, PC West 7. Southmoore will avoid being .500 for the season, but the offense will be slowed a little because of Long’s absence.

Player of the Year – Kady Self, Edmond North
Newcomer of the Year – Kilee Halbert, Yukon
Coach of the Year – Rick Nordyke, Edmond North

First Team
Edmond North: Abby Taliaferro, Madison Nordyke, Jordan Dixon, Sheridan Bond, Braxton Coil
Yukon: Kylie Lang, Madi Ellis, Skylar Leathers, Jade Hardy
Mustang: Courtni Clark, Jamie Rateliff, Kayla Adams
Edmond Santa Fe: Maddie Martin, Karly Nevez, Breezy McComas, Catherine Rodarm
Putnam North: Kayla Kingsley, Taylor Harris, Dani Nissen
Putnam City: Grace Self, Amanda Stevenson, Tiffany Holt
Putnam West: Ashley Tiger, Allyson Hemby
Choctaw: Elizabeth Sandman, Casie Foust

Second Team
EN: Ashton Smith, Brooke Crutchfield. YHS: Amanda Madden, Whitney Ellis, Caitlyn Halbert. MHS: Kyndra Holasek, Kierra Miles, Shelbi Legg. ESF: Kayley Humann, Siara Price, Sydney Brennan, Carly Cowan. PCN: Alli Whittington, Madison Welch, Amy Reynolds. PCO: Kylee Webb, Amber McCullough, Andrea Walling. CHS: Kylie Morgan, Ashley Hopkins, Sadie Marino. PCW: Haley Hemby, Kaleigh Ferrell.

He scored in each phase of the game, each of more than 70 yards, to help Mustang put away Westmoore and lock up a home playoff bid.

The Oklahoma State-bound Glidden earned POW honors with a 70-yard free kick return TD, a 70-yard receiving TD and a 96-yard interception return TD. He finished with 154 receiving yards and threw a 36-yard pass as well.

The Broncos are at Del City Friday to wrap up the regular season in a game that really doesn’t mean anything for the Broncos. They’ve got the No. 2 spot wrapped up. Del City will know Thursday night if the game has any meaning to them. If Edmond North defeats US Grant Thursday night at Wantland Stadium, the Eagles are out.

Other contenders

Kaiden Horn, Kollin Retter and Ty Garza, Yukon: Horn scored twice in Yukon’s big second half to seal up a home playoff berth. Garza and Retter each came up with a pick-6 to spur that second-half runaway.

Covin Conrady, Dre Holman and Brad Ross, PC North: Conrady and Holman came through with multiple big plays, and Ross scored twice as the Panthers stayed alive in the playoff hunt with a 42-40 win over Moore. 

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms finished second in the girls 6A state meet and Carroll was fourth in the boys race, but impressive accomplishments at the highest level.

Why Sapulpa could win: Sapulpa can put some points on the board and they’ve been strong in close games (2-1 in games decided by a TD or less). Defensively, they’ve only held one team — Sand Springs — to less than 27 points, so they’ll need to keep the offense moving.

Why PC West could win: His name is Johnny Smith. The Pats running back was the biggest reason for their win over Shawnee earlier this month. Stopping the run is critical, because the Pats’ strength is in the secondary. If Sapulpa has to throw the ball to win, it’s to PC West’s advantage.

Key matchup: Smith vs. Sapulpa defensive front. When Smith gets to the second and third levels, he punishes people. If the Sapulpa D-line lets him get back there, he’ll cause problems, open up the passing game for Ray Young, and help the Pats control the ball.

The pick: PC West 31, Sapulpa 27. Before the season, I pointed to this game as the best chance for the Pats to end their losing streak. They got there early, and I think they can pick up another here.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Derek Deeds, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound junior, has been one of the Millers’ most reliable defenders at free safety and got the chance to show how dangerous he can be on offense the last two weeks while starting running back Terry Jones has been sidelined by an ankle injury.

Deeds, who had 11 receptions as a slot receiver in the first six games, has five rushing touchdowns the last two weeks. For the season, he has carried the ball 38 times for 211 yards, virtually all in the last two games.

He also had two interceptions, returning one 76 yards for a touchdown, in Thursday’s win over Moore that assured the Millers of a second straight playoff berth.

Other contenders

Andrew Madison, Mustang: The sophomore receiver had two interceptions and took both back to the end zone, only to have both called back by penalty. There are several sophomores like Madison, Jared Chance, Steven Fruit, Cole Williams, Dakota Warrington, Cory Irwins and Tucker Calmus getting the opportunity to help out the Broncos, and many of them are starting to come into their own.

Dre Holman, PC North: Holman finally broke loose, rushing for 189 yards and a TD (had another erased by penalty) in the loss to Lawton Ike.

Casey Curtis, Putnam City: Like Holman, Curtis had a strong rushing performance — 183 yards and a TD — go by the wayside in defeat at Westmoore.

Emily Helms, Mustang cross country: Won a 6A regional, winning by one second in 11:51. She will be among the favorites at state on Sunday.

Seems like a good time to break down playoff positioning for the five West Metro squads, so here we go:

Yukon, 6A-1
Record: 6-1, 3-1
Remaining games: vs. Moore; at Choctaw; vs. Edmond Memorial
The situation: Right now, this finishing schedule looks as easy as you could get in this district, but that could change with the return of Memorial’s Kameron Doolittle from injury. But still, these are three games the Millers will be favored to win. They’ll need help to get to the top spot because of the loss to MWC, but if they just take care of business, the No. 2 spot — and a home playoff berth — should be wrapped up.

Mustang, 6A-2
Record: 5-2, 3-1
Remaining games: at US Grant; vs. Westmoore; at Del City
The situation: That Westmoore game looks HUGE right now, and will be even bigger if Westmoore tops Putnam City Friday night, with the two teams tied for the No. 2 spot. Mustang’s wins over PC and Edmond North will be key should there be a tiebreaker in their future. Del City in Week 10 could be interesting, because the Eagles could be playing for their postseason lives at that point.

Putnam City, 6A-2
Record: 5-2, 2-2
Remaining games: at Westmoore; vs. Lawton; at Edmond Santa Fe
The situation: Not an easy road to finish the season, especially considering these are the three toughest defenses in the district — not counting PC itself — based on points allowed. The offense, and particularly the run game, will be tested to the max the last three weeks. The good news is that one win in the last three should be enough to get the Pirates into a tiebreaker for a playoff berth, and two wins probably locks them in.

Putnam City North, 6A-1
Record: 2-5, 1-3
Remaining games: vs. Lawton Ike; at Moore; vs. Choctaw
The situation: It’s not a stretch to imagine that the Panthers could win out and get to 4-3 in the district, which might be enough to lock them in and maybe even get them up to the No. 3 slot. But sitting in sixth right now is a tough spot to be in, because it looks like the district is destined for a tiebreaker. Every point counts.

Putnam City West, 6A-3
Record: 1-6, 1-3
Remaining games: at Muskogee; vs. Sapulpa; at Southmoore
The situation: If the Patriots win the next two, it’s possible they could find themselves in a tiebreaker. But it all hinges on beating Muskogee tonight, which won’t be easy. Otherwise the Roughers likely get to 4-3 and out of the Pats’ reach for the fourth spot.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Some weeks are easier than others when it comes to picking the West Metro Player(s) of the Week. This is one of those weeks.

The Yukon Millerettes rolled to the Class 6A state softball championship with an impressive performance.

Whitney Ellis, Madi Ellis and Skylar Leathers all had big RBIs in the title game, but it was a total team effort throughout the weekend to pull of the title. Here’s Robert Przybylo’s story on the finals.

Other contenders

Brandon Taylor, David Glidden and Cole Williams, Mustang: Taylor threw for 338 yards and six TDs, Glidden caught four TD passes and returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score, and Williams came up with two fumble recoveries to set up touchdowns as the Broncos exploded for 59 points in beating Putnam City.

Corben Jones and Derek Deeds, Yukon: Filling in for Terry Jones as he works his way back from an ankle injury, Deeds broke loose for four touchdowns and 91 yards on 17 carries to keep the Yukon offense balanced. Corben Jones was sharp as usual, throwing for 208 yards and completing 19 of 26 passes.

Casey Curtis and Putnam City offensive line: Curtis broke free for his third straight 200-yard rushing performance and his fourth of the year. Behind an offensive line with several seniors, this Pirate run game just keeps churning out big yards.

Jace James and Sam Wolfe Putnam City North: James had his second straight 300-yard passing game and led the offense to a near-comeback victory against Yukon. James threw one TD pass and rushed for another in the fourth quarter. Wolfe rushed for two TDs, including a 64-yarder that sparked the rally. 

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms won the girls race and Carroll the boys race at the Metro Conference meet — a good sign heading into regionals this weekend and state on Oct. 30.

Scott Massey, Yukon cross country: Finished fourth at the Metro Conference meet.

Send West Metro POW nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Last week: PC West ended a 28-game losing streak with a 30-21 victory over Shawnee. Norman got a key 34-28 win over Southmoore.

Why PC West could win: It’s asking a lot to expect two straight from the Pats in this situation. But momentum and confidence can do funny things in a team. Johnny Smith ran like a beast last week, and if he keeps doing that, he’ll give the Pats a chance.

Why Norman could win: Donovan Roberts and defense. Linebacker Greg Offenburger will likely find his way into some big collisions with Smith over the course of the game, and Roberts presents a tough matchup for a PC West defense that is undersized and relies on speed.

Key matchup: PC West vs. itself. The Pats let Shawnee back in the game with their own mistakes before coming back to finish it off alst week. Turnovers or giving up big plays will get PC West in a bad situation very quickly.

The pick: Norman 38, PC West 12. The Tigers are just too powerful.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Putnam City at Mustang

Major playoff implications are on the line in Friday’s Putnam City-Mustang game, and regardless of what happens, the two teams are likely to keep statisticians busy.

Each team comes into the game with a junior producing impressive offensive statistics in recent weeks.

Mustang quarterback Brandon Taylor has thrown for more than 800 yards the last two games and is up to 1,784 for the season. He has completed 60.4 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Putnam City running back Casey Curtis is coming off back-to-back 200-yard rushing performances with seven total touchdowns in the last two games. For the year, the 5-foot-8, 175-pound speedster has 942 yards and 15 touchdowns on 123 carries.

The winner has a leg up on the No. 2 spot – and thus, the home playoff berth — in District 6A-2. And in Putnam City’s case, it puts them in good position to get in the mix for the district title, with the No. 4 Wolverines set to visit PC Stadium in Week 9.

Yukon at Putnam City North

Obviously, this would have been a bigger game had the Panthers not been upset by Norman North last week, but that still adds some drama, since PC North must bounce back to keep themselves in serious playoff contention.

Regardless, Yukon can’t let PC North’s loss impact their opinion of the Panthers. This is still a team that beat Edmond Memorial and took Midwest City to overtime — nearly beat the Bombers except for a controversial fumble call at the goal line.

Terry Jones gutted out 22 carries on a bad ankle last week, and more of the same will be asked of him against a tougher defense this week. A win here puts Yukon in great position for the No. 2 seed in District 6A-1.

Meanwhile, a win for PC North would be a huge boost heading into the final three weeks against Lawton Ike, Moore and Choctaw.

PC West at Norman

Coming off the first win since 2007, PC West is facing quite a challenge in a powerful Norman team looking for a 7-0 start.

The Pats are good against the pass, but stopping the run is an issue. And stopping Donovan Roberts has been an issue for everyone all year.

If Johnny Smith can run the way he did last week, this will be an entertaining matchup, with two powerful backs carrying the ball a bunch.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

With the help of a few key plays by other people, Smith essentially carried the Pats on his back to their first victory in three years. He ran for 196 yards on 29 carries, scoring five touchdowns. He pounded out the tough yards in the middle. He punsihed tacklers who got in his way and ran past the ones who didn’t.

Smith just kept making big play after big play, like his two interceptions, one of which he returned 74 yards to the 1 and plunged into the end zone two plays later.

Overall, just an incredibly impressive performance. And congratualtions to the Patriots on the victory.

Other contenders

Casey Curtis and Elie Rushing, Putnam City: Curtis, behind another strong effort from his offensive line, posted yet another 200-yard game as PC knocked off Edmond North Thursday night. Rushing came up with a key tackle inside the 1-yard line to prevent Edmond North from cutting it to a one-score game. The win sets up a huge game at Mustang on Friday night, with major playoff implications on the line.

Corben Jones, Yukon receivers and Carson Mathews: With brother Terry playing on a bum ankle, Corben Jones threw for 280 yards, including TDs of 25, 29 and 41 yards to Kaiden Horn, Jordan Edwards and Eric Granado to carry the Millers to another win. Granado, who hasn’t gotten much notice for his solid play on defense this season, recovered a fumble for a TD to give Yukon its final points. Mathews intercepted a pass that was a huge turning point in the second quarter. It set up the Millers for a TD to take the lead just before halftime.

Brandon Taylor, Jacob Strassle and Tyler Webster, Mustang: Taylor was impressive again, throwing for 366 yards. He hit Strassle twice for TDs and Strassle also converted his first two field goals of the year, from 27 and 37 yards. Webster has been a huge part of the offense lately, accounting for 179 all-purpose yards in Friday’s win over Edmond Santa Fe, including some QB action in the second half.

Jace James and Covin Conrady, PC North: Conrady had another big week at receiver. He’s up to 638 yards and four TDs after grabbing a 47-yarder this week. And James was asked to throw a lot more than usual as PC North only ran the ball 14 times in Friday’s loss. James threw for 310 yards on 28-of-39 passing.

Mustang and Yukon softball teams: No point in singling out individuals here. When you make it to state, it’s a team effort. Yukon won the regional it hosted, while Mustang went to Midwest City as the No. 2 seed and came out on top.

Scott Massey, Megan Wilkerson and Alex Moore, Yukon cross country: Massey finished third in the boys race, while Wilkerson and Moore each finished in the top nine of the girls race at Southwestern Christian last week. Both teams finished third.

Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Carroll finished 10th in the pre-state meet in Edmond.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

However you describe it, Brandon Taylor was on fire Friday night. His first half alone would have been a great full-game performance — 22-of-25 for 354 yards and three TDs. He finished 30-of-38 for 442 and four TDs as Mustang coasted to a 56-34 win over Edmond North.

Taylor wasn’t alone in his special performance. The offensive line gave him plenty of time virtually all night. David Glidden pulled in 10 passes for more than 220 yards. Jon Luckey made some big catches and had an interception return TD. Tyler Webster kept the ball moving both running and catching the ball. And Stephen Fruit got his name called a lot on defense, making a lot of tackles.

When the Mustang offense is working like that, it’s fun to watch. Taylor is a big, strong lefty who throws the ball well and he’s starting to get more comfortable with his receivers other than Glidden and Luckey — guys like Michael Andersen, who had a TD Friday, Jacob Mersman and Jacob Strassle.

The offense will get another test this week against a stout defensive team at Edmond Santa Fe.

Other contenders

Covin Conrady, PC North football: If the Panthers had pulled off the upset of Midwest City, Conrady is your POW. The senior receiver had nine catches for 230 yards and a score. In case you missed it, here’s the game story.

Casey Curtis, Putnam City football: Curtis isn’t the type of back you’d expect to be a workhorse type who gets 30-plus carries, but he handled it well, rushing 33 times for 204 yards and four TDs.

Corben Jones, Yukon football: With his brother, Terry, sidelined by an injury, Corben Jones picked up the offense and turned a 17-14 deficit to a 35-17 win. He threw TD passes to Kollin Retter and Eric Granado, and rushed for a 20-yard score as well. He threw for 260 yards.

Jamie Rateliff and Kayla Adams, Mustang softball: The two seniors hit back-to-back home runs to finish off a 12-4 win over Choctaw.

Madi Ellis, Yukon softball: Ellis leads the Millerettes into regionals this week after driving in four runs in a rout of PC West.

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms won the girls race and Carroll was fourth in the boys race at the Mustang meet.

– Send West Metro Player of the Week nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Putnam City

I didn’t know what to expect from Putnam City at the start of the season. The district wasn’t too tough, but they lost a lot of key players on the defensive side of the ball and on the offensive line. But once they got past PC North in Week 1, you could see the potential for this 4-0 start.

