Class 2A State Tournament Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The Class 2A state tournament is set and ready to tip off on Thursday. Defending champion Oklahoma Union is once again in the tournament field but they are just one of a handful of teams that are truly contenders to capture the gold ball this season. While top ranked Dale seems like the big favorite, don’t overlook a few of the other teams, including the defending champs. In this preview, we get you ready for the state tournament with an in-depth look at each team and some of their top players. Prep Hoops Oklahoma will have you covered from the start of the tournament to the finish. <h4>THE BRACKET</h4> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/2A-Boys-1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1403995" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/2A-Boys-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" /></a> <hr /> <h4>THE MATCH-UPS </h4> #3 CASHION (22-5) VS LATTA (12-16) Thursday - 4:30PM - The Big House How They Got Here Cashion: #3 Cashion is headed to the state tourney for the third consecutive season. The Wildcats have been among the top teams in Class 2A all season and it’s safe to say that they expected to be here when March rolled around. They come into state with a 10-game winning streak, including wins over #1 Dale, #8 Watonga, #9 Hooker and #10 Amber-Pocasset within the last month. They are certainly playing some of their best basketball at the right time. After going 0-3 at the Tournament Of Champions in December, the Wildcats turned the page to January and have been playing excellent basketball ever since. This is a senior-heavy team, ready to make a run at that elusive gold ball. Latta: On the other side of the match up, you have a Latta team that not only is used to making it to state but contending for titles in the last decade. But that was not supposed to happen this year. They come into the state tournament at 12-16 but caught fire at the right time and won the games they needed to win to punch their ticket to state. This is a low-scoring squad that relies on their defense and have won plenty of low-scoring and close games this season. After upsetting #6 Hinton in the first round of regionals, that set up an easier pathway to Oklahoma City. After losing to top ranked Dale in the area round, they would beat Okemah in a 27-20 finish to clinch their spot in the state tourney. Players To Watch Cashion: All five starters for the Wildcats are seniors and have plenty of experience with big games. Their three leading scorers are guards [player_tooltip player_id="1142031" first="Austin" last="Frazier"], (14.1 PPG) [player_tooltip player_id="1164862" first="Jonah" last="Jenkins"], (12.0 PPG) and [player_tooltip player_id="1164863" first="Vance" last="Raney"] (11.2 PPG) and any of those three players are capable of taking a game over and lighting up the scoreboard. That senior trio is going to be a big key to their success this week. But they also have some help from their championship football team in starters Landon LaGasse and Nick Nabavi. Latta: As mentioned above, this is a Latta team that likes to be very methodical on offense and take the air out of the ball along with playing strong defense. So their stats won’t blow you away when it comes to leading scorers. None are in double figures but they do have a sophomore in Sam Brown leading them in scoring with nearly 8 points per game. Senior Tyler Ireland and junior Cooper Coulson also chip in with 7 and 6.1 points per game respectively. <hr /> #2 OKLAHOMA UNION (24-4) VS #4 MORRISON (22-4) Thursday - 6:00PM - The Big House How They Got Here Morrison: #4 Morrison is playing some of their best basketball right now and over the last few weeks. They lost to Cashion the final regular season game but they’ve been lights out ever since. They won three out of their four playoff games to clinch their spot in the state tourney by double digits, including a 14-point win over #7 Silo to punch their ticket to the state tournament. Their only losses in the last two months have been to fellow 2A state tourney teams and then to Class A runner up Garber back in mid-January. The Wildcats narrowly lost to Dale in the quarterfinals a year ago and they seemed determined to make a deeper run into the state tournament this year. They have a big hurdle in Oklahoma Union on Thursday. Oklahoma Union: Defending champion Oklahoma Union is back into the state tournament, ready to defend their championship this weekend. Despite being defending champions and despite five seniors in their starting lineup with plenty of experience from last year’s title game, the Cougars feel like somewhat of an underdog heading into the state tourney this year. A lot of talk prior to the tournament has centered around #1 Dale and #3 Cashion. But we certainly can’t overlook the Cougars coming into this week. They face a Morrison team in the first round and while it’s a top five match-up, OK Union should have some confidence after beating Morrison 65-60 in the Pawhuska tournament. Players To Watch Morrison: The Wildcats are going to be bringing some firepower to the state tournament this week with their lineup. Four seniors and one sophomore make up the starting five with three seniors leading Morrison in scoring. Brady Roe and Gabe Battles lead the way at 16.2 points per game and 14 points per game respectively. Joining them in double digits is Jalen Powell at 11.3 points per game. Sophomore Briggs Roe is near double figures at 8.2 points per game. Oklahoma Union: Five seniors with plenty of Big House memories following last year's title run make up Oklahoma Union's starting