Friday Playoff Recap: Class A

<p>There was plenty of good basketball across the state Friday night, as Class A and B are both competing for spots at state. Here were some of the best games and predictions on what’s to come.</p> <p><strong>Game of the Night: #5 Calumet vs #3 Arapaho-Butler</strong></p> <p>Any time #3 and #5 meet before the state tournament, it’s bound to be a good game. In this matchup, #3 came out on top. Arapaho-Butler continues their impressive season and their chase for a gold ball stays alive.</p> <p><strong>Other Notable Games:</strong></p> <p>#9 Canute beat #7 Caddo 39-37</p> <p>#2 Hydro-Eakly beat #15 Wright City 68-44</p> <p>#4 Garber beat #13 Regent Prep 37-34</p> <p>#10 Velma-Alma beat Allen 36-33</p> <p>There were four other big ranked matchups in Class A tonight and two of them were slugfests. Canute-Caddo and Garber-Regent both did not exceed 40 points. Regent Prep looked like they were going to come out with a win but fell just short in overtime. Hydro-Eakly has to be the favorite in the class, as they have been playing a dominant brand of basketball.</p> <p><strong>Upset of the Night</strong></p> <p>#11 Synder beat #1 Fort Cobb 52-42</p> <p>Fort Cobb Broxton had lost one game on the entire season before they lost in area to Snyder. While it was only their first loss of the playoffs, it was still a shocker. Synder, now 19-2, is in a great spot to make a run at a gold ball</p> <p><strong>Players to Watch</strong></p> <p><strong>Nathan Gore - Hydro-Eakly</strong></p> <p>A do-it-all stud that can score and rebound with ease. Tall enough to get points off of offensive rebounds and can score off the dribble too.</p> <p><strong>Cade Berkey - Hydro-Eakly</strong></p> <p>Berkey is another guy who can really score the ball. He’s smooth and has a high basketball IQ. Senior and leader of the Bobcats.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="965213" first="Connor" last="Clayton"] - Stuart</strong></p> <p>Great scorer and shooter. Can score points in a hurry and have breakout games, but also very effective off the drive. Fantastic offensive player.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="745375" first="Tyson" last="Eastwood"] - Fort Cobb Broxton</strong></p> <p>A double-double machine that can score with ease. Eastwood is a stat sheet stuffer that had a great season. He does whatever is asked of him and is a great player.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="938868" first="Ethan" last="Pyron"] - </strong><b>Arapaho-Butler</b></p> <p>Pyron is a scorer. He can shoot and finishes well around the rim. He’s had multiple games above or near 20 this year and is leading Arapaho-Butler to their playoff run.</p> <p><strong>Predictions: </strong>I don’t think anyone is knocking off Hydro-Eakly, especially after seeing Fort Cobb go down tonight. Returning an entire starting lineup from last year and beating good teams all season long, Hydro-Eakly seems to be the favorite to get the job done. One thing is for sure, there are some good games in store.</p>