But at the start of the season, Del City looked like a really strong team, especially with all the talent they’ve got on offense. Now, they’re the team that has some uncertainty surrounding it. So this becomes a winnable game for Putnam City. With Edmond North, Mustang, Westmoore and Lawton coming in the four weeks after this, the Pirates would greatly benefit from a win Friday night.

This PC team is playing with a lot of confidence right now, especially with that run game going the way it is, and Friday night should be a thriller.

PC North

We’ve been talking about it for a few weeks now, but it looks like running back Dre Holman will be back in action this week. That’s what he says. And the impact of his return can’t be understated. Sam Wolfe is a good back, and the addition of Holman gives the Panther offense a ton of options. One back, split Wolfe and Holman, put Wolfe in the slot, where he has been a strong receiver this season. Endless choices.

And Holman provides the team a pounding back who can get the tough yards. Wolfe’s game is based more in his quickness, so the two backs work perfectly together. An improved running game will make the team’s defense that much more valuable, and it should give them some more time to rest on the sideline as well.

PC West

Tough time being the Patriots right now. Broken Arrow last week and top-ranked Jenks this week. So, let’s look at this in a positive light — there’s no way PC West faces a team as tough as these two weeks the rest of the year. It only gets easier.

I still think the Pats win a game this season, but it won’t be this week. The biggest key is coming through Friday night without any major injuries, then get ready for the final five weeks of the season.

Mustang

The offensive line has really come together for the Broncos, and that’s been a big key for the improvement of the offense. Last week was different, because Lawton’s defensive front is stronger than most. But the Broncos still found a way to give Brandon Taylor time to throw, and opened some holes for Tyler Webster in the run game.

But with the 0-1 start in district play, there isn’t much room for error the rest of the way. The district is very hard to predict, but it looks to be very competitive in the middle. So if Mustang puts together a string of wins, they could re-emerge as a favorite for the second home playoff berth behind Lawton.

Yukon

This week is just as important as last week at Midwest City. Norman North has had some struggles early this season, so that might seem like an overstatement, but I really don’t think it is. Losing to MWC didn’t hurt the Millers’ credentials. The Bombers are really good.

But a loss or a lackluster win could hurt their image and take away from what they’ve done to this point in the season. It will start to raise questions again. The Millers are a top 10 team, but it’s important that they play like it this week, or people will stop thinking they are one. Considering the way the offense has moved the ball against everyone, and the defense’s strong play for 3 1/2 games, I don’t think it will be an issue.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

That’s why they’re the collective West Metro Players of the week. Memorial had 223 total yards, mostly coming on the ground, and the Panther D even poked in a touchdown on Daniel Grimes’ 39-yard fumble return.

After the 0-2 start, the Panthers certainly look to be getting things together. Don’t be discouraged by only scoring 10 offensive points against the Memorial defense — they’re legit.

After turning the ball over nine times in the first two games, the Panthers didn’t turn it over once on Friday, which was huge. And the long TD connection between Jace James and Rico Griffin should be a welcome sight. Griffin is an inexperienced receiver who is very talented and could give the passing game a boost by providing an option opposite Covin Conrady.

Other contenders

Brandon Taylor and Tyler Webster, Mustang football: Taylor threw for 300 yards in the second straight game and Webster kept the offense rolling with an effective run game, though the Broncos fell 30-29 at Lawton.

Casey Curtis, Putnam City football: Curtis got the Pirates off to a strong start in their fourth straight victory. He scored two early touchdowns on the way to PC’s rout of US Grant.

Yukon football team (first half version): The whole Miller football team gets noticed for their performance in the first half of the 48-21 loss at Midwest City. That team was unstoppable. Unfortunately that team didn’t show up for the second half.

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms finished third — first among Oklahoma girls — and Carroll was sixth in the boys meet at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater.

Madi Ellis, Yukon softball: Ellis had three RBIs in the Millerettes’ 6-5 win over No. 1 Edmond North last Tuesday.

– Send West Metro POW nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

This week’s Speed Read takes a look at what lies ahead in district play for Yukon, Mustang and the PC3.

Yukon (3-0)

The 6A-1 schedule is still brutal, even though Norman North is struggling at the star of the year. There are still five playoff teams from last year doing battle, and the fight for the two home playoff games between Midwest City, Edmond Memorial and the Millers will be wild.

The Millers’ hot start won’t be diminished by a loss to Midwest City this week, and neither will their chances of getting one of those home playoff games.

Week 4: It doesn’t get any bigger than the Bombers and Millers. I’m pumped for this one. To paraphrase the ESPN line — Is is Friday yet?

Putnam City (3-0)

Everything we thought we knew about 6A-2 is scrambled up entering the first week of district games, and at a pretty solid 3-0, the Pirates are right in the mix for the postseason. The key will be the defense, which has been solid all year. There are a few really good offenses in the district and the Pirates will need to knock one of those teams off to move up in the pecking order.

Week 4: The Pirates open with US Grant at home, and if they take care of business, they should be looking at a 1-0 start to district play. And the confidence of a 4-0 start overall could produce more happy results down the line.

Mustang (2-1)

There’s a lot up in the air in this district because of Mustang’s scattered performances to begin the year, and Lawton losing its QB, Cody Miller, to a torn ACL. So that makes this week’s district opener that much more crucial.

Week 4: The Broncos seemed to get the offense back on track last week against Bixby, but doing that against the Lawton defense will be more difficult. The defense will have quite a task, not only trying to contain all of Lawton’s playmakers at running back and receiver, but also preparing for a quarterback they’ve never seen.

Mustang is putting a lot of miles on the buses lately. Bixby last week, Lawton this week — just the way it worked out with the district shuffle this season, making the Broncos go down to Cameron Stadium two years in a row.

Putnam City North (1-2)

For as well as I thought I knew this team before the season, I found out I really knew very little about them. We’ll see if they get it together and come back to the level I expected them to be at — a fringe top 10 team and definite playoff team.  

The Panthers still have a good shot of getting to the postseason, though right now, it looks like three spots are spoken for in 6A-1, with Midwest City, Edmond Memorial and Yukon. But Dre Holman’s return should provide the offense with a spark, and the defense has been reliable all year.

Week 4: The Panthers are at No. 7 Edmond Memorial Friday night, a defense that will pose a challenge for the shaky Panther offense. But the Memorial offense is having its own issues with QB Kameron Doolittle bothered by a bum ankle. So I’d be looking for a defensive slugfest in this one.

Putnam City West (0-3)

The toughest thing for PC West entering district play isn’t the strength at the top of their district. At the beginning of the year, 6A-3 looked top-heavy, with Jenks, Broken Arrow and Southmoore. But some of the other teams are stepping up and making it look like a pretty loaded district.

Shawnee is a good team, and Norman looks to be the real deal, especially with a strong defense and run game. So it’s a tougher future ahead for the Pats than we might have thought at the start of the season.

Week 4: Tulsa Union is about the only team in the state that could go through what  PC West will face the next two weeks and come out with a victory. In fact, Union went 1-1 against this same schedule earlier in the month. PC West hosts Broken Arrow Friday, then travels to Jenks next week.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

This time around, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound junior lowered the boom on Choctaw, rushing for more than 200 yards in Thursday’s 42-22 defeat of the Yellowjackets.

He had three touchdowns and four runs of 20 yards or more, incluing his last two touches before heading to the bench for a well-deserved break.

Honorable mention to PC’s offensive line, and Curtis’ backfield runningmate, Desmond Tilly, who surpassed the 100-yard mark on Friday as well. The run game will be a big part of what the Pirates do as they try to make a run at the postseason, starting this week with a Thursday home game against US Grant.

Other candidates

Brandon Taylor and the Mustang offensive line: The Bronco front five gave their quarterback ample time to throw, and the result was 25 completed passes in 30 attempts for 313 yards. And give credit to senior receiver Michael Andersen, who had seven catches for 117 yards, providing Taylor with a reliable target as teams try to take away David Glidden.

Sam Wolfe, Putnam City North: Another strong week from Wolfe has him among the top rushers in Class 6A with 417 yards on 54 carries (an average of 7.7 yards per carry) with two TDs.

Yukon’s Jones brothers, Terry and Corben: Running back Terry Jones exploded for 261 yards and a pair of touchdowns behind another stout effort from the Miller offensive line, and QB Corben Jones completed 14 of 24 passes for 232 yards, including scoring tosses of 51 (Eric Granado), 64 (Kollin Retter) and 18 yards (Jake Doyle). He also rushed for a TD in the win over Stillwater.

Tori Cox, Putnam City volleyball: The Baylor commit anchored the Pirates’ run to the finals of the Bartlesville Bruin Invitational.

Andy Carroll, Oscar Barcenas and Lucas Goble, Mustang cross country: All three runners finished in the top 11 at one of the metro area’s top meets, the Edmond Dog Pack, on Friday. The trio each finished between 17:12 and 17:24.

Emily Helms, Mustang cross country: A contender for the 6A girls state individual title, Helms was second at the Dog Pack. She finished the 3,200-meter run in 11:59, just 14 seconds off the winning pace.

Scott Massey, Tyler Baxter and Thad Dies, Yukon cross country: The Millers dominated the PC North meet at Woodson Park, with Massey winning gold, Baxter the bronze and Dies finishing foruth. Clay Mattox and Kelby Watson also finished in the top 10 for the Millers.

Send West Metro Player of the Week nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Last week: PC North suffered its second straight loss, 27-14, at Mustang. PC West lost 44-0 to Putnam City.

Why PC North could win: The Panthers have plenty of talent, but mistakes — namely, nine turnovers in two games — have killed them the first two weeks. If they take better care of the ball, the results should be much better. And the Panther defense has been better than expected so far.

Why PC West could win: There’s no guarantee PC North will have its turnover issues solved, and that can be a big equalizer. PC West showed a lot of offensive firepower against Choctaw in Week 1, but struggled moving the ball last week, finishing with just 160 yards. If the offense from the opener can make a return appearance, the Pats should be able to produce some points.

Key matchup: PC West passing game vs. PC North secondary. The Patriots got two-thirds of their offensive yardage through the air last week, and Ray Young has some weapons at receiver. If he can hit a few plays on the young Panther DBs, it should keep them in the game. But if the Panthers are able to take away the big plays, or create turnovers in the passing game, the momentum swings hard in their favor.

The pick: PC North 28, PC West 14. The Panthers just have too much size and too many weapons, especially if RB Dre Holman is back from his knee injury this week.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Putnam City

Putnam City is off to a 2-0 start with wins over its two sister schools, PC North and PC West, so morale is peaking for the Pirates. But with a physical Choctaw team visiting Putnam City Stadium tonight, they know they have to stay focused.

The defense has allowed just seven points and fewer than 400 yards through two games, but Choctaw brings a potent backfield with three players — running backs Corey Bennett and Aaron Fournier, and QB Tanner Hessman — who have rushed for more than 100 yards apiece so far this season. And Hessman can throw it around, too. He’s 16-of-36 for 224 yards and two TDs.

Yukon

Yukon is at Stillwater Friday night in the kind of game that should scare Miller fans a little bit. You avoided the post-Mustang letdown, and there’s a HUUUUUGE game — and a huge opportunity to prove yourselves as one of the west side’s top teams — waiting in Week 4 with the district opener at Midwest City.

The Millermen beat Stillwater 17-14 last October in Yukon. Based on the first two weeks, it looks like the Pioneers are about the same team as last year, while the Millers have shown some serious improvement. So it’s a game Yukon folks probably think they should win — and accurately so. In Vegas, they call it a trap game. Will the Millers fall into the trap?

Putnam City North

Some good news on the injury front for the Panthers, who learned on Tuesday that backup QB Joe Summers would miss only 4-6 weeks with a partial tendon tear — not a torn ACL. And running back Dre Holman could return this week from mid-August surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee after suffering the injury on the first day of practice. But I wouldn’t expect him to be used full-time for at least a game or two.

Holman’s presence would not only aid the rushing attack, but also give the Panthers the chance to use Sam Wolfe in the slot more often. He was dangerous there last week at Mustang, catching six passes for 72 yards while rushing for 104.

Mustang

The Broncos are still growing up. They had two really good offensive series and only one big mistake — the Pick-6 at the end of the first half — in the win over PC North. The run blocking was outstanding at times and Tyler Webster ran hard, pounding out 93 yards on 26 carries.

You’re going to see gradual improvement from this team every week, with so many young players and first-time starters on the field. And they need some other receivers to step up as well. Jacob Mersman and Michael Andersen made some good catches last week, as did Jacob Strassle. Derek Garvin and Corey Irwins could be back from injuries this week or next, and that will help, because getting the ball in David Glidden’s hands has been tough so far, with secondaries keying on stopping him.

Putnam City West

I paid a visit to Patriot practice early last week, and there was a sense that the focus wasn’t there. The frustration in the coaches’ faces was obvious, and you just got a feeling that things might not go well against Putnam City. The 44-0 loss — which was actually more competitive than the score would suggest — probably didn’t surprise some of the coaching staff, despite the great week of work the Patriots put in before the opener against Choctaw, and the positive results it produced in defeat.

So this week, I would expect better effort from the Patriots in practice and on Friday night against PC North. PC West has a strong senior class of leaders, so look for those guys to get the team refocused.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

PS: Here’s a link for those of you too young to know who the Micro Machines Man was.

Jones returned the opening kickoff 82 yards for a TD, and that gave the Millers a quick burst of momentum, making sure there would be no post-Mustang letdown. From that point on, Jones and his blockers worked in tandem to finish off Edmond Santa Fe with the power run game that produced two straight TDs in the fourth quarter after Santa Fe pulled within 21-19.

Jones finished with 148 rushing yards and four total TDs, nearly five until he fumbled into the end zone and it was recovered by Parks.

Other contenders

David Glidden and Jacob Strassle, Mustang football: Glidden was quiet much of the night as he has become the No. 1 focus of opposing defenses. But the OSU commit came up with the game’s biggest play, intercepting a pass and returning it 92 yards for a TD to seal the Broncos’ win over Putnam City North. Strassle continues to make major progress in his first season of football — ever. He caught a TD pass that put Mustang ahead in the fourth quarter.

Covin Conrady, Sam Wolfe and DeQuante Colbert, PC North football: Conrady is among the state leaders in receptions this year with 18 for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He had eight catches Friday, accounting for 66 yards and the Panthers’ only offensive touchdown. Wolfe rushed for 104 yards and had six receptions for 72 yards out of the backfield. Colbert, a key player in the young secondary, had an interception which he returned for a TD just before halftime that gave the Panthers the lead.

Casey Curtis and Desmond Tilley, Putnam City football: The junior running back duo powered the Pirates to 286 rushing yards in a 44-0 rout of Putnam City West, moving PC to 2-0 entering Thursday night’s game against Choctaw.

Emily Helms, Mustang cross country: The sensational sophomore won one of the biggest meets of the young season at Norman last week. She finished the course in 12:28, 15 seconds ahead of her closest follower. Only four runners finished under 13:00.

Scott Massey and Megan Wilkerson, Yukon cross country: Both runners earned gold medals in their division at the Putnam City meet at Dolese Park last week.

Madi Ellis, Kendal Smith and Skyler Leathers, Yukon softball: The trio was among several Yukon hitters who powered the Millerettes to five wins in six games last week.

– To nominate an athlete for West Metro POW, e-mail Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Why PC could win: The Pirates are riding high after last week’s victory, and the offense certainly showed more balance than last year. The PC defense looks to be farther along than we might have expected, having to replace so many starters. Another big rivalry game should help to prevent any letdown from last week.

Why PC West could win: The Patriots are clearly improved over last year, and PC won’t outsize them in the trenches as much as Choctaw did. PC West scored 26 on a good Choctaw team last week, and it wasn’t a bunch of mop-up time points. The game was tied at 14, and PC West was down 28-20 at one point in the second half. So this team is making strides, and there isn’t much time left before they find themselves in the win column.

Quote: “At the end of the night, we just want to have the win. Our defense is swarming to the ball and they’re a lot more aggressive. This is another big game.” – PC running back Desmond Tilley

Key matchup: PC West linebackers vs. PC run game. Putnam City was willing to pound the run game, with hopes of finding the big play in the passing game last week. That approach could be different this week with the Patriots lining up a talented secondary. But PC West has less experience at linebacker, where Tilley and fellow Pirate RB Casey Curtis will attack on the ground. The Pats will have to stop the run to pull off the victory.

