What We Learned – Tourney Edition (Dec. 9th-11th)
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We had our first weekend of tournaments across Oklahoma and it was quite the show across the state! We had standout individual performances and teams capturing tournament titles in impressive fashion. In this post, we take a look at five of the notable tournaments, the teams that won those tourneys and the players that led them to the championships.
Edmond Memorial Wins Another Close One Over Edmond North
Edmond Memorial captured the Edmond Open crown with their second win over rival Edmond North in just over a week. After knocking off the Huskies in overtime the week before, the Bulldogs did it again on Saturday night, beating Edmond North 52-45 in the title game after beating HFC Warriors and Edmond Santa Fe in the first two games.
While the Edmond Open doesn’t have a tournament MVP, the selection would have been a no-brainer as senior standout JV Seat JV Seat 6'3" | SF Edmond Memorial | 2022 State #250 Nation OK was lights out once again during the three-day stretch. In their semifinal win over Edmond Santa Fe, Seat finished with 25 points. In the title game, Seat was dominant once again with 26 points. The Abilene Christian commit has given the Bulldogs yet another great prospect to come through the Edmond Memorial pipeline over the last decade plus.
Head coach Shane Cowherd compared Seat to former standout Obi Emegano, who had a great career at ORU. Cowherd mentioned how similar Seat and Emegano are physically and because of that they have guard skills but can also play in the post with a strong and athletic frame. Just like any Edmond Memorial team that has been a title contender, it isn’t a one man band. JV’s brother Gabe Seat Gabe Seat 5'11" | PG Edmond Memorial | 2022 State OK is off to a great start this season, shooting over 50 percent from beyond the arc. Will Cain Will Cain 6'6" | F Edmond Memorial | 2022 OK is also adding some scoring and versatility as a 6’6 forward. His size and presence in the post has allowed JV the ability to play more guard this season.
The Bulldogs are off to a 6-0 start and currently own the #1 ranking in Class 6A. Cowherd is excited about the start but more excited about what’s to come. Edmond Memorial plays at Edmond Santa Fe on Friday but then it’s time for winter break and that means plenty of practice time and an opportunity to work on the areas that need to be improved before January rolls around.
Jenks Holds Off Moore In Tahlequah
The Jenks Trojans captured the tournament title in Tahlequah over the weekend with wins over Tahlequah Sequoyah, Muskogee and then an overtime victory over Moore in the title game. Jenks beat Moore 60-58 in overtime in a battle of top ten teams in Class 6A. Jenks head coach Clay Martin was proud of his team in the title game as they scored with 44 seconds left to take the 60-58 lead and would get a defensive stop to clinch the tournament title. Martin was also happy to be there for the tournament title game as he had this week off from his other gig as an NFL referee.
Ben Averitt Ben Averitt 6'5" | SF Jenks | 2022 State OK ended up getting tournament MVP honors and was outstanding for the Trojans from start to finish last week. He averaged 22.3 points per game over the three days and scored 29 and 21 respectively in their wins over Muskogee and Moore. Averitt not only hit big shots and filled up the scorebook but Martin was complimentary of Averitt hitting big shots when the Trojans needed them and wasn’t just getting easy buckets when the game was decided.
The Trojans would have to rally against Muskogee on Friday to advance to Saturday’s championship game. At one point, the Trojans were trailing the Roughers by 8 points and would chip away and make the most of their opportunities to not only claw back in the game but run away with the 59-52 win.
We wrote last week about senior standout Chase Martin Chase Martin 6'5" | SG Jenks | 2022 State OK and how he’s become a utility player for Jenks and doing whatever is needed of him. In their game against Bartlesville on Tuesday, Martin had a triple double. Martin followed that up by having two double doubles in the Tahlequah tournament and also had a near triple double in the third tournament game as Martin finished in double figures in all three games.
The Trojans will host Sand Springs on Tuesday night before taking nearly two weeks off before participating in the Tournament Of Champions at the end of the month.
Memorial Runs The Gauntlet In Norman
Memorial head coach Bobby Allison told us before the tournament that he hoped that this would be the first of two trips to Norman for his Chargers. The top ranked team in Class 5A won the Joe Lawson tourney that featured an absolutely loaded field and was a decent preview of what you can expect when the state tournament returns to Norman in March.
