What We Learned (Dec. 5-10)

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   Each and every Monday this season, we're going to take a look back at the previous week and try to narrow down and put a spotlight some of the top stories and results that happened across the state of Oklahoma. This week, we're taking a look back at last week, the first tournament week of the season. A lot of headlines in Class 6A but we also saw some great basketball being played all over. We're diving into the five top stories from last week for this week's edition of "What We Learned."   Broken Arrow The Beast Of The East   Last year, Broken Arrow was one of several teams on the east side in 6A that were fighting for the "beast of the east" title. This year, it looks like they are clear favorites for it and flexed their muscles last week. They opened up the season with a dominant win over Sapulpa on Tuesday night. Then they blew out each opponent to win the Bishop Kelley Invitational. That included a 70-46 championship win over fellow 6A contender Mustang on Saturday night. The Tigers came into this season with high expectations with a lot of production back from last season's team. This year's group consists of experienced seniors and very talented underclassmen. We'll get to learn more about the Tigers this week and where they stand in Class 6A when they host Booker T Washington on Tuesday night before traveling to face Jenks on Friday. Two more dominant wins this week and there will be no question that the Tigers are tops when it comes to east side teams in Class 6A. After that, it will be time to start seeing where they stack up against some of the best teams from the west side of 6A but they look like a serious state title contender right now.   Lawton Quickly Rising Up The 6A Ranks   Lawton turned quite a few heads on Friday in the semifinals of their tournament when they stunned defending 5A champion Memorial 59-51. The next day, they captured the tournament title with a 63-59 win over Putnam City. It was the first ever Lawton Great Plains Invitational and the title went to the home team as they made a statement to the rest of Class 6A to look out. Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1367224' first='Madden' last='Padilla'] led the way for the Wolverines and has established himself as one of the top shooters in the state. We'll get a good look at Lawton on Saturday when they play Choctaw in the Sick Of Sickle Cell event at Putnam City West. After that, the Wolverines are off until the return to Oklahoma City in early January for the Putnam City Invitational. The Wolverines only have two games on their schedule, not including tournament games, against 6A competition. So when it comes time for the playoffs, the Wolverines might be flying under the radar after not playing much 6A competition. That would be a big mistake. The Wolverines, who have started the year at 5-0, are the real deal and should debut rather high in the first 6A rankings.   Nathan Hale No Longer A Dark Horse   In our Class 5A preview back in October, we listed Nathan Hale as a dark horse in the Class 5A championship picture. After nearly a month of basketball, it's clear that the Rangers are not a dark horse in Class 5A. They are a true state championship contender. With star junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1482830' first='Kabron' last='Lewis'], who earned MVP honors at in their tournament victory last week and sophomore forward [player_tooltip player_id='1665873' first='Damario' last='Adams'], the Rangers have what it takes to make a run to the state tourney. And at this point, and again, it's just December, but they belong in the same conversation with Carl Albert, Del City, Memorial and Southeast as true championship contenders. Since losing a close overtime game with defending champion Memorial in the season opener, the Rangers have won six in a row and look to continue that streak next week at Bishop Kelley before the winter break. Lewis averaged over 20 points per game in their tournament last week and Adams has also emerged as a D1 prospect. He's starting to pick up a lot of interest by colleges already as an athletic big man, who's making the most of his return to the court after missing most of his freshman year.   Purcell's Hot Start Makes Them A 3A Contender   When it comes to Class 3A, Millwood is the heavy favorite to capture another state championship when you look at the talent they have returning from last year's title team. But it's time we start putting a little more respect on Purcell as a serious contender to the Falcons and their Class 3A crown. The Dragons have jumped out to a 5-0 start behind dynamic guards [player_tooltip player_id='1625154' first='Malachi' last='Evans'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1475986' first='Kobe' last='Freeman']. The latter, just a sophomore, had a great showing in their tournament championship down in Madill. Freeman has already been on our radar for a while now and he's having a spectacular start to his sophomore season. This dynamic duo in the backcourt is enough to make the Dragons a team that can make a run to the Big House in Oklahoma City. They have two games on the road this week as they'll face Davis and Pauls Valley. But we have their trip up to Verdigris in early January circled on our calendars. The Verdigris tournament has a competitive field and if the Dragons can go 3-0 again there and win another tourney title, they should be on everyone's radar when it comes to Class 3A title contenders at that point.   Putnam City North's Marquee Tournament Run   We <a href="https://prephoops.com/2022/12/tournament-mvps-dec-8-10/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote about Putnam City North's tournament run in Norman</a> when we put a spotlight on the performance from senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1068574' first='Zander' last='Baker']. The dynamic guard helped lead the Panthers to the tourney title in the Joe Lawson Invitational and he showed again why he's one of the better senior guards in Class 6A this season. What they did in Norman has to be taken very seriously moving forward when you consider the three teams they beat in three days. First, they beat Douglass, who you could make the argument is going to be the #1 team in Class 4A when the first rankings come out on Monday afternoon. Then they beat the host Norman Tigers, who should be considered a top ten team in Class 6A. And in the championship game, they beat Del City, who came into this season as the favorite to win it all in Class 5A. Three games, three wins over teams that will all still be playing in March. The theme here is "it's only December" but the run that PC North just went on in Norman needs to have a spotlight on it because if they are capable of doing it now, they'll be capable of doing it again when the stage is bigger later this year.

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