The pick: Putnam City 24, PC West 20. I think this will be a battle to the final play, but it looks like the Pirates are just a little ahead of PC West right now.

Putnam City West

There was a lot of rivalry excitement in the West Metro last week, so PC West’s strong effort in defeat to Choctaw was lost in the mix. For the teams on the Patriots’ schedule, don’t ignore these guys. In talking off the record with a couple different coaches who have taken a deeper look at this team than other coaches probably have, both guys said the Pats are much better than last year. Size in the trenches is still an issue, but the talent is there, especially with QB Ray Young, RB Johnny Smith and the receivers.

From what I’ve seen of the Pats in practice this season, Young’s throwing ability is far improved from last year, and the receivers are definitely more comfortable in their routes. I haven’t seen Smith in action a lot, but he’s got good size and speed, and went for 150 yards and a TD last week. I know Putnam City isn’t overlooking Friday’s meeting at PC Stadium.

Mustang

There’s an obvious level of frustration after the 43-28 loss at Yukon last Friday. Now, they’ve got to get ready for Putnam City North, which is also coming off a loss to its rival. The thing Mustang is lacking most right now is experience. Their young players are talented, but they had some mistakes. They’ll get past it, but it’s a question of when. The schedule isn’t exactly easy. After PC North, it’s a pair of long bus trips to Bixby and Lawton, followed by Edmond North, Edmond Santa Fe and Putnam City.

Yukon

Talking to some people at Mustang, the Broncos were as impressed with the Yukon O-line as I was, but they also were impressed by the play the Miller defensive ends, Jake Doyle and Andrew Edwards. Those two, along with others on the defensive front, were making it hard for QB Brandon Taylor find a rhythm in the passing game, and they really came alive in the second half, with four sacks, including a safety.

The Millers are on TV Thursday night at Edmond Santa Fe (Cox 3) as they try to follow up the big Week 1 victory.

Putnam City

In case you missed it, here’s my story on PC receiver/kicker Carson Lynn. And while Lynn was the most interesting story of the week for PC following their upset of PC North, it was the defense that deserved the most praise. The five turnovers they created were HUUUUUGE.

“We’ve been focused on getting nine or 10 hats to the ball and we were ready for whatever they could throw at us,” defensive back Cody Minor said. “If one guy misses a tackle, there’s three or four more guys there to make the tackle. We practice pursuit every day.

“We can’t get big-headed. PC West has a reputation of not winning too often, but that doesn’t matter. We’ve got to maintain our intensity. We can’t slack.”

Putnam City North

Bob Wilson was frustrated by the turnovers, and not too happy with the offense in general, but the Panthers outgained PC last week. They just shot themselves in the foot over and over again. So the goal is an obvious one this week at Mustang — don’t give the ball away.

The defense was a bright spot, but PC didn’t throw a lot to attack that young secondary. So those guys will be on the spot a little more this week.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

The group has only two returning starters, Travis Henning and Lantz Parks, with only one of them — Henning — being a senior. Other guys like Tyler Bush, Logan Schantz and Will Paddock have done well stepping into roles on the Yukon front.

Behind them on Friday, the Millers got 120 rushing yards from Terry Jones and 72 more from quarterback Corben Jones, who had good protection all night in the passing game as well.

Other contenders

David Glidden and Jacob Strassle, Mustang football: Other than Glidden’s more than 200 return yards, including a 95-yard TD, Strassle was one of the only other players to make a significant impact Friday night for the Broncos. He joined the team to be a kicker, and he made all four of his extra-point tries, while putting a couple of kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. And he caught two passes for 41 yards on the Broncos’ only significant offensive touchdown drive.

Carson Lynn, Putnam City football: Last year’s version of Strassle, Lynn joined the football team to help the kicking game, but soon became a receiving option as well. This year, with a full offseason under his belt, he will be one of the team’s top WRs. He scored a TD and kicked a late field goal in the 16-7 win over Putnam City North.

Scott Massey, Yukon cross country: Massey won the Shawnee Canadian River Run on Thursday, 19 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Teammate Tyler Baxter was fourth.

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Carroll finished third to lead Mustang in the boys competition at Edmond Santa Fe, and Helms, a sophomore, won the girls competition.

Madi Ellis, Yukon softball: Ellis had a two-run double to help third-ranked Yukon edge Edmond Santa Fe 5-4 last week.

Shaundra Hicks, Putnam City volleyball: Hicks is a reliable player who holds the Pirates together. She and hitter Tori Cox have led PC to the No. 7 spot in the rankings after a hot start.

Jordan Cox, Mustang volleyball: The Broncos have made a move to get into the top 15 early in the season, including winning their own tournament. Despite a pair of losses in the last week to top teams PC and Edmond Santa Fe, Mustang is making some noise, and Cox’s hitting ability is a big reason why.

– If you’d like to nominate a West Metro player of the week, e-mail information to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com.

Why PC West could win: Expectations and attitudes are better at PC West than any of John Jensen’s three previous seasons. This senior class doesn’t want to go out winless, and coming off a preseason in which the Patriots had nearly double the participation they had two Augusts ago, the excitement is there. It’s all about putting it together on the field now. And from an offensive perspective, the Pats have the tools to put up some points.

Why Choctaw could win: While PC West’s biggest key is the intangible of motivation, Choctaw’s will be more concrete. The Yellowjackets will have a size and depth advantage in the trenches, led by Tulsa commit Hunter Davis at defensive end. He’ll cause problems for the PC West O-line both with his size and athleticism. He’s disruptive both in pass and run coverage.

Key matchup: Choctaw ground game vs. PC West defensive front. Choctaw runs a balanced offense, but the bread is buttered with the run. Aside from a couple good backs, QB Tanner Hessman is a talented athlete who isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder and get the tough yards. PC West is breaking in a new 4-3 defense with virtually all new linebackers and a few new linemen, so that unit will have to be on top of its game to keep the Choctaw rushers contained.

The pick:  Choctaw 30, PC West 27. I think PC West will break the losing streak this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m proven wrong on this pick. But I also think Choctaw will be better than people expect. It might not show a lot in the win column, because they’re in 6A’s toughest district, but they’ll cause problems for teams down the road.  

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Yukon

Originally, I thought it’d be a good idea for Yukon and Mustang to swap hosting the game the next two years, so that Mustang could have it at their new stadium for the first game this year, and Yukon could have it at their new place when it opens next season. But for the 100th year, it seems right for this game to kick off the season at Miller Pride Stadium. 

As for football, I’m interested to see Yukon’s secondary in action against the Mustang spread this Friday night. Yukon has a lot of talent back there, but some of them are playing new positions, so it might take some game time for everyone to get on the same page. Wilson said defensive coordinator Steve Chard was happy with the team’s performance against Del City last week, and he said the team tackled much better than the previous scrimmage. 

Mustang 

I expect Mustang to be one of the top teams on the west side of the state by the time the season ends. However, I’m a little curious to see what the offense looks like in Week 1 at Yukon. It seems the Broncos have less depth at receiver than they expected, but the talent is there with David Glidden, Jon Luckey, Derek Garvin and some other less experienced young players. 

The most interesting twist in Mustang has been the players’ enthusiasm about the defense. One player told me last week that the defense is farther along right now than it was in Week 7 last year.  

Putnam City West 

The Patriots put in a new defense to get more defensive backs on the field, and if the secondary is comfortable with the new assignments, it should make a difference. And the offense should be much improved from last year, with experience at quarterback and deep talent at receiver and running back. 

Choctaw is a winnable game, but it will come down to line play on both sides. Guys like Grayson Buchanon and Cameron Sisco are leaders up there who will be heavily relied on.

Putnam City

In talking to John Wofford, his biggest concern is developing some depth on the offensive and defensive lines. Some of the starters on the offensive line will have to put in double time on the defensive line. And that will wear on kids who are going against guys half as tired as they are.

The Pirates seem to be pretty excited about the developing run game with Casey Curtis and Desmond Tilley. The pair of juniors give the backfield a nice mix, with Curtis coming from the scat-back mold and Tilley a bigger, straight-ahead runner.

Putnam City North

There’s one big question facing the Panthers as they head into the opener against Putnam City on Friday, and that’s the development of the secondary. Only junior Dequantae Colbert has any real experience, and there are at least a couple sophomores looking at significant playing time back there.

“JR Simon looked pretty good (in last week’s scrimmage),” coach Bob Wilson said. “Roosevelt Turner is another sophomore playing back there. We’re just so young, and that’s a tough place to play when you’re young, because if you mess up back there, everybody knows.

“Colbert is really the only guy on the back end that’s played on Friday nights. He’s got to be a leader. We’ve challenged him to do that and he’s trying to.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Whew, time to take a breath and relax. It’s been a busy, busy time at HQ working on all our high school football previews, but I think you’re going to like what you see come Friday and Sunday.

It feels like we can finally start concentrating on the work at hand instead of all the craziness that came with the previews.

So with that being said, I was at Putnam West on Thursday for the Patriots, Deer Creek and Capitol Hill. And Friday hit up Carl Albert for the Titans, Del City and Owasso.

Three thoughts from Thursday:

1. I like PC West’s Johnny Smith…a lot. The problem for the Patriots the last couple of seasons has been their lack of size. And true, this team doesn’t have a lot of beasts like Smith, but he adds a lot. Smith was dominant against the Antlers and Redskins. He adds another dimension to go with Ray Young.

2. It is incredibly strange to watch the MTV crew follow the PC West team around. It took me about 20 minutes to snap out of it and just do my job. By the way, as Scott Wright reported earlier, nobody with the team or the school is allowed to comment about the documentary being shot. It’s the elephant in the room whenever you talk to those kids. Definitely see a little pep in the step because of it.

3. As someone who has been on the Colten Sander bandwagon since he was a sophomore, it was good to see the Deer Creek senior looking like himself again. That first run was about a 20-yard carry, and you can see all the explosiveness back. But he’s so much bigger than the kid I remember asking ‘what’s your name’ to at a Tecumseh scrimmage two years ago.

Three thoughts from Friday:

1. Del City is legit. Or more specifically, quarterback Chazten Gonzales is the real deal. Sometimes it just takes a little confidence boost to bring out the best in somebody. Committing to TCU has made Gonzales just a different person. That first play, a 65-yard TD to Greg Johnson was a wake up call for everybody, yours truly included. Like what this team has.

2. Where is J.T. Realmuto? Another name that we just got so familiar with. Dillan Dansby is so much smaller compared to Realmuto. However, loved Dansby’s toughness in there Friday. This could be the year Kenton Whittington becomes a household name. Either way, not too worried about the Titans at this point.

3. Midwest City vs. Del City on Sept. 3 is going to be insane. After the Eagles’ first team offense was done for the night, the Bombers in attendance (many were there since MWC scrimmaged Thursday) started making some noise, and we almost had an impromptu meeting between the teams Friday night at Carl Albert. Since nothing happened, I can now say I just love the passion both teams are showing. Should be fun.

What caught your eye in Week 1?

I’m beat right now. Never thought this day would be that long. Long phone call conversations mixed in with trips to Oklahoma Christian Academy and Christian Heritage Academy and a long scrimmage between Deer Creek, Putnam West and Capitol Hill.

So no witty comments tonight, but here are some news and notes from the scrimmage:

A lot of reps in at PC West

It wasn’t scheduled to be that long, but the coaches didn’t see any reason to stop at three-team scrimmage Thursday night at Putnam City West featuring the Patriots, Deer Creek and Capitol Hill.

The three varsity squads went for more than two-and-a-half hours.

“We would get together after every set and see how things were going, and all of us wanted to keep playing,” Deer Creek coach Grant Gower said. “We wanted to get in as many reps as possible.”

The format wasn’t the usual as every play started from midfield no matter what happened. One defense stayed on the field the entire time while the two offenses alternated running 20 plays apiece before all teams would rotate to the next spot.

Smith impresses for Patriots

PC West coach John Jensen said he was pleased with his team’s effort, and one player really stood out: Johnny Smith.

The running back was one of the more impressive players on the field and scored the scrimmage’s first touchdown on a 50-yard run against the Redskins.

“He gives us a lot of hope,” senior quarterback Ray Young said. “He’s big and hits hard on defense. He’s real fast and has a lot of moves.”

Antlers loaded with weapons

There were times last year when Gower had more stars on the bench because of injuries than he did in the game.

So far, so good for Deer Creek, especially senior running back Colten Sander and senior Alex Christensen who does a little of everything.

“Offensively, it was great to look out there and see all those weapons,” Gower said. “Colten looked great tonight, and Alex, man, he does it all. He’s a beast, I don’t know how else to say it.”

Deer Creek LB Isaiah Byrd:

Byrd, expected to be one of the top linebackers in the class, showed why Thursday night, making several stops.

However, because of an injury to tight end Kyle Kanady, Byrd is now seeing some time at tight end as well.

“It’s different,” Byrd said. “I’m excited about the chance to get the ball, but it’s weird to be out there catching it instead of trying to hit someone.”

***

I like what Montana Lyons is doing at Capitol Hill. It got a little late, and by the time I wanted to catch up with the Redskins, I couldn’t find ‘em so apologize about that.

Look for videos with Young and Byrd on NewsOK on Friday.

Friday’s scrimmage: Carl Albert vs. Del City vs. Owasso.

Seventy-two players reported for the first practice Tuesday night, double the number who showed up to open the 2008 season.

Now, with QB Ray Young and a solid group of receivers, including Tevin Berry, Anthony Thomas and Ryan Cooper, the Pats can work on adding to the offense rather than trying to teach it to new guys.

“The base is in offensively and we hope to add,” Jensen said. “We’ve never been to the point where we can add stuff this early. I hope we’re adding some wrinkles, some tricks, some fun stuff.

“Defensively, we’re breaking in a whole lot of new kids — a lot of new linebackers in a 4-3 scheme, changing from a 4-4. So there’s a lot more teaching going on there.”

Back to the offense, running back has an opportunity to be a position of strength, with Corey Thomas, Hassian Williams and D.J. Barnett at the forefront, though there is some depth at the position, and the opportunity for several players to get involved.

Corey Thomas is working his way back from a torn ACL suffered midway through the 2009 season. The 5-foot-6, 150-pounder is motivated to change the culture at PC West and go out with a strong senior season.

“Rehab was a struggle. It was hard,” he said. “But it was something I really had to get through to get ready for the season, so I can do what I want to do — trying to get a championship and help my team win. (The injury) brought more hunger into my system. I’m more hungry than I was. Things happen for a reason.

“Everybody talks about PC West, saying they’re wack and this and that. To me, it’s all about getting respect. That’s how I feel and I hope the rest of our players feel that way, too. It’s all about getting respect, and to me, a championship is what will get you respect. That’s my goal, and hopefully it’s everybody else’s.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Nothing goes better with a 110-degree heat index than two-a-day football practices, and even with the crazy heat, high school kids across the state are jacked up for the start of practice on Tuesday. There seems to be quite a bit of excitement around the West Metro, and I’ll visit all five schools over the next few days.

But to get the juices flowing, here are some thoughts on big issues or interesting story lines in camp at Yukon, Mustang and the Putnam City trio:

PC West: Despite two winless seasons, there’s a genuine excitement at PC West, a type of excitement among the players that wasn’t there last season. Don’t get me wrong, last year’s team wanted to win, but heading into coach John Jensen’s fourth year, you sense the program is close to turning a corner. 

There’s a solid group of seniors leading the way, and numbers are up across the board. The offense will have a slightly different look, but Ray Young seems to be coming into his own at quarterback. He has plenty of receivers to work with, and he’s dangerous with his legs, too.

Yukon: Time for the Millers to show last year’s playoff appearance was a piece of the team’s growth rather than the peak of their progression. And though they’ve got to develop a few offensive linemen, the rest of the offense has a lot of weapons, starting with the Jones boys, QB Corben and RB Terry.

Then you’ve got the stacked WR group with guys like Kollin Retter, Kaiden Horn, Eric Granada and Derek Deeds. As long as the O-line comes along, that offense could be scary.

Steve Chard’s defense lost a lot of starters, but with guys like Jordan Edwards stepping into full-time roles, the team speed should be improved over last year.