The Chargers beat 5A’s #7 Lawton MacArthur, 6A’s #6 Norman North and 6A’s #5 Putnam City West to win the tournament title. PC West beat 5A’s #2 Del City in the other semifinal to keep us from seeing a championship match-up of #1 VS #2 in Class 5A. The Chargers were led by their big three of 2022 PG Tyreece Frierson Tyreece Frierson 5'10" | PG Tulsa Memorial | 2022 State OK , 2022 F Bradyn Hubbard Bradyn Hubbard 6'7" | PF Tulsa Memorial | 2022 State OK and 2023 SG Seth Pratt Seth Pratt 6'3" | SG Memorial | 2023 State OK . Frierson was hands down the best player in the tournament field, showing why he’s one of the best point guards in the state today. You can read more great coverage about his performance and more from Sam Duren, who was front and center for it all RIGHT HERE.
Frierson dropped 20 points and 18 points against Norman North and PC West respectively. Hubbard was a double-double machine all week, averaging nearly 14 points and 13 rebounds. Then you had Pratt, who is actually leading the Chargers in scoring on the season with nearly 16 points per game. He finished each game in Norman with 14 points and went 8-15 from beyond the arc.
The Chargers will host their own tournament later this week before playing in the Tournament Of Champions later this month. We got a great look at Memorial this past weekend and will get another great look at them later this month. The Chargers appear to not only be the best team in Class 5A but the best overall team in Oklahoma this year.
Tuttle Bounces Back To Win Bishop Kelley Tourney
It was a bumpy start to the week for Tuttle as they opened their season on Tuesday with a top five showdown against defending champion Kingfisher. The Yellowjackets ran the Tigers off the floor in a 58-40 thrashing. However, the Tigers would bounce back by coming to Tulsa and winning the Bishop Kelley Invitational.
2022 forward Isaac McDoulett Isaac McDoulett 6'6" | SG Tuttle | 2022 State OK was the tournament MVP behind his steady three days of leading the Tigers in scoring. He averaged 23 points over the three day stretch in Tulsa and was once again their leader in the championship victory over Mustang on Saturday night. He finished with 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win. He also dropped 31 points in their semifinal win on Friday.
McDoulett wasn’t the only guy getting it done for the Tigers. 2023 Garrett Redwine Garrett Redwine 6'1" | CG Tuttle | 2023 State OK was steady throughout the three days and also earned All Tournament honors for his work in Tulsa. He had 10 points in each of their first two wins and then exploded in the championship game with 20 points in the win over Mustang. The Tigers also got good contributions from football standout Mason Stokes, who is starting to get his legs under him after a long football season.
Up next for the Tigers is a home date with Chickasha on Tuesday night before traveling to Clinton on Friday night. The Tigers might fall a spot or two in the 4A rankings when they come out on Monday but they should still be considered a top five team.
Victory Christian Comes Up Clutch In Inola
Victory Christian took home the crown in the Inola Tournament and the Conquerors needed some late heroics to do so in the championship game. Victory’s Jude Malhi hit a three-pointer as time expired to give the Conquerors the 55-52 win over Siloam Springs, Arkansas in the championship game. The win on Saturday night wrapped up a week of wins over Pryor and Holland Hall.
Star guard Joshua Udoumoh Joshua Udoumoh 6'4" | SG Victory Christian | 2022 State OK took home MVP honors after leading the Conquerors to the tournament championship. Udoumoh saved his best for the championship game on Saturday night when he had 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. He had a good game in the top ten match-up against Holland Hall on Thursday as well. He finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Udoumoh will be that guy for the Conquerors this season where he absolutely fills up a stat sheet each night. In just about every game, he’s going to be the best athlete on the floor and it showed last week in Inola.
This week will be big for the Conquerors before they participate in the Tournament Of Champions at the end of the month. On Tuesday night, Victory will welcome in Lincoln Christian, one of the better teams in Class 3A. But at the end of the week, we have a big 4A battle in Tulsa on Friday night as Victory will welcome in Heritage Hall. The Chargers are currently the top ranked team in Class 4A and the expectation is that they will still be there when the ranking is updated this afternoon.