lineup. And they'll counter Morrison with three players averaging in double figures as well. Leading the way is Jaiden Knnard at 14.9 points per game. He's been back and forth with Kade Hollingshed as the leading scorer this year as Hollingshed is right at 14.5 points per game. Tristan Davis is also in double figures at 10.2 and Baylor Nash and Bryce Gillespie complete the five-senior lineup. <hr /> #1 DALE (26-2) VS #9 HOOKER (21-6) Thursday - 7:30PM - The Big House How They Got Here Dale: For the fifth time in the last six seasons, the Dale Pirates are playing in the state tournament. The Pirates made a run to the semifinals last year before losing to runner up Howe. And despite having a starting lineup that only consists of sophomores and freshmen, the Pirates have been considered arguably the top team in 2A all season. They come into the state tourney as the top ranked team and absolutely steamrolled their way through the playoffs. The closest game in the last few weeks was a 57-41 win over Latta in the area round to clinch their spot in the tournament. They had an 18-game winning streak at one point this year before it was snapped by #3 Cashion a month ago. Hooker: The Hooker Bulldogs return to the state tournament for the fifth consecutive season and they want to stick around OKC for a little longer than the last few trips. They’ve been bounced out of the first round in the 2019 and 2021 state tourney. But the task this time around will obviously be a tall one as they take on the top-ranked Pirates in the first round. Playing mostly out in western Oklahoma and several games against Kansas and Texas teams, Hooker can be somewhat of an unknown for the rest of the state and that could provide the Bulldogs what they need to make a run. They’ve played in several close games throughout their playoff run. In fact, all four of their playoff games were decided by six points or less. Players To Watch Dale: All eyes will certainly be on super sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="1367217" first="Dayton" last="Forsythe"] coming into this state tournament run. The sophomore standout averages 20.3 points per game and has already eclipsed 1,000 points for his career. A top ten prospect in the 2024 class, Forsythe leads a young but talented Pirate team into the tourney. He’s joined by fellow sophomore Deken Jones, who averages 12 points per game. And three freshmen, Easton Edmonson, Jett Higson and Levi Kelly fill out the starting lineup. Hooker: It’s going to be hard to miss Hooker’s top standout as senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="1164864" first="Zach" last="Hidalgo"] comes in at 6’8. The dominating forward is a big reason why Hooker is back in the state tournament. He’s averaged 20.2 points per game this season and is without a doubt their leading scorer. Behind him is a blend of experience and youth. Senior Gavynn Parker adds 7.7 points per game and then you have freshman Kleat Martens and sophomore Omar Gomez, who average 7.3 and 7.0 points per game respectively. <hr /> #5 POCOLA (26-1) VS #7 SILO (24-6) Thursday - 9:00PM - The Big House How They Got Here Pocola: You can make the argument that no team is playing better basketball than #5 Pocola coming into the state tournament this week. The Indians come into the state tournament with the best record among the tourney teams at 26-1. That one loss was all the way back in mid-December to a Roland team that’s in the 3A state tourney. They’re currently on a 22-game winning streak and before anyone suggests that maybe their schedule isn’t the strongest. We’ll agree, they haven’t played as tough of a schedule as some of the other tourney teams. But they absolutely dismantled defending champion and #2 Oklahoma Union, 53-32 in the area round to punch their ticket to the tournament. They’re a dangerous team for sure. Silo: For the first time in nearly 50 years, the Silo Rebels are playing in the state tournament. Silo made three straight appearances from 1973-1975 and haven’t been back since. And what do the Rebels get for their first trip to state in nearly half of a century? Arguably the hottest team in 2A basketball today with Pocola. But for the Rebels, they’re playing strong basketball as well heading into this week. They would have to bounce back following an area loss to Morrison by beating Panama the next night. That was a Panama team that they had just played a few days before in the regional round and only won by 2. This time around, they won 52-43 and as most coaches know, that’s a tough task to beat the same team twice in less than a week. Players To Watch Pocola: The Indians are on quite the run coming into the state tournament with a 22-game winning streak. They’re led by four seniors and one sophomore in their starting lineup and they have balanced scoring throughout. The leading scorer is senior Ian Hardwick at 14 points per game. Senior Tre Elam and sophomore Garrett Scott are in double figures with 11 and 10 points per game respectively. Then seniors Brendon O’Connell and Eli Garrett average 9 and 7 points per game, rounding out the balanced scoring attack. Silo: So Silo had to wait nearly 50 years for a state appearance, they probably won’t wait another 50 years. Their starting lineup features three juniors and two sophomores. And their leading scorer is a dominating sophomore in 6’7 [player_tooltip player_id="1367220" first="Ethan" last="Wilkerson"], who comes in averaging 23 points per game. He’s the top scorer among the tournament field and he has some help. Junior Kyler Proctor adds 13 points per game while junior Carter Parker and sophomore Charlie Gardner chip in with 8.4 and 8 points per game respectively.