Putnam City: There’s one big need in PC camp, and that’s the development of the run game. The Pirates feel good about the passing ability of Caleb Lee, and there’s a good group of athletic receivers to utilize. But without a run game to take some pressure off, they’ll be facing a lot more blitzing defenses with one thing on their minds.

Casey Curtis has a chance to be the answer in the run game. He was the team’s most elusive player as a sophomore slot receiver last year, and getting some carries in the backfield should benefit everyone. He’s not a big guy, but he’s dangerous with the ball in his hands.

The defense will get some serious attention in camp as well, after losing a good chunk of the front seven, which was the strength of last year’s team.

Mustang: Everyone nows about David Glidden, and those who don’t know about Brandon Taylor soon will. There’s no big-name guy like Bronson Irwin on the offensive line, but the Broncos have good size and strength up front once again. And there are some young or inexperienced receivers ready to step in, like Derek Garvin and sophomore Corey Irwins.

Developing the secondary, primarily at cornerback, will be key, because coach Ty Prestidge would prefer to keep Glidden off the field as much as possible on defense. And the defense lost a lot of the front seven, but that seems to be a yearly story line in Mustang, which reloads more often that it rebuilds these days.

PC North: Last year, the Panthers were full of experience and returning players at WR/DB. But all those guys were seniors, and this fall, the story is just the opposite. Most everyone else is back, but virtually all of the Panthers’ wideouts and defensive backs will be new.

But there are some solid pieces on the offensive line, and the running back duo of Sam Wolfe and Dre Holman will be strong. And Jace James seems far more comfortable at QB than he was a year ago at this time. Covin Conrady is the top name back at receiver, and he came on strong last season.

The defense will be interesting for the Panthers, with a few key players coming back — again, mostly up front. Developing that defense will be a big key to getting back to the playoffs this fall.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

The show, “If You Really Knew Me,” takes a personal look at high school students in their daily lives at a variety of schools throughout the country.

Camera crews were at PC West basketball practices and the Patriots’ first game of the playoffs, a victory over Moore, in addition to following multiple students through their regular school day.

The episode featuring PC West will air Tuesday at 10 p.m. on MTV (Cox 30).

New Putnam City West basketball coach Lenny Bert was a coaches' All-State selection as a senior at Midwest City in 1995. Here he is in a game against Tulsa Washington, trying to battle the Hornets' Ryan Humphrey for a rebound in the 5A state title game in March 1995. Tulsa Washington won the game.

Coming off its first state tournament appearance in 33 years, Putnam City West has hired Midwest City assistant coach Lenny Bert as its new boys basketball coach.

Bert was on Dewayne Bradley’s staff with the Bombers last season when they defeated PC West in the Class 6A semifinals. Bert replaces Tim Stogsdill who was not retained after five seasons. Stogsdill is now the head coach at Del City.

Bert played at Midwest City where he was a Coaches’ All-State selection, then at Harding University before turning to coaching.

“We are extremely excited to have a a coach and person of his caliber,” PC West Athletic Director John Jensen said. “We believe that coach Bert will not only coach our basketball team to a high level, but will also pour himself into developing a program that teaches character to young men.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Star Spencer product and Oklahoma Christian signee Kendre' Talley in the Faith 7 dunk contest.

The Faith 7 game has always been one of my favorite all-star type events, going all the way back to my days working in Shawnee, so getting the chance to go cover it again was a lot of fun, even though most of the fun for Oklahoma ended shortly after the dunk contest.

So let’s start there… Kendre’ Talley was as much fun to watch as any player I saw this year because of all the things he can do, and his performance in the pregame dunk contest showed it.

The Star Spencer product who has signed with Oklahoma Christian is only 5-foot-9, and he even looks shorter than that now that he lost the flat-top haircut. He used his creativity and his leaping ability to earn a second-place finish behind Texas’ Trevor Fuller. After Talley jumped over a kid with his final dunk, Fuller won it by jumping over a taller kid.

I wish that either Xavier McClish or Amric Fields would have joined the dunk contest, because both of them put on a good show at the Big All-City game.

Aside from that, it was fun watching Fields and PC West teammate Tyler Neal play together again.

One of the most impressive high school basketball duos to come through in recent years, Fields and Neal are enjoying their last few opportunities to play on the same team before Fields heads off to TCU and Neal to Oklahoma.

While Neal’s future teammate — fellow Oklahoma signee T.J. Taylor — was on the other side of the Faith 7 Basketball Bowl in Shawnee Saturday night, Neal relished the opportunity to team with Fields again.

Fields played well around the basket on both ends and scored 24 to earn team MVP honors. Neal had 13 with the pair combining for 19 rebounds, though it wasn’t enough for Oklahoma in the 130-88 loss. The PC West duo will be back together for the All-State game in late July.

“Anytime you get to play with somebody like that is fun,” Neal said of Fields. “We play together so well after playing so long together. I’m excited for him. I think he’s gonna do well at TCU.”

Overall, the Oklahoma team wasn’t as bad as the score might sound. It’s just that the Texas squad had more talent, and a lot more guys heading off to D-I programs.

But the Okies had some strong efforts. Muskogee’s Oren Faulk played well, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. Talley and Garber’s Bryce Lamer combined for 13 points and five assists, and neither missed a field goal try. Oklahoma couldn’t buy a 3-pointer, going 2-of-22 while Texas was 8-of-29.

And Texas hit more than 50 percent of their total field goals. They got to the line more, they didn’t turn the ball over as much… all the things you would expect in such a lopsided game. It was the biggest margin of victory in the game’s 45-year history, which previously belonged to Oklahoma in a 35-point victory in 2007.

In that game, the Okies had future Sooner Cade Davis, future Cowboy Nick Sidorakis, as well as Midwest City star Xavier Alexander who went on to George Washington and is now at Southern Nazarene. Oh, and some kid named Blake Griffin.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

The first thing that caught my eye at the Patriot practice I attended was the number of kids on the field.

“Two years ago, we had about 30 guys,” senior-to-be Ryan Cooper said. “Now we’re up to about 70. People are buying into what we’re doing. We have a lot more potential.”

Coach John Jensen credits his young, energetic assistant coaches for working to build a positive attitude around the team, and thus, bring out more kids.

There are several returning starters at important positions, including Cooper, Tevin Berry and Anthony Thomas at receiver. That gives returning QB Ray Young a familiar cast to throw to.

“Our offense is moving at a faster pace now,” Young said. “I’ve got to think faster and react quicker than last year. Playing quarterback comes natural, so it feels good.”

And the upcoming senior class is motivated to not close their careers with an 0-10 season as they’ve experienced the last two years. And that has helped to generate some excitement as the program tries to develop a winning attitude.

“We’re not even talking about losing,” receiver/linebacker Tevin Berry said. “We don’t even think about it. If you’re thinking about losing, you’re not helping the team. We want to build a winning mindset.”

With the core group of players who will be difference-makers, that mindset is already showing through.

“We’ve got stronger chemistry this year,” Thomas said. “We want to make a difference and stop this losing streak.

“We’ve got Jenks in our district this year, and we want them to be worried about us instead of us worried about them.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

For local college fans, there are four players in the game who have signed with the three of the state’s Division I programs. That includes Putnam City West product Tyler Neal, and 6-foot-4 T.J. Taylor of Denison, Texas, who will be opponents next week and teammates the next four years at Oklahoma.

Also playing for Team Texas will be Oklahoma State signee Michael Jamal Cobbins out of Palo Duro High School in Amarillo. A skinny 6-foot-10, Cobbins can step outside and shoot a little, too. And Jordan Clarkson, a Tulsa-bound Texan from San Antonio, is a 6-foot-4 scoring machine. He is the all-time leading scorer at Wagner High School.

Overall, both rosters sound pretty impressive — and big. Texas has five guys 6-foot-8 or taller, and the Okies have five who are 6-foot-6 and up. As for the Oklahoma squad, it seems like a pretty complete team. If y ou were trying to put the best team together — not just the five best players, but fill each position to fit a team’s needs — this would be pretty close to what you’d come up with out of Oklahoma’s class of 2010.

You’ve got a couple of point guards in Star Spencer’s Kendre’ Talley and Enid’s Chris Fitzpatrick who can run an offense and score on their own, as well as a third point guard in Garber’s Bryce Lamer who is a glue guy and will do a lot of different little things to help a team. Xavier McClish is a pure shooter/scorer with good size at the 2-guard, and Tulsa Washington’s Tharone Chilton is a solid combo guard.

Inside, you’ve got two strong big men in Tulsa Memorial’s Cameron Downing and Muskogee’s Oren Faulk who are solid on the block at either end of the floor. Either one of them is a double-double waiting to happen.

The other three forwards — the PC West duo of Neal and Amric Fields with Roff’s Dylan Lemley — give you a set of bigs with some inside-outside game, whether it be shooting the 3 or driving to the bucket from the perimeter.

Obviously, I haven’t seen the Texas kids, but I would expect a fun game. Below are the player capsules for the game, as provided by the Faith 7 folks:

Oklahoma Players

Tharone Chilton, Tulsa Booker T. Washington High School, 6-2, 160 pounds

An All-State and All-District player for 2010 state champion Hornets, Chilton averaged 15.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and had 68 assists. He shot 43 percent from the field and 77 percent from the line. Under coach Shea Seals, Chilton has never failed to reach the State Semifinals in the last three years and has twice played in the state championship game. The Hornets were 20-9 this season. He is undecided on his college choice.

Cameron Downing, Tulsa Memorial High School, 6-9, 245 pounds

Downing earned Conference and Region Player of the Year honors and was Tulsa World Player of the year and Oklahoman All-State. He led coach Eric Savage’s Chargers to the state finals in 2010 after helping the team to a 6A State Championship in 2008 and three Green Country Conference championships. He averaged 17.8 points and 7.6 rebounds and collected the school record with 896 career rebounds. Downing shot 72 percent from the field. His next action will be at the University of Buffalo.

Oren Faulk, Muskogee High School, 6-7, 225 pounds

Bound for Hartford University, Faulk led Class 6A in rebounds with 9.6 per game and was in the top five in blocked shots with 2.5 per game. He averaged 12.1 points and shot 58 percent from the field on his way to All-State and All-District honors under coach Terry Scott. Faulk led the Roughers to back-to-back State Tournament appearances with a two-year record of 39-14. He is a two-time first-team All-Conference selection.

Amric Fields, Putnam City West High School, 6-9, 215 pounds

Fields led Putnam City West to the Class 6A semifinals and the Patriots’ second state tournament appearance in 33 years. He averaged 19.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on his way to All-State and All-District Honors. He shot 62 percent from two-point range, 34 percent from the arch and 75 percent from the free throw line. Bound for Texas Christian University, Fields was coached in high school by Tim Stogsdill.

Chris Fitzpatrick, Enid High School, 6-1, 180 pounds

Fitzpatrick led the Plainsmen to a 17-10 record under coach T.J Scholz, averaging 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists on the season. He shot 43 percent from the field and 81 percent from the line on his way to OCH, Tulsa World and Daily Oklahoma All-State honors, including an Oklahoman Super 5 award. An All-Region pick, Fitzpatrick is headed to Kilgore Junior College.

Bryce Lamer, Garber High School, 5-10, 145 pounds

Lamer was All-State and All-District while leading Garber to a State Championship in 2010. Coached by Dusty Torrey, Lamer has played in three state semifinals and two championship games for the Wolverines. He averaged 11.6 points, three rebounds and had 120 assists while shooting 75.8 percent from the line and 48.7 percent from the field. He was Northwest Oklahoma Player of the Year, MVP of the Skeltur Conference and was Class A All-State Tournament, Daily Oklahoman All-State, OBCA All-District, OCA All-Region OCA Small West and OBCA Second Team Academic All-State.

Dylan Lemley, Roff High School, 6-6, 195 pounds.

Lemley helped coach Kale Simon’s Tigers win the 2010 Class B State Championship with a 27-4 record, capturing conference regular season and tournament titles along the way. An All-State and All-District honoree, Lemley averaged 15.8percent from the field. Lemley is headed to St. Gregory’s University.

Xavier McClish, Midwest City High School, 6-3, 165 pounds

Bound for Northern Oklahoma College in Enid, McClish averaged 16 points, 4.8 rebounds and had 70 assists for the Bombers under coach Dewayne Bradley. McClish shot 51 percent from the field on his way to All-State and All-District honors and leading his team to the state finals with a 23-6 record.

Tyler Neal, Putnam City West High School, 6-7, 220 pounds

The 2010 Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year, Neal has signed with the University of Oklahoma. He is the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year and Metro Conference Player of the Year. He averaged 19 points, nine rebounds, 2.2 assists and shot 64 percent from two-point range, 42 percent from three-point land and 80 percent from the free throw line. The All-State and All-District selection led coach Tim Stogsdill’s Patriots to a 22-7 record and the state semifinals. It was the second appearance at the state tournament in 33 years for PC West.

Kendre’ Talley, Star Spencer High School, 5-9, 150 pounds

Talley was OCA All-State and an All-Region 8 honoree after leading coach Patrick Cudjoe’s Bobcats to the 2009 state championship and a 2010 state semifinal appearance. He average 17.2 points, four rebounds and seven assists. His next stop is Oklahoma Christian University.

Texas Players

Stephen Baird, Home School, 6-8, 200 pounds

Baird was home schooled in San Antonio after his sophomore and junior seasons at Madison High School. He led Coach John Valenzuela’s team to the State Final Four. He will play college basketball at Liberty University.

Jordan Clarkson, Karen Wagner High School, 6-4, 188 pounds

Clarkson led San Antonio’s Wagner High School to a 107-14 record in his three seasons and is the school’s all-time leading scorer. He averaged 22 points, six rebounds and 2.1 assists last season while shooting 58 percent from the field and 79 percent from the free throw line. A two-time All-State and All-District, Clarkson led coach Clifton Ellis’ Thunderbirds to two state tournament appearances, two district championships and two regional titles. He is headed for Tulsa.

Michael Jamal Cobbins, Palo Duro High School, 6-10, 205 pounds

Cobbins led Palo Duro (Amarillo) to the regional finals under Coach Jeff Evans with a 17.2 scoring and 11.1 rebounding average. A two-time All-State and All-District pick, Cobbins shot 64 percent from the field and 45 percent from three-point range. The Dons were 21-7 this season. Cobbins will continue his basketball career at Oklahoma State.

Trevor Fuller, Episcopal School of Dallas, 6-8, 215 pounds

Fuller, a resident of Carrollton, Texas, led Coach Corey Henderson’s Eagles to back-to-back State Championship with a 20-7 record in 2010. Fuller was named TABC All-State, All-SPC All-State, SPC All-Region and ESPN Rise Fourth-Team All-Area after averaging 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game He shot 63 percent from the field and was captain and Co-MVP of his team. A McDonald’s All-America nomine and TABC Player of the Year nominee, Fuller is headed to the University of San Diego.

Nick Hinton, Frisco Wakeland High School, 6-8, 220 pounds

Hinton was a four-time First-Team All-District selection at Wakeland under coach Brent Benningfield. He set the school record for blocked shots and rebounds. He averaged 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists for the season and shot 83 percent from the free throw line for the Wolverines. He is headed to Texas State University.

Tanner Milson, Cedar Hill High School, 6-2, 175 pounds

The District Offensive Player in the Year and First-Team All-Region selection, Milson averaged 15 points, three rebounds and three assists while leading Coach David Milson’s Longhorns to the 2009 State Finals and 2010 District title. Cedar Hill was 28-5 his senior season and 35-4 in 2009. He scored 214 three-pointers in the last two seasons and is a 48-percent shooter from the field and an 88-percent free throw marksman. He will play college basketball at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

Andre Roberson, Karen Wagner High School, 6-8, 195 pounds

The all-time leading rebounder at San Antonio-Wagner with 748 boards, Roberson was the district MVP and a first-team All-State selection. He led Coach Cliff Ellis’ Thunderbirds to a 38-2 record this season and a pair of State Semifinal appearances and was named Super Team Newcomer of the Year in 2009 and a Super Team selection in 2010. He averaged 16 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists while shooting 65 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line. He has signed with the University of Colorado.

K.C. Ross Miller, God’s Academy, 6-1, 185 pounds

Ross Miller was NCSAA All-America, NPA All-Tournament MVP and he finished with more than 2900 points and 1200 assists. An All-State player, he led Coach Tim Miller’s Ambassadors to the NPA and TPA Championships and a No. 1 national ranking among small private schools. He averaged 27 points, 12 assists and four rebounds, while shooting 56 percent from the field and 88 percent from the free throw line. Miller’s next stop is Louisiana State University.

Rickey Scott, Irving-MacArthur High School, 6-3, 195 pounds

A First-Team All-State and All-Region, Scott was District MVP with a 22.7 scoring average to go along with his 6per game. He shot 45 percent from the field and 70 percent from the line and led Coach Stephen Hamrick’s Cardinals to a 21-11 record. His next stop is the University of Arkansas.

T.J. Taylor, Denison High School, 6-4, 215 pounds

Bound for the University of Oklahoma, Taylor is a three-time All-State and four-time All-District selection for Coach Jody Bass’ Yellow Jackets. He averaged 20.4 points, seven rebounds and five assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line. He is the all-time leading scorer at Denison High, leading the team to four Bi-District titles.

PC West Athletic Director John Jensen had this to say about the two wrestlers: “We are excited that these two young men will represent PC West on the collegiate level. Their years of hard work have paid off. Bacone is getting two excellent young men.” 

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Danielle Bounds signed this week to play basketball for Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Penn. She was the third PC West basketball player to sign with a D-I program this season, following boys standouts Amric Fields (TCU) and Tyler Neal (Oklahoma).

Bounds was among the top scorers in Class 6A at 14.4 points per game, shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range. She joins a Robert Morris team that is the defending Northeast Conference regular-season champion.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Game 1: Putnam North vs. Putnam West, 1 p.m.

Game 2: Westmoore vs. Edmond North, 4 p.m.

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 7 p.m.

Thursday

Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 7 p.m.

Friday

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 4 p.m.

Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 7 p.m. (if necessary)

It didn’t take Tim Stogsdill long to land on his feet.

Stogsdill, who was fired earlier this month as the boys basketball coach at Putnam West, is expected to be named Del City’s boys basketball coach Monday.

Stogsdill met with the team Friday at the school.

Stogsdill met with the team Friday at the school.

“He seems like he knows how to win and he’s willing to put in the work to be successful,” Eagles junior Drew Smith said. “But at the same time, he’s not all about winning. He knows that there are other important things.”

Stogsdill replaces Allen Dukes, who was fired last month after 27 years as the Eagles’ coach.

Del City looks like a team that could be primed for a breakthrough year soon.

The Eagles went 13-11 last season with a team made up entirely of underclassmen. Del City beat state tournament qualifier Norman North twice.

“We can be very good,” Smith said. “We’ve got great chemistry now and looking for big things.”

Stogsdill was not retained as the Patriots coach despite taking Putnam West to the state tournament for the first time since 1977 and just the second time in the school’s history.

A pair of players from that team have signed to play Division I basketball next year–Tyler Neal with Oklahoma and Amric Fields with TCU.

But the Patriots’ 22-win season was marred by a pair of eligibility issues during the season.

First, West was forced to forfeit five games from December for the use of an ineligible player during the 2008-09 season after the school did not file the proper paperwork on the player.

Then last month, Stogsdill was suspended for the first game of the state tournament after an academically ineligible player suited up for the Patriots first playoff game.

The player did not play and when Stogsdill became aware of the situation, the player did not return to the bench for the second half.

The Patriots won their opener of the state tournament before falling to Midwest City in the semifinals.

After Stogsdill was relieved of his coaching duties at West, Putnam City Schools director of communications Steve Lindley would not comment on whether the action was related to the two incidents.

Chris Haworth continues to dominate for the Putnam City North tennis team at No. 1 singles, winning again this week at Duncan. But a key piece in the Panthers’ state tournament hopes is No. 2 singles player Kole Melton.

At Duncan, Melton earned a top finish, which put the Panthers tied with Jenks for the team title.

Both of these guys will be in the mix down the stretch, and it should be fun to watch.

Other contenders:

June Tigert and Charter Lawson, Mustang girls golf: Looking more and more like an unstoppable force, the Mustang girls golf team finished with the top score at its eighth straight tournament last Thursday at Lake Hefner North. Tigert was second individually at 77 and Lawson third at 78.

Kyle Covey, PC North baseball: Covey drove in the winning run as No. 8 PC North knocked off No. 6 Yukon on Tuesday in a crucial top-10 matchup.

Ty Hill, Yukon baseball: Hill had a spectacular outing at the Northwest Optimist Tournament, including a five-hit, four RBI performance in a 10-2 win over Norman on Thursday.

Shaydestiny Johnson and Jamee Moore, PC girls track: Running against one of the deepest fields before the state meet, Johnson won the 100 meters  in 12.07 seconds at the Edmond North Invitational on Friday. Moore was second in both the 100 and 200.

Lacey Rhodes, Ashton Adams and Mariah Garcia, Mustang girls track: Rhodes was first in the high jump (5-4) and third in the long jump (17-1 1/2) at Edmond on Friday. Adams was second in the 300 hurdles (48.64) and Garcia was second in the discus (125-8). 

Atavian Blakely, PC West boys track: The senior tied for second in the high jump (6-4) and finished fourth in the long jump (21-0) at the Edmond North meet.

Edgar Pineda, Mustang boys soccer: Pineda scored the only goal in Mustang’s 1-0 win over second-ranked and previously unbeaten Edmond Memorial on Tuesday.

Bailey Boulware, Mustang girls soccer: Boulware, the OU signee, scored twice, including the golden goal in a 4-3 OT win over Edmond Memorial.

Kollin Retter, Tanner Ramsey and Ethan Coughlin, Yukon boys track: Retter won silver medals in the 110-meter hurdles and 300 hurdles at Ardmore on Friday. Ramsey (14-0) and Coughlin (13-6) were second and third in the pole vault.

Ashley Fox and Jordan Smith, Yukon girls tennis: Fox at No. 1 singles and Smith at No. 2 singles each finished as the runner-up at the Metro Conference Touranment, helping the Millerettes to a second-place team finish.

The rosters for the 45th Annual Faith 7 basketball game were recently announced. The game, featuring a team of Oklahoma all-stars against an all-star team from Texas, will be played June 5 at Shawnee’s Oklahoma Baptist University.

Here’s the Oklahoma roster:
Tharone Chilton, Tulsa Wahsington
Cameron Downing, Tulsa Memorial
Oren Faulk, Muskogee
Amric Fields, Putnam West
Chris Fitzpatrick, Enid
Bryce Lamer, Garber
Dylan Lemley, Roff
Xavier McClish, Midwest City
Tyler Neal, Putnam West
Kendre Talley, Star Spencer

Putnam City West basketball standout Tyler Neal, seated center, poses with his parents and teammates after signing a letter of intent Friday to play basketball at Oklahoma.

Putnam City West standout Tyler Neal made it official on Friday, signing his letter of intent to play basketball at Oklahoma.

Neal, The Oklahoman’s Super 5 Player of the Year, averaged 18.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in helping the Patriots to the state tournament for the first time in 33 years.

A long-time Sooner fan, Neal said the recruiting process was stressful until OU coach Jeff Capel began showing interest late in the season.

“When I heard coach Capel was interested, it definitely relieved me a little bit,” he said after Friday’s signing ceremony in a packed PC West gym. “When I committed, it was some unlimited amount of weight off my shoulders.

“I’ve grown up watching OU football and OU basketball, going to games with family. I always thought that was the place for me. I decided if I’d ever get a scholarship, that I’d take it.”

Neal has already been playing pick-up games with OU players on weekends and will begin classes and workouts in June.

“Tyler is one of those special players that only comes along so often in a high school coach’s career,” coach Tim Stogsdill said. “It’s been my honor and privilege to have been able to have coached such an outstanding student-athlete. He has made the PC West community proud and will carry that with him to OU and make the Sooner Nation proud.”

Neal is the third signee in OU’s 2010 class, along with Cameron Clark, a wing from Sherman, Texas, and T.J. Taylor, a combo guard from Denison, Texas.

“Tyler’s a really good player,” Capel said. “He’s skilled, he’s a really good athlete, he can shoot the basketball, can pass it and is a pretty good ball handler. I think he has a big upside. He skipped a grade when he was younger and so he just turned 17 years old. I think there’s a chance he’s going to continue growing. 

“On top of having a very high basketball I.Q., he’s a great kid, a really good student and comes from a great family. He’s the kind of guy we want in our program and we’re excited about what he can become at OU.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

“Mr. Stogsdill’s status as a teacher at Putnam City West hasn’t changed,” Putnam City Schools director of communications Steve Lindley said Wednesday. “He has been advised that he won’t have that coaching position next year.”

Stogsdill coached the Patriots to 22 victories and a Class 6A state semifinal appearance, the school’s second trip to state in its history and first since 1977.

The season was marred by two incidents. One forced the Patriots to forfeit five games from December for the use of an ineligible player during the 2008-09 season, the result of a paperwork oversight in the athletic department. The second resulted in Stogsdill being suspended for the opening round of the state tournament after an academically ineligible player dressed out for the first half of a game.

Stogsdill became aware of the situation at halftime and did not let the player return to the bench in uniform for the second half.

“We weren’t trying to hide anything,” Stogsdill said at the time. “He didn’t play in the game. We thought we did the right thing… It was just as honest mistake.”

PC West school and athletic department officials deferred to Lindley for comment, but when asked if the removal of Stogsdill from his coaching position was related to the two incidents, Lindley said he could not discuss the details of personnel matters.

Stogsdill said he learned of PC West principal Buster Meeks’ decision to replace him last week.

“I was called into my principal’s office and handed a perfect evaluation for my classroom and then was told he wanted to go in a different direction in basketball,” Stogsdill said.

“I’m very proud of what we accomplished here at West the past five years. I had kids who were ready to transfer, but they stayed because they believed in our system and what we were trying to accomplish, and I believed in them.

“I’m so happy we were able to give the West community, the student body and the faculty and staff something to believe in and be very proud of.”

Stogsdill is a candidate for other current openings around the state, including Del City, which fired Allen Dukes last month.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Casey Coyle led the Putnam City North baseball team to a come-from-behind victory over Mustang on Tuesday with a big day at the plate. The Oklahoma signee was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and five RBIs as the Panthers rallied from an 11-5 deficit in the final three innings.

At 12-5 for the season, the Panthers are holding steady in the Class 6A top 10, currently at No. 8 in the poll.

Other contenders

June Tigert, Mustang girls golf: Paced the Lady Broncos to a team tie with Jenks at the Jenks tournament, while winning the individual title with a 73.

Sawyer McKaughan, PC North boys golf: Shot a team-best 73 (tied for fourth individually) last week at the Edmond Invitational to help PC North to a third-place tie in the team race.

Kenny Awbrey, Yukon boys golf: Led the Millers with a 75 for a seventh-place finish as Yukon took fifth in the team standings.

Kollin Retter, Yukon boys track: Won the 110 hurdles and finished second in the 300 hurdles in a meet at Putnam City, helping Yukon to a team championship.

Yukon boys field athletes: Seven Millers finished in the top three in field events at the PC meet.

Putnam City girls sprinters: The PC girls finished second in the team standings at their meet behind Edmond North, but the sprinters took care of business. PC runners swept the top three spots in the 100-meter, the top two spots in the 200-meter, and they won the 400 relay and 800 relay, finishing third in the 1,600 relay.

Alex Shannon, PC baseball: Finished a single short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a homer, triple, double and two RBIs in a win over Edmond North last Monday.

Send West Metro POW nominations to swright@opubco.com

Region One
Chris Fitzpatrick, Enid
Trevon Hartfield, Watonga
Seth Heckart, Woodward
Jabe Karr, Okarche
Bryce Lamer, Garber
Dakota Martin, Chisholm
Chris Mustain, El Reno
J.D. Pugh, Texhoma
Rhett Radcliff, Forgan
Hayden Vencl, Garber
Player of the Year: Tyler Miller, Garber
Coach of the Year: Dusty Torrey, Garber

Region Two
Chris Boyd, Okemah
Patrick Buntt, Frontier
Bryan Champion, Perkins
Tyler Dean, Prague
Jordan Gipe, Yale
John Lazenby, Glencoe
Alex Moore, Cleveland
Chase Mongold, Ponca City
Kalian Watkins, Preston
Dillon Worley, Mason
Player of the Year: Ralston Moore, Pawnee
Coach of the Year: John Lazenby, Glencoe

Region Three
Parker Ballard, Pryor
Robert Boyles, Claremore
Jake Bullard, Vinita
Dakota Caudill, Claremore
Cale Elam, Oktaha
Oren Faulk, Muskogee
Courtney Gaston, Fort Gibson
Jon Griggs, Tahlequah
Devon Rinehart, Gore
Pud Ross, Locust Grove
Billy Waltrip, Fort Gibson
Player of the Year: Courtney Gaston, Fort Gibson
Coach of the Year: Gary Hendrix, Fort Gibson

Region Four
Derrick Bull, Altus
Nick Herrington, Erick-Sweetwater
Tevin Johnson, Binger-Oney
Dee Robinson, Lawton MacArthur
Kas Sanders, Fletcher
Gavan Steinmetz, Fort Cobb-Broxton
Josh Sweat, Big Pasture
Tanner Thompson, Cache
Dane Thrash, Cheyenne
Clay Walker, Hammon
Player of the Year: Levi Richardson, Mangum
Coach of the Year: Jeff Carlisle, Mangum

Region Five
Jared Beal, Norman North
Tanner Bell, Purcell
Blaine Brooks, Blanchard
Corbin Byford, Bray-Doyle
Trey Cohee, Ardmore
Conner Davey, Washington
Kyle Forehand, Lexington
Zach Hibbard, Lindsay
Gary Inglett, Plainview
Shea Longman, Newcastle
Dalen Qualls, Stratford
Player of the Year: Ryan Spangler, Bridge Creek
Coach of the Year: Jason Sanders, Bridge Creek

Region Six
Jordan Burrell, Valliant
Dwight Camp, Red Oak
Jimmy Doolin, Dale
Jordan EagleRoad, Talihina
Kchris Griffin, Haworth
Kolby Johnson, Caddo
Dylan Lemley, Roff
Taggart Lockhart, Talihina
Dayne Parker, Roff
D.J. Shanklin, Hugo
Player of the Year: Cale Jackson, Bethel
Co-Coaches of the Year: Kale Simon, Roff; Troy Miller, Holdenville

Region Seven
Adrien Anderson, Tulsa Memorial
Desmond Butler, Tulsa Edison
Jack Cameron, Tulsa Kelley
Quan Carter, Tulsa Union
Tharone Chilton, Tulsa Washington
Steven Hamilton, Tulsa Edison
Braeton Hightower, Owasso
Damian Hooks, Tulsa East Central
Jake Toupal, Broken Arrow
Drew Wilson, Tulsa East Central
Player of the Year: Cameron Downing, Tulsa Memorial
Co-Coaches of the Year: Eric Savage, Tulsa Memorial; Beau Wallace, Tulsa East Central

Region Eight
Stephen Clark, Douglass
Trez Colbert, Midwest City
Larry Cunningham, Carl Albert
Obi Emegano, Edmond Memorial
Amric Fields, Putnam West
Xavier McClish, Midwest City
Dominique Raney, Putnam City
Josh Richardson, Edmond Santa Fe
Kendre Talley, Star Spencer
Jameel Whitney, McGuinness
Player of the Year: Tyler Neal, Putnam West
Coach of the Year: Terry Long, Douglass

For now, the honor goes to Mustang golfer June Tigert for her 81 at Rose Creek, leading the Lady Broncos to the team title and earning herself a second-place finish.

Most impressively, Mustang had three girls in the top 10, despite its top player, Karson Bizzell, finishing with a rough outing and a double-snowman in the blustery conditions. It shows that the Broncos are a team to be feared in the state tournament mix. They’ll play at Jenks Wednesday, so we’ll see how they fare against their top competition in the Lady Trojans.

Other contenders

Casey Coyle, PC North baseball: Went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and three RBIs in an 8-7 win over Edmond North last Tuesday.

Garrett Crain, Mustang baseball: Crain pitched four solid innings and had four hits at the plate, driving in three runs in a win over Norman North.

Jake Disney, Yukon baseball: In back-to-back games wins over Putnam City North and Edmond North, the sophomore was a combined 3-for-6 with two doubles and four RBIs.

Atavian Blakeley and Johnny Smith, PC West boys track: Blakeley high-jumped 6 feet, 6 inches and Smith long-jumped 20 feet, 6 inches, each winning gold at the Gregg Byram Track Classic in Norman. Smith also had a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash.

Aliyah Nolan, PC West girls track: The sophomore logged three top-five finishes at the Byram Classic in the 100, 200 and 400, taking second in the 100.

– Send West Metro POW nominations to swright@opubco.com.

Most Valuable Player: Elizabeth Donohoe, Edmond North
Offensive Player of the Year: Courtney Walker, Edmond Santa Fe
Defensive Player of the Year: LaShawn Jones, Putnam City
Newcomer of the Year: Sydney Wyatt, Choctaw
Coach of the Year: Paul Bass, Edmond Santa Fe

First Team
Elizabeth Donohoe, Edmond North
Courtney Walker, Edmond Santa Fe
Michelle Fisher, Mustang
Jimi Blagowsky, Edmond Santa Fe
LaShawn Jones, Putnam City

Second Team
Layton Hurley, Choctaw
Porsche Young, Putnam City
TaNita Dewberry, Edmond North
Laila Sulieman, Yukon
Danielle Bounds, Putnam City West

Third Team
Kendrea Harbert, Putnam City North
Anna Kimsey, Edmond North
Nikki Woodard, Mustang
Arielle Cooper, Edmond Santa Fe
Arianne Hunter, Putnam City North

Putnam City West basketball player Tyler Neal

The wait was worth it for Tyler Neal.

The Putnam City West basketball standout gave his verbal commitment to Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel Thursday, a day after receiving a scholarship offer.

Neal visited the Norman campus on Wednesday, and after taking a day to contemplate the offer, the 6-foot-6 forward made his decision, PC West coach Tim Stogsdill said.

After a solid junior year, Neal had some mid-major opportunities like Oral Roberts, but decided to wait until after his senior season to decide on a college. Capel began showing interest in late February.

Neal averaged 18.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, earning Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year honors. He helped the Patriots to the Class 6A semifinals in their first state tournament appearance since 1977.

Neal’s commitment should help to ease a little of the recent turmoil surrounding the OU roster.

Guards Tommy Mason-Griffin and Ray Willis already have left the team, and the status of guard Willie Warren and forward Tiny Gallon is unknown. Warren is considering a jump to the NBA and Gallon’s future is in peril with the current investigation into $3,000 he received from a financial advisor last year.

Aside from his strength in the paint and shooting range that stretches well beyond the 3-point line, Neal is a team player and good student, making him an ideal fit at OU right now.

“They’re not only getting an outstanding, sky-is-the-limit basketball player, but they’re getting a fine young man in Tyler Neal,” Stogsdill said. “If they’re looking for class and character, they definitely found it in Tyler Neal. He’s a diamond in the rough.”

Neal is expected to sign his letter of intent after the spring signing period for basketball opens April 14.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Toss in Putnam City North and Mustang, two of the hotter teams toward the end of the year, as well as Choctaw, which hovered around the top 15 much of the year, and the conference was pretty stacked. Yukon and Edmond North weren’t exactly slouches, either, but their records reflected the difficulty of playing in the MAC.

Anyway, on to the honors, led by Tyler Neal of Putnam City West as MVP. Here’s the full list:

Metro Athletic Conference Postseason Awards

Most Valuable Player: Tyler Neal, Putnam City West
Offensive Player of the Year: Amric Fields, Putnam City West
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Tre Payne, Putnam City, and Mahlon Jones, Edmond Santa Fe
Newcomer of the Year: Daniel Emesiani, Edmond North
Coach of the Year: Shawn Schenk, Edmond Santa Fe

First Team
Amric Fields, PC West
Josh Richardson, Edmond Sant Fe
Dominique Raney, PC
Kyle Morton, Choctaw
Brian Brown, PC
Daniel Emesiani, Edmond North

Second Team
Armon Provo, PC North
Devin Harris, PC North
Tre Payne, PC
David Glidden, Mustang
Mark Florie, Choctaw

Third Team
Mike Menzel, Edmond North
Mahlon Jones, Edmond Santa Fe
Kyndall Dudley, PC West
Joe Summers, PC North
Drew Hall, Edmond Santa Fe

Honorable Mention
Josiah Campbell, PC West
Matt Burton, Yukon
Jacinto Biorato, Mustang
Jacob Strassle, Mustang
Deonte Samilton, Choctaw
Hunter Gibson, PC

Below are Q&A’s with West Metro athletes who attended our spring sports media day:

Kris Godwin, Yukon boys soccer

What do you do to get away from sports?

Hang out with family and friends but even then I end up playing soccer or football.

What was your “Welcome to Varsity sports” moment?

Being a sophmore and playing at the varsity level of competition.

What is your hidden talent (not including sports)?

Organizing events such as raffles, fundraisers, etc.

Other than you, who is the best athlete in your family and why?

My father. He began as a soccer player but then excelled in wrestling.

What has been the most life-changing event in your life so far?

The passing of my cousin last year.

Playing favorites – List five items that are your absolute favorite things in your personal life:

Family, friends, Playstation3, truck, iPod Touch.

Bucket list – List five things you must to do in life:

1.Visit Mount Rushmore 2. Swim with sharks 3. Go to another country 4. Go to a World Cup 5. Go to a safari in Africa.

List one person you want to trade places with for a day and why:

Wayne Rooney. He is a game changer and is one of the elites when it comes to the game of soccer.

Karson Bizzell, Mustang girls golf

What do you do to get away from sports?

I hang out with family, my boyfriend and friends, going to movies, skiing, and riding horses. I love to get pedicures and manicures.

What was your “Welcome to Varsity sports” moment?

It was my very first high school tournament and I shot a 117. We were playing at Aqua Canyon in Guthrie and it was freezing with gusting winds. It was horrible but I am glad I endured it to start off my golf career.

What is your hidden talent (not including sports)?

I am great at telling jokes and making people laugh.

Other than you, who is the best athlete in your family and why?

My Uncle David Bizzell is probably the best athlete in our family. He held several records in track in Arkansas. My Uncle Tony Kyle played college basketball. My dad Karl Bizzell played football.

What has been the most life-changing event in your life so far?

When I accepted Jesus Christ into my life.

Playing favorites – List five items that are your absolute favorite things in your personal life:

1. God 2. Family 3. Boyfriend 4. Friends 5. Pets

Bucket list – List five things you must to do in life:

1. Get married and have kids 2. Play on the LPGA Tour 3. Conquer my fear of heights 4. Open my own bakery 5. Learn to surf.

List one person you want to trade places with for a day and why:

Paula Creamer – to experience the thrill of playing on the LPGA Tour and excelling at my dream.

Armoniey Moore, Putnam City girls track

What do you do to get away from sports?

I don’t really do anything to get away from sports, but I do love to cook.

What was your “Welcome to Varsity sports” moment?

When I skipped JV and went straight into Varsity track. I knew then that I might be pretty good at this. And the moment really hit me when I started breaking school records!

What is your hidden talent (not including sports)?

I love to cook and I like to sing.

Other than you, who is the best athlete in your family and why?

My sister, because we both run track and we love to compare our times.

What has been the most life-changing event in your life so far?

The murder of my uncle in a home-invasion in 2007.

Playing favorites – List five items that are your absolute favorite things in your personal life:

Being on the Step Team for my school, running track, my family, my friends and cooking.

Bucket list – List five things you must to do in life:

Go to college, run track, take care of my family… I can’t think of anything else.

List one person you want to trade places with for a day and why:

God, so that I can see how the world is from a different perspective.

Mario Caballeros, Putnam City West boys soccer

What do you do to get away from sports?

I like to play sports, but when I’m not playing sports it’s usually because I’m doing homework or I’m working in some type of school activity. I put my education before sports.

What was your “Welcome to Varsity sports” moment?

It was when I first practiced with the team. The practice was a little bit different than U14 level, the workout and the drills were a little different. That’s when I realized it was going to take dedication in order to maintain a good level of soccer. I also felt welcome in the assemblies, with all the students cheering the varsity team.

What is your hidden talent (not including sports)?

I like to help, being able to be a volunteer and help someone in need is a talent and a gift. I also like math, that’s one of the subjects i never get tired of.

Other than you, who is the best athlete in your family and why?

My two brothers and my sister are athletes, but I would have to say my brother Eduardo. He also plays soccer for the school. He has been playing soccer with me since we were little kids. We both practice really hard and try our best on the field.

What has been the most life-changing event in your life so far?

The event that changed my life so far would have to be the Leadership Retreat I attended almost three years ago. This retreat was a week long at Tulsa. Within that week I practiced how to communicate with people better. Before that retreat I was a really shy guy. That retreat encouraged me to be part of other leadership activities, and today I still have a little bit of trouble speaking in front of people, but I have improved in the last three years. I like to be part of activities that require speaking to groups of people so I can practice and face my fear.

Playing favorites – List five items that are your absolute favorite things in your personal life:

A picture of my family, a soccer ball, architecture book, cell phone, computer.

Bucket list – List five things you must to do in life:

Obtain a college diploma (at least a four-year degree). Help my parents with everything they need later on in life. Get married to a smart, decent woman, raise a family my own, serve God as much as possible.

List one person you want to trade places with for a day and why:

I would like to trade places for one day with the FC Barcelona soccer player Keita, because I would like to experience a day surrounded with great soccer players and being able to play with them.

Casey Coyle, Putnam City North baseball

What do you do to get away from sports?

I go to church as much as I can so I can get more involved and I pray about everything I need to do in my life.

What was your “Welcome to Varsity sports” moment?

My 10th grade year, the baseball team had our first game of the season and it was my first game to ever play at Varsity level. It was my first at-bat, my first EVERYTHING, and I get hit right in the lip and had to go to the hospital.

What is your hidden talent (not including sports)?

Singing.

Other than you, who is the best athlete in your family and why?

My cousin, Zach. He went to Piedmont High School and was a soccer player but that school didn’t have a soccer team so he played football and was the kicker. In his first game he kicked a 61 yarder!

What has been the most life-changing event in your life so far?

When my mother went to prison and me realizing that she wouldn’t be there for anything.

Playing favorites – List five items that are your absolute favorite things in your personal life:

Go to church, play baseball, listen to music, sit at Lake Hefner watching the water as the sun goes down and just thinking, and last is trying to lead people to Christ.

Bucket list – List five things you must to do in life:

Sky dive, go on a Cruise ship, make it to the MLB, try out for American Idol, and do something noone has ever thought about doing.

List one person you want to trade places with for a day and why:

Sam Bradford because I truly know him as a person and considering I signed with OU to play a sport I would like to see how he holds himself up in his faith and how a normal day is in Norman for someone.

PC West’s 6-foot-6 senior forward Tyler Neal was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year on Thursday.

Neal averaged 18.6 points and 8.3 rebounds in teaming with fellow standout Amric Fields to lead the Patriots to the Class 6A semifinals in their first state tournament appearance since 1977.

“We wish we would’ve gone a little further, but we had a good season,” Neal said Thursday while out of town for spring break. “This is a great honor, but it wasn’t just me. It took the whole team for us to be as successful as we were.”

While he remains undecided on his college future, Neal has received recruiting interest from Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel in recent weeks. He is keeping much of the recruiting process private, but has received offers from multiple NCAA Division I programs.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

During the season, the Power Poll was about ranking the best teams, not about predicting the state champions. This poll is about ranking the best teams, not rewarding the state champions. They got a gold ball and they get to spend the next 12 months being called state champs. If that’s not reward enough, I’m afraid can’t help you here.

Let’s get to it:

1. Douglass, 4A: The Trojans are 30-0 and might be on their way to 60-0. They might not have gone undefeated against a schedule like Putnam City or Edmond Memorial played, but they’re good. Really good. And they’ll only get better. With all the tools they have, there’s no ceiling for this team next year.

2. Putnam City, 6A: In mid-February, the Pirates finally found themselves and started playing together, which made all the difference. They won their last 10 games, defeating the two teams that accounted for all four of their losses.

3. Midwest City, 6A: Nobody was playing better than the Bombers during the playoffs, but shots didn’t fall in the title game. The defense they play is as tough as anyone, and they have a good group of returning players for next season, including the Colbert twins.

4. Putnam City West, 6A: Over the course of a full season, I think PC West is a better team than Midwest City, because Tyler Neal and Amric Fields are good enough to have an off night and still beat most teams. That said, the Pats weren’t the same team after Neal’s second ankle injury. His outside shot never returned to form and things seemed out of sync for the whole team. And a head-to-head matchup with MWC is a disaster, because it the Bombers are too strong and athletic at guard, particularly with their trapping and defensive pressure.

5. Edmond Santa Fe, 6A: The Wolves might have peaked too early, or maybe they were a victim of their schedule, playing all their tough opponents at home first, then going on the road for those games late in the season. Their guard play was solid and they were good enough inside to mask the fact that they didn’t have a lot of size.

6. Tulsa Memorial, 5A: Like I said, all games created equal. The Chargers, with their athletic guards and 6-foot-9 Cameron Downing in the middle, were the best team in 5A, despite the finals loss to Tulsa Washington. They beat the Hornets three times before that, and beating someone four times in a season is darn tough, a fact PC West will agree with.

7. Edmond Memorial, 6A: This team lingered in the back half of the top 10 most of the season after a strong start, and they got the job done on the east side, reaching the state tournament, nearly knocking off the eventual runner-up, Midwest City, in the first round. The Bulldogs never really had those eye-catching wins, but they didn’t draw attention with bad losses either. They were just solid all year, and they only started one senior, so they’ll be back next year.

8. Tulsa East Central, 5A: What, another team that lost to Tulsa Washington ranked ahead of the Hornets? Yes, Washington had four losses in the final month of the season. Sure, they avenged two of those in the semifinals and finals, but over the course of the season, East Central was a better team. Damion Hooks was very impressive at state, despite the Cards losing in the semifinals.

Rounding out the top 15: Tusla Washington (5A), McGuinness (4A), Woodward (4A), Muskogee (6A), Norman North (6A), Star Spencer (4A), Western Heights (5A).

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Junior shooting guard Dominique Raney was the leading scorer for the week, so he pulls the honor, but Hunter Gibson, RonQuis Lewis, Brian Brown, Tre Payne, Willie Lester, Trey Thomas and Zech Smith all made major contributions to the victories.

And with four of those eight players — Raney, Lewis, Payne and Thomas — coming back next year, pencil in the Pirates as next year’s favorites.

Other candidates

Amric Fields and Tyler Neal, PC West: The Patriots’ two big men were super all year and got their team as far as it has ever been, one game away from the finals.

Joh’Vonna Mitchell and Cheniqwa Banks, PC North: Both girls reached double figures in nearly getting the Panthers into the 6A girls semifinals last week.

Spring sports candidates

Adam Cooper, Yukon boys golf: Cooper led the Millers to a team championship in a tournament hosted by Putnam City at Lake Hefner last week. Cooper posted a second-place 75, four strokes off the winning score and Yukon took a four-shot win over Carl Albert.

Drew McElhaney, Mustang boys soccer: McElhaney scored with two minutes remaining in a 1-0 win over Moore last week.

Caleb Lee, Putnam City baseball: Lee earned the pitching victory and went 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs in the Pirates’ 18-4 win over Woodward.

Keep me updated with your spring sports at swright@opubco.com

5A girls: Tulsa East Central 53, Tulsa Washington 38 – final. TEC vs. McAlester for the gold ball.

6A BOYS: MIDWEST CITY 50, PUTNAM WEST 47 – FINAL. Putnam City vs. Midwest City for the gold ball.

6A boys: Midwest City 48, Putnam West 45 – 17 secs #OKPreps

6A boys: Midwest City 46, Putnam West 43 – 1:08 4th #OKPreps. MWC ball after PCW turnover

MIDWEST CITY 44, PUTNAM WEST 42 – 2:16 LEFT.

6A boys: Midwest City 40, Putnam West 37 – 4:46 left 4th #OKPreps

MIDWEST CITY 36, PUTNAM WEST 32 – END 3RD

Love watching Xavier McClish play.

1:23 – Patriots come out smokin’ and have taken a 32-30 lead on the Bombers midway through the third. Amric Fields is playing a heckuva game so far.

MIDWEST CITY 30, PUTNAM WEST 24 – HALFTIME

Right now, MWC looks like it’s just a smidge better than the Patriots at just about everything. I’m way behind on stats (because Scott Wright is covering it) so I have no idea who is doing what, sorry.

12:50 – The Bombers ‘bombing’ away with a 21-13 lead early in the second. Raining 3s right now for MWC, impressive display.

12:49 – OK, I can start paying attention now. Midwest City 16, PCWest 13 at the end of the 1st.

12:43 – Back here for another 6A boys game as Midwest City is up 11-8 here with 2:31 left in the first quarter against Putnam West. Be keepin’ ya posted here and on Twitter.

5A girls: McAlester 42, Tulsa Memorial 39 – Final.

PUTNAM CITY 48, EDMOND SANTA FE 42 – OT FINAL

Wait, I’ve given the teams two more pts for some reason. Putnam City 48, Edmond Santa Fe 42 – #OKPreps. Idiot. It was good, got a little caught up in that one. Fun stuff, don’t know why I gave ‘em extra pts, deserve it for the effort though. Too busy shooting video to do the simple thing and look at the scoreboard.

10:31 – Putnam City 50, Santa Fe 44 – OT Final. PC’s Tre Payne steals the ball and scores and the Pirates get a chance to defend their title. Wow, what a way to start.

BPrzybylo

6A boys – Putnam City 44, Santa Fe 42 – 31.8 OT #OKPreps. PC turns it over, Wolves ball

OT – 1:51 left- Santa Fe 40, Putnam City 40 – 6A boys #OKPreps

OT – 6A boys – Santa Fe 40, Putnam City 40 #OKPreps. Raney misses shot in final seconds.

Josh Richardson ties it up. 40-40 with 31.3 left. OKPreps – 6A boys

40-38 PC with 1:10 left.

6A boys: Putnam City 40, Santa Fe 34 – 4:40ish left 4th #OKPreps. Largest lead for PCO

PUTNAM CITY 33, SANTA FE 32 – END 3RD

RonQuis Lewis is showing up today for the Pirates. This should be a fun fourth.

9:46 – With 3:26 left in the third quarter, it’s Santa Fe 30, Putnam City 29. Mahlon Jones continuing to pour it on here, with 16 points. He looks like the most comfortable player on the floor right now.

9:42 – With 4:35 left in the third, Santa Fe 26, PC 25. It’s getting good, fellas. Starting to see crisp execution by the teams, not nearly as tentative as they were in the first half.

9:32 – Halftime with Putnam City leading 20-19 against Edmond Santa Fe. Couple of big outings by Dominique Raney and Mahlon Jones.

Raney has 10 points for the Pirates as does Jones for the Wolves.

Clunky first quarter but things got rolling nicely in the second quarter, leaving me to believe we’re about to have some fun here in the next 16 minutes.

9:05 – Midway through the first quarter of Edmond Santa Fe and Putnam City, tied 4-4. I’m camped out all day here at the Mabee Center (with Scott Wright and eventually Ryan Aber), so we’ll have all the goods on what happens in Class 6A and 5A.

Interesting the way it worked out with 5A being all east side and 6A being all west side.

Here’s a quick look at a wild day 1 at the Class 6A state boys basketball tournament in Skiatook.

First, the scores/stories (click the scores to read the full stories):

Edmond Santa Fe 52, Norman North 48
Putnam City 59, Jenks 41
Putnam West 53, Muskogee 41
Midwest City 60, Edmond Memorial 55 OT

And tomorrow’s schedule:
Mabee Center
Edmond Santa Fe vs. Putnam City, 9 a.m.
Midwest City vs. Putnam West, noon

Midwest City 60, Edmond Memorial 55 OT
It was over when: Trael Colbert was intentionally fouled attempting a layup (coming off a steal). The layup went in, to put the Bombers up 58-55 with 10 seconds left in overtime. Colbert made one of the free throws to stretch the lead to four, 59-55, with not enough time left for the Bulldogs to make a comeback.

Overlooked: While Trael Colbert’s magnificent final minute stole the show, for much of the game it was the Xavier McClish and Trez Colbert show. Midwest City was in trouble with 2 minutes left in overtimes, when Jared Jobe hit a pair of free throws to put the Bulldogs up 54-51. But 22 seconds later, McClish came up big yet again, nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the key that tied the game and set up Trael Colbert’s heroics.

Putnam West 53, Muskogee 41
It was over when: Amric Fields took over in the fourth. Fields scored 10 points in the quarter, including eight in a 14-0 run that stretched from the 5:52 mark (39-37 Muskogee) to the final minute (51-39 Putnam City West). Fields had a reputation last year of being less-than-aggressive at times but it was clear in the fourth that that was certainly no longer the case. Fields took the ball strong toward the basket, both creating his own points, cleaning up on the boards and hitting free throws that has Putnam City West in the semifinals for the second time in school history with a chance tof making the championship game for the first time.

Overlooked: The play of Josiah Campbell. Campbell scored 11 points and had 7 rebounds. Campbell started the Patriots run and came up key in several tough spots that kept West in the game. Also need to mention the play of Muskogee’s Donte Wartson here. Wartson scored the Roughers’ first 12 points of the second half and was the only bright light offensively for Muskogee for much of the second half until Muskogee’s offense finally woke up early in the fourth. Had Wartson not played the way he did, the game could easy have been a blowout.

Putnam City 59, Jenks 41
It was over when: We didn’t know it at the time, but when Hunter Gibson hit a 3-pointer with just more than a minute remaining in the first quarter that put Putnam City up 14-7, the writing was on the wall for Jenks. The teams had gone back and forth for most of the quarter but Gibson’s shot wrapped up an 8-0 run that put Putnam City up for good. The Pirates’ lead never got less than four in the second quarter and by early in the third, the Pirates’ double-digit lead was there to stay.

Overlooked: Tre Payne’s performance off the bench. Payne wasn’t one of the Pirates’ three players to finish in double figures but had a solid performance, scoring 8 on 4 of 6 shooting. Payne gave the Pirates a level of explosiveness that they are likely to need against teams like the ones they’ll face in the semifinals and (if they win tomorrow) the finals.

Edmond Santa Fe 52, Norman North 48
It was over when: Edmond Santa Fe point guard Drew Hall hit 7 of 8 fourth quarter free throws to help the Wolves hold onto a lead that seemed to be slipping away. Hall hadn’t scored until that point, and didn’t score fomr the field at all, but he kept going to the line in the fourth and kept converting. The most critical points came with 17 seconds left when his free throws stretched the lead from 48-43, where Norman North still had some hope of breaking through, to 50-43, where Norman North’s hope was over.

Overlooked: Santa Fe’s finishing around the basket. Three times (Twice by Michael Onuoha and once by Josh Richardson), the Wolves finished on a chance for an “And 1″ and all three times, the player completed the free throw. In a tight game, finishing and free-throw shooting can certainly be a big deciding factor. Thursday, Santa Fe had them both (The Wolves finished 12 of 17 from the line).

10:27: Midwest City wins 60-55 after what Bombers coach Dewayne Bradley calls some “Bomber magic”

10:04: Tied at 54 with Memorial heading to the line. 41.7 left.

10:02: In overtime here. Edmond Memorial up 54-51 with 2:00 left.

9:44: Midwest City up 49-43 with 3:11 remaining.

9:30: Midwest City up 41-36 on Edmond Memorial after 3.

9:20: Sorry again for the long delay. Was trying to track down some info on PCW coach Tim Stogsdill. Not much right now other than he’s expected to coach tomorrow. Putnam City spokesman Steve Lindley declined comment on Stogsdill’s absence or status, citing that it was a personnel matter. Right now, Midwest City leads Edmond Memorial 37-32.

7:53: PCW up 35-31 after 3. Donte Wartson scored all 10 of Muskogee’s points.

7:43: PCW up 27-23 mid third.

7:31: Waited for a bit to put this up because I was hoping to find out more at halftime, but Putnam West coach Tim Stogsdill is not coaching the Patriots. Instead, Ryan Wilkinson is at the helm. No word right now on where Stogsdill is or if he would coach tomorrow if PC West wins.

7:27: Muskogee takes a 21-20 lead into the break, scoring the last 9 points.

7:14: Putnam West up 16-10 early 2nd. Tyler Neal has 9.

7:08: Second alley-oop between the two is waved off for Fields hanging on the rim. Borderline but probably the right call.

7:06: Tied 4-4 about midway through the first. Already had a highlight-reel worthy alley-oop from Tyler Neal to Amric Fields. Already the best atmosphere of the day BY FAR.

7:01: Here we go between PCW and Muskogee. Once again, you can also follow on Twitter (@ryaber) and can keep track of the 6A girls (@BPrzybylo) as well.

6:29: Sorry for the extremely long delay. Having some access issues here at Skiatook but I’ll do my best to at least have quarter/half/final updates during the evening session. Both teams are off the floor for now after a shootaround. This place is not near as full as it was the last time I was here, which was when Verdigris’ Rotnei Clarke broke the state career scoring record. Still love the setup here, though.

2:07: Edmond Santa Fe up 4-0 early, 4:33 remaining in first.

2:01: Here we go with the 6A boys state tournament. Norman North’s Jared Beal and Edmond Santa Fe’s Josh Richardson for the tip…

1:25: Here’s a photo from warmups:

Edmond Santa Fe shootaround before game with Norman North

1:23: I’m here at the Dr. Gary Johnson Activity Center in Skiatook for the opening day of the Class 6A state tournament. First up: Edmond Santa Fe vs. Norman North.

Both teams are out warming up right now. I’ll try to update things as much as possible on here but will definitely be updating on Twitter (@ryaber). @bprzybylo is out at the Class 6A girls tournament. I’ll also be tweeting scores from other tournaments as well.

Considering I wasn’t born until 19 months after the tournament, I had to do some digging, and that digging produced some interesting tidbits.

The coach of the team was Don Calvert, who had tons of success coaching women at Barton County Community College and ran the show for the ORU women for a few years. He was a finalist for the OU women’s job in 1990, and made a few other high school stops around the state. Current PC West coach Tim Stogsdill plans to bring Calvert in to speak to his team before Thursday’s game against Muskogee.

Calvert’s son, Don Calvert Jr., was a player on the team. He went on to OU, where he was part of the 1979 Sooner squad that included Terry Stotts, Al Beal, John McCullough and a few other big names. The Dave Bliss-coached squad won the Big Eight title and breathed life into the Sooner basketball program with momentum that carried over into the Billy Tubbs era.

The ’77 Pats advanced to the semifinals with a one-point win over Tulsa Edison, and the deciding bucket was scored with 23 seconds left by Scott Tinsley, the star quarterback who went on to play at USC and in the NFL.

Just a random history lesson as the Pats enjoy a monumental accomplishment for their school.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Your Player of the Week is Putnam City’s Dominique Raney, who led the Pirates to the one win they’ve been trying all season to get — no, not the win that clinched a state tournament bid, the win over rival Putnam City West.

Raney had 19 points and was a big part of the 15-2 second-quarter run by the Pirates that really opened up the game.

It’s been a rough season at times for Raney, learning how to play at a high level without Xavier Henry to draw the attention away. But he seems to be figuring things out. He’s driving to the basket with authority lately, and that’s one of the tools that separates him from other players in the state.

I see four teams that I’d consider strong contenders for the 6A boys crown, and PC is definitely in that mix, along with PC West, Edmond Santa Fe and Midwest City.

Other contenders

The PC West boys basketball team: Getting to state for the first time since 1977 and just the second time in school history was quite an accomplishment, and I’m sure they’re relieved to have gotten it done, even though it probably took one more game than they would’ve liked. The usual suspects came through int he win over Lawton to advance. Tyler Neal had 25, Amric Fields had 22 and Josiah Campbell had 10.

Tre Payne, PC: Payne made some big plays down the stretch in the win over PC West, including a momentum-boosting 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter. He finished with 13 points and played tough defense as well.

JohVonna Mitchell and Kendrea Harbert, PC North: Mitchell was late in being allowed to join her team because of the OSSAA, but she has made an impact. Her 13 points led the Panthers past Jenks and into the state tournament. Harbert had 10 in the victory.

Zach Grismer, Mustang: his 22-point performance got the Broncos within a game of the state tournament, quite an accomplishment for a team that started the year 2-7. David Glidden added 23 points in the area consolation loss to Edmond Santa Fe.

Jade Hardy and Laila Suleiman, Yukon: Hardy had 22 and Suleiman 13 in the Millerettes’ win over Putnam City, their second this year. That win got them to the area consolation game. Suleiman had another 13 points in the near-upset of Edmond Santa Fe.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Second-seeded Putnam City West and third-seeded Putnam City advanced in the boys basketball Class 6A regional playoffs, and next Friday, we’ll get to see the fourth meeting of the season between the Patriots and Pirates.

Unlike any year in recent history, this season has belonged to PC West, with three wins over its rival, including the exclamation point, an overtime victory in which the Pats rallied from 18 down on PC’s home floor.

But those three wins are worth nothing now, and it all comes down to winning in March. Friday’s winner goes to state, the loser must play again Saturday night with its postseason life on the line in an elimination game against the Southmoore-Lawton winner.

March isn’t here yet, but the madness has arrived.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

On Friday night, he wasn’t watching MTV. He was watching basketball. And so was MTV.

Capel and an MTV camera crew — not together — were at the Putnam City West gym. Capel was there watching PC West’s Tyler Neal, the yet uncommitted 6-foot-6 swingman, who scored 22 points despite some rust on his usually smooth jumper after missing the last three games with an ankle injury.

The 6-foot-9 Amric Fields flashed some of the astounding athleticism that earned him a scholarship to TCU, where he signed before the season. He had 22 points as well, including a few high-flying, two-handed slams and a couple 3-pointers. PC West rolled into the second round of the playoffs with an  82-56 win over Moore.

More on Neal in a moment, but Capel missed the more entertaining game of the night, Mustang’s 49-43 win over Choctaw. Of course, there wasn’t much reason for him to be there, unless he’s helping Bob Stoops wtih his scouting of recent OSU football commit David Glidden of Mustang.

MTV was on hand for the Broncos and Yellowjackets, though they weren’t shooting much game action. Their crew has been at PC West much of the week for a show detailing the lives of high school students at several locations across the country. The network had to get special permission from the OSSAA shoot during the game, it had to have all the players sign waivers, and it put up a big sign outside the entrance to the gym warning fans that they could end up on camera.

The game itself was a wild one, featuring two of the more athletic point guards around, Glidden and Choctaw’s Mark Florie. It was a fun battle to watch all night.

Mustang seemed to be ready to dominate the game, but saw a 12-point, third-quarter lead slip away as Choctaw went up by five with about three minutes left.

But Jacinto Biorato hit a clutch 3-pointer from the corner, Jacob Strassle and Glidden converted some key free throws and Ben Berry came through with a couple big baskets as Mustang closed the game on a 12-1 run.

Now Mustang will try to pull off the same upset from two weeks ago against PC West. Mustang knows what it needs to do, but the Patriots are extremely motivated because of the 91-88 double-OT loss to the Broncos on Feb. 12.

Back to Neal, he held off from committing or signing anywhere in November for this very reason — to try to improve his stock and land an offer from a big program. There’s no offer yet from OU, but there’s interest.

Before the season, Neal was being recruited by programs like Oral Roberts and TCU. Since then, he says he’s picked up a couple more offers, but declined to name the schools. He told me in November that he wanted to wait until the season ended to really get deep into his recruitment, and that’s why he didn’t want to discuss his offers publicly — it’s the playoffs and he wants to win a state title. He wants to keep the focus on his team and its goals.

Qualities like that would make him a good fit at OU — his team-first attitude, his work ethic and his good behavior. He’s the kind of kid that pulls a team together rather than driving it apart. Besides that, he’s got decent size, he rebounds well and his shooting range is limitless.

At 6-foot-6, Neal might not be the ideal size to play the four in the Big 12, but Capel has made it work with guys like Nate Carter and Taylor Griffin. And Neal has a better outside shot than either of them did, which is a weapon Capel really likes to have in a big guy to stretch defenses.

There’s no doubt Neal has plenty to offer, but wherever he goes, he hopes he’s taking a state championship ring with him. And that’s his only focus right now.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

On the boys side, the West Metro could have even more teams alive after tonight’s first round. And both boys and girls could have multiple teams advance to state, so it should be a fun couple weeks out west. Here’s a look at tonight’s boys games:

Mustang vs. Choctaw at PC West, 6:30 p.m.

I think this is the most intriguing game in the first round of the 6A boys playoffs. Mustang has won both meetings, but they were close. The Broncos have been playing well the second half of the season, signified by their runner-up finish at the Deer Creek tournament and the upset win at PC West earlier this month. I’ll be out there for all the excitement tonight.

Yukon at Putnam City, 8 p.m.

Rough draw for the Millers, whose season took a hit when point guard D’Anthony Perkins was lost for six weeks with an injury in early December. But a roster made up almost exclusively of juniors and sophomores, this will be a good experience in building for next season.

Putnam City seems to be getting things together, and I’ve been most interested in the progression of junior point guard Trey Thomas. He was coming off the bench, mostly to let Willie Lester rest, early in the season. But early this month, coach A.D. Burtschi benched Lester in favor of Thomas with a hope of motivating Lester, who “wasn’t giving us everything he could,” Burtschi said. The result not only motivated Lester, but sped up the growth of Thomas as a player. Now the Pirates have two reliable point guards, which will be a big bonus down the stretch.

Putnam City North vs. Sapulpa at Norman North, 6:30 p.m.

The Panthers are playing well and got a good draw, even though they missed out on the host berth. Tonight and Saturday could be the last chance for locals to see them without driving a couple hours northeast because the Panthers are on the east side of the bracket. Devin Harris has been playing well lately, but the key for the Panthers will be its depth of scoring options. If Harris is off, Joe Summers or Armon Provo can step in. If they are missing, Dillon Schooley and Antonio Johnson are capable of giving you 15-20 each. As long as they don’t all go cold on the same night, PC North should be in good shape to make a strong playoff run.

Moore at PC West, 8 p.m.

Probably the least dramatic first-round game in the West Metro as the No. 2 Patriots host the two-win Lions. But all eyes will be on Tyler Neal’s left ankle, which caused him to miss the last three games. He was moving well at practice this week, according to him and coach Tim Stogsdill. The second round will be a little nerve-wracking for the Pats against either Mustang or Choctaw, a team that beat them two weeks ago, and a team that took them to the wire in December.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

But since Jan. 19, PC North has won nine of 11 games, with the only losses to top-five teams Putnam City and Edmond Santa Fe.

Devin Harris put together one of his better weeks to earn POW honors, averaging 21.5 points in wins over PC West and Mustang to close the regular season.

Harris, an outstanding leaper who plays an important role in the Panthers’ rebounding efforts, scored 24 against the Patriots — including four 3-pointers — and had 19 against Mustang.

Other contenders

Jade Hardy, Yukon: Coming on strong lately, Hardy had 21 points as Yukon knocked off Choctaw 57-54 on Friday night to send the Millerettes into the playoffs on a high note.

David Glidden, Mustang: His 18 points led the Broncos to a win and season sweep of Yukon in Canadian County Bedlam. Not a bad week, culminating with a scholarship offer and the acceptance of that offer to play football at Oklahoma State in 2011.

RonQuis Lewis, Putnam City: His numbers weren’t daunting (12 points) but the 6-foot-6 junior was clutch at the free throw line and on the boards in PC’s upset of top-ranked Edmond Santa Fe on Friday.

Amric Fields, Kevin House and Kyndall Dudley, PC West: House and Dudley each came through with their best games of the season, scoring 19 and 22 points, respectively. But Fields was an offensive monster in picking up the slack for the absent Tyler Neal. Fields averaged 26.3 points per game in three games during the week.

Danielle Bounds, PC West: A solid week ended with a 21-point effort on Saturday as PC West nearly pulled off an upset over Choctaw.

Swimmers of the Week
(Courtesy of our resident swimming expert, Robert Przybylo)

Aimee Creger, Mustang: A freak of nature as Creger had less than 60 days of in-pool training and qualified for state in two events, placing seventh and eighth.

Carli Wentworth, Mustang: Placed seventh in the 100 Breaststroke at the state tournament.

Madalyn Reeves, Jaime Rateliff, Mustang: Teamed with Creger and Wentworth in the 200 Free Relay to place seventh.

Hailey Atkinson, Ana Srbovska, Amy Fair and Autumn Thomas, Putnam City North: The quartet placed seventh in the 200 medley relay and sixth in the 200 free relay at the state championships.

James Healy, Chris Covey, Chad Stephens and Brendan Allen, Putnam City North: The relay team placed fifth in the 200 freestyle relay and eighth in the 400 free relay. Stephens placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and Allen placed eighth in the 50 freestyle at the state tournament.

Jessica McDaniel, Yukon: Being the first and only Yukon swimmer to qualify for state wasn’t her only accomplishment as McDaniel, a freshman, placed 16th in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke.

Greg Penny, Mustang: Scored all of Mustang’s team points at the state championships by placing 15th in the 100 Breaststroke.

Clinton Alonzo, Seungyoen Han, Dylan Matthews, Tyler Westeler, Putnam City: Quartet swam more than a second better in the consolation final of the 200 Free Relay, placing 15th.

Send West Metro POW nominations to swright@opubco.com

After spending Friday evening at Putnam City watching the Pirates rally for a 60-54 win over No. 1 Edmond Santa Fe, I can’t begin to imagine just how thrilling the boys basketball playoffs in Class 6A will be.

Santa Fe, Putnam City, Putnam City West, Midwest City and Southmoore are the top five seeds on the west side of the bracket, and all of them have been in a nailbiter against someone else on that list in the last two weeks. Some of them more than one. Heck, Southmoore had a wild win Friday night against a Del City team it could potentially face in area.

Midwest City and Southmoore will be at the same regional. The others, we’ll have to wait for area to see them match up against the elite teams. Even the east side of the bracket will have plenty of OKC metro interest, wtih Putnam City North and Norman North battling it out in the same regional at Norman North, and Edmond Memorial trying to take down some Tulsa area teams to earn a state tournament berth.

As for the game I saw on Friday night, this win could be a sign that PC is putting things together for the stretch run in hopes of defending their crown.

The Pirates are getting contributions from multiple players every night. On Friday, Trey Thomas and RonQuis Lewis came up with big plays down the stretch. Zech Smith is continually improving inside. Dominique Raney is battling a hand injury that has made it tough for him to make jumpers the way he had been, so he’s working to get to the rim to create points.

Tre Payne was unavailable Friday night, but will be a key piece in the playoffs. Coach A.D. Burtschi referred to Payne as the team’s “backbone.”

On the Santa Fe side, I finally got to see Josh Richardson have one of the nights I keep seeing in box scores. The last three times I’ve been to see the Wolves, Richardson has scored 10 points or fewer, but he poured in 25 Friday, with 17 of them coming in the second half.

With the exception of a late missed free throw, he came up big time and time again for the Wolves, who despite two losses in the last two weeks, have maintained their spot as one of the favorites in 6A.

They have a group of guards who give the team variety. Outside shooting, penetration, passing, leadership, clamp-down defense. From Richardson and A.J. Anderson, to Mahlon Jones, Drew Hall and Aaron Anderson, they can do it all.

And the Wolves are stout inside, though those guys aren’t necessarily looked to for offense. Particularly, B.J. Jiles and Michael Onuoha are big bodies who can bang around in the paint. 

The Power Poll was a hot topic this week, and Friday’s game, along with Broken Arrow’s loss to Tulsa Union and PC West’s loss to PC North earlier in the week, will make for a potentially interesting shuffle in Tuesday’s final Power Poll of the season.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

The win at PC West, spoiling Senior Night for the Patriots, was a total team effort. Jacob Strassle led the scoring effort with 20 points in the 91-88 double-OT victory. And David Glidden poured in 24 to lead the way in the 60-52 win over Choctaw. The efforts earned both players co-POW honors in the West Metro this week, as the Broncos picked up a couple victories that have some major significance.

Mustang opens the 6A playoffs against Choctaw in regional action at PC West on Feb. 26. The Broncos defeated Choctaw in the season opener as well. Should Mustang advance, it would likely face PC West, right back at the scene of last Friday’s crime.

In all, five players had at least 12 points for Mustang in the upset over the Pats, who in their previous two games had defeated No. 4 Putnam City and No. 1 Edmond Santa Fe. After Strassle’s 20, Glidden had 19 (six points and five assists in the two OT periods), Jacinto Biorato had 18 points, Tanner Bridges added 14 and Ben Berry had 12.

Glidden also had 27 points in a Monday victory over Edmond North. Busy week for the Broncos, but a good one.

Other POW contenders

PC West  boys team: If it hadn’t been for Mustang spoiling their otherwise brilliant week, the Patriots would have earned the top honor. Even with the loss, they deserve recognition, and the whole team gets some credit in the two big wins over PC and Edmond Santa Fe. Tyler Neal was the leading scorer in both. Amric Fields played outstanding defense in the paint and still maintained his regular scoring output. Josiah Campbell and Marquis Green were defensive standouts, especially in slowing down Santa Fe’s Josh Richardson. And Kyndall Dudley was solid at the point.

Michell Fisher, Mustang: The Lady Broncos went 2-2 for the week, and Fisher led them in scoring in all four games, including 21 in a loss to No. 2 Edmond North and 16 in a win over Putnam City. She averaged 16 points per game for the week.

Brian Brown and Tre Payne, PC: Brown came alive for 13 of his 19 points in the second half as the Pirates rallied past PC North. Payne had 17 in the win and was vital on the defensive end.

Jaclyn Becker, PC: Scored 17 points in a crucial home win over PC North.

JohVonna Mitchell and Kendrea Harbert, PC North: Mitchell, a junior, scored 18 points in her first game since being granted a hardship by the OSSAA. Harbert had 15 points in a Tuesday win over Yukon and 14 against PC.

Armon Provo, PC North: The senior scored 30 in an OT win over Yukon and had 22 in a crushing road loss at PC in which the Panthers saw a 10-point lead slip away.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Midwest City’s Richa Jackson is the lone state player represented on the McDonald’s All-American Game roster released earlier this week.

Jackson, a Duke signee, averages more than 16 points and 8 rebounds per game for the Bombers.

The McDonald’s All-American Game will be played March 31 in Columbus, Ohio.

Here’s the list of state players who were nominated for the game:

BOYS
Luke Bryant, Cascia Hall
Derrick Bull, Altus
Cameron Downing, Tulsa Memorial
Cale Elam, Oktaha
Oren Faulk, Muskogee
Amric Fields, Putnam West
Chris Fitzpatrick, Enid
Tavion Fleeks, John Marshall
Mark Florie, Choctaw
Denzel Goudeau, Harding Charter Prep
Trevon Hartfield, Watonga
Austin Haywood, Southmoore
Carlos Henderson, Hugo
Cale Jackson, Bethel
Dylan Lemley, Roff
Xavier McClish, Midwest City
Kyle Morton, Choctaw
D.J. Taylor, Western Heights
Dane Thrash, Cheyenne
Hayden Vencl, Garber

GIRLS
Desiree Bradley, Carl Albert
Ali Brown, Chattanooga
Jenni Bryan, Coweta
Brenna Burnett, Dale
Kylie Castonguay, Lomega
Kaila Crawford, Beggs
Carissa Crutchfield, Fort Gibson
Carrington Fox, Tulsa Union
Jonna Gregory, Vici
Tiffany Harper, Weatherford
Meagan Henson, Christian Heritage
Autumn Huffman, Midwest City
Kyla Johnson, Okemah
Kortney Kendrick, Kansas
Kylie Mayes, Carl Albert
Britney Morgan, Pawnee
Tarrington Oakes, Midwest City
Justice Payne, Perkins-Tryon
Taylor Posey, Wayne
Katy Preaus, Metro Christian
Cara Pugh, McGuinness
Chelsea Stricklen, Adair
Kendra Suttles, Lawton
Paiten Taylor, Hulbert
Kayla Thomas, Harrah
Morgan Toben, Owasso
Alex Tucker, Crowder
Talor Ward, Beggs
Kaylee Wilkins, Dale

Putnam City North

Boys: Oddly, PC North jumped ahead of Norman North in the statewide rankings, but among east-side voting for the seeds, Norman North held onto the No. 4 spot. That’s where the Panthers will go, opening with Sapulpa, which is a solid No. 12 seed, despite the 7-11 record. Of course, it only takes a first-round win to advance to area, but you’d rather be in the winner’s bracket. So it’ll likely take beating Norman North on its home floor to get there. Assuming PC North goes 2-0 in regionals, it would be top-seeded Broken Arrow waiting in the next round, and that’s a good matchup for PC North, because of the similarities of the teams, but we’ll get into that more if it happens.

Girls: The addition of JohVonna Mitchell will give the Lady Panthers a boost. The key will be learning to play with her on the floor over the next three games. They ended up in the 8-9 game on the east side, opening against Sand Springs. Ironically, the PC North girls also got sent to Norman North, where they’ll likely face the top-seeded hosts if they advance.

Putnam City

Boys: No big surprises here, the Pirates are hosting as the No. 3 seed on the west and will face West Metro foe Yukon in the first round, with either Lawton Ike or Edmond North in the next round. Most intriguing would be the area winner’s bracket game of PC-PC West, should both teams advance. With the excitement that series has generated this season, a meeting with a state tournament berth on the line would be wild stuff.

Girls: Coaches showed a lot of respect for Putnam City, moving them ahead of Lawton, which is ranked five spots higher than PC, for the No. 5 seed in the west. Putnam City will head to fourth-seeded Norman for the regional tournament, opening against Lawton Ike. Despite the loss to Yukon last week, the Lady Pirates are still a good team ready to make an impact in the postseason. Interestingly, depending on how things work out for PC, it could get another shot at Yukon in the area tournament.

Putnam City West

Boys: As they deserved, the Patriots got the No. 2 seed in the west. The voting was not impacted by the news of PC West’s forfeits earlier in the week. The Pats host Moore in the opener, with the Choctaw-Mustang winner in Round Two (more on that game in a moment). Barring something crazy, that PC-PC West area winner’s bracket final should happen.

Girls: PC West got a tough draw as the No. 14 seed, opening at third-seeded Edmond Santa Fe. But the Lady Patriots played them tough on Tuesday night before losing 61-45. And Santa Fe will be without one of its top players in Jimi Blagowsky, who suffered a torn ACL in the game at PC West. Should PC West pull the upset, it would be either Lawton or Southmoore waiting in the second round.

Mustang

Boys: I see the Mustang-Choctaw game as the best first-round matchup in the entire 6A bracket. Mustang won a close one in early December, and these are two pretty evenly matched teams, so this should be good theater in a win-or-go-home situation.

Girls: How about Canadian County Bedlam in the playoffs, elimination-style? Talk about excitement. Mustang took the first meeting at Yukon, 36-33, with a game at Mustang still to be played next Tuesday. This is the 8-9 game, so the winner will face top-seeded Midwest City. An upset there will be asking a lot, but one win is all it takes to advance to area.

Yukon

Boys: Certainly the worst draw of any West Metro boys team, opening at No. 3-seed Putnam City. The first round is single-elimination, so it’s a difficult situation for the Millers. Good news is that D’Anthony Perkins has returned from his broken hand that kept him out nearly two months. He poured in 19 points on Tuesday night, so this is a different team than it has been.

Girls: Yukon’s two wins last week helped get them a better seed after they had dropped out of the top 20 poll. The Millerettes need to keep the momentum going with a busy schedule left to close the regular season. They have five games in 11 days, starting last Tuesday.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

The first-round will be played Thursday, Feb. 25

WEST

At Midwest City
Mustang vs. Yukon
Midwest City vs. U.S. Grant

At Putnam City
Norman vs. Moore
Putnam City vs. Lawton Eisenhower

At Edmond Santa Fe
Lawton vs. Southmoore
Edmond Santa Fe vs. Putnam West

At Edmond North
Choctaw vs. Del City
Edmond North vs. Westmoore

EAST

At Norman North
Sand Springs vs. Putnam North
Norman North vs. Bixby

At Jenks
Ponca City vs. Broken Arrow
Jenks vs. Muskogee

At Shawnee
Owasso vs. Enid
Shawnee vs. Stillwater

At Tulsa Union
Edmond Memorial vs. Sapulpa
Tulsa Union vs. Bartlesville