Class 2A State Tournament Preview
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It’s State Tournament week in Oklahoma, with the bulk of the Class 4A, 3A and 2A games taking place in the Big House at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. Leading off the action is Class 2A with the games…
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Continue ReadingIt’s State Tournament week in Oklahoma, with the bulk of the Class 4A, 3A and 2A games taking place in the Big House at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. Leading off the action is Class 2A with the games starting at 9:00 AM on Tuesday. We’ll have complete coverage from start to finish. But in this post, we take a look at all eight teams in the Class 2A state tournament, how did they get to Oklahoma City and who are some of the players that can help them lift a gold ball.
#1 DALE (29-0) vs #19 WISTER (22-6)
TUESDAY – 10:30 AM
Dale Spotlight
The defending Class 2A champions return all of their key contributors from last year’s team and they have only added to their resume with a so far undefeated season. That included becoming the first “small school” champion of the prestigious Tournament of Champions since 1978. Since that victory they had ran roughshod over the rest of the schedule. In the playoffs alone they have won their four games by a combined 204 points. They now enter the Big House with the weight of defending last year’s Gold Ball, an undefeated season and the attention of the whole state on them. If anything, the Pirates have shown they have relished the weight and attention.
Leading the way for Dale is perhaps the most impactful player in the state, junior Dayton Forsythe Dayton Forsythe 6'3" | PG Dale | 2024 State #206 Nation OK . The point guard has earned big time offers from coast to coast and does it all. He averages a team high 17.3 points per game, but that number doesn’t paint the full picture of his impact. Especially as he often doesn’t play much in the fourth quarter. Along with scoring at all three levels, Forsythe has excellent floor vision and whips passes all over the court for easy scores. If the Pirates are pushed during the tournament, put Forsythe on triple double watch for his ability to score, assist and grab rebounds.
The other junior starter for the Pirates is Deken Jones Deken Jones 6'1" | CG Dale | 2024 State OK , a good finisher and effective in the midrange, he averages 12.2 points per game. The other three starters are sophomores, sharpshooting Levi Kelly Levi Kelly 5'11" | CG Dale | 2025 State OK , heady connector Easton Edmonson and double double threat Trayden Chambers Trayden Chambers 6'7" | PF Dale | 2025 State OK . Freshman Denton Forsythe Denton Forsythe 6'1" | PG Dale | 2026 State OK has also brought scoring punch off the bench.
Wister Spotlight
The eastern Oklahoma Wildcats will travel across I-40 with upset dreams when they take on Dale. They enter the field as the lowest ranked team but haven proved they have upset potential last week in Area. After losing to second ranked Oklahoma Christian Academy on Friday night, they turned around and took on sixth ranked Oktaha. The Wildcats took care of buisness with a 52-47 victory to earn their trip to the Big House.
Their only starter in double figures is 6 foot 3 senior CJ Halford, who is averaging 15 points a game. He anchors a lineup of four seniors, surely wanting to extend their high school careers beyond the opening round game. Keep an eye on Dartyn Meeks off the bench. The 6 foot 3 sophomore brings a scoring punch of 12 points a game.
#8 POCOLA (21-7) VS #4 HENNESSEY (23-3)
Tuesday 9:00 AM
Pocola Spotlight
The well traveled Indians of Pocola have already made a couple trips to OKC this year. In late December, they were the only small school program battling 6A programs Mustang, Midwest City and Owasso in the Mustang Holiday Classic. Then last month they took top down fellow 2A rivals Oklahoma Christian Academy. The victory over OCA was part of an 8 game winning streak that only ended on Friday against Preston in the Area Finals. Following the 46-39 loss, Pocola got off the mat to dispatch Rejoice Christian 47-33. Earning them another trip to the 405.
Pocoloa has an exciting one-two punch of athletic junior guard Garrett Scott and athletic sophomore post Dakotah Terrell Dakotah Terrell 6'8" | C Pocola | 2025 State #335 Nation OK . Scott will be one of the fastest players to play in the Big House this week (from any classification) with fantastic end to end speed. He also can get hot from beyond the arc. Sophomore Terrell is a high motor, high upside post prospect who has flashed big time potential in previous viewings. If Terrell fully puts it together this week, he could be a game changer for the Indians as they look to make noise.
Hennesey Spotlight
There has been some good basketball being played along US highway 81 in Oklahoma. Last week Okarche appeared in the Class A State tournament, this week Kingfisher (4A), El Reno (5A) and now Hennessey will be making their own trips to the OKC metro with Gold Ball Dreams. The Eagles are soaring in the last two months, with a 12 game wining streak that cumulated with a 54-45 win over Hooker to win Area last Friday night.
Hennessey has a balanced attacked and good size for a Class 2A, which will help them match up with Pocola’s big man. Junior Jael Torres is 6 foot 5 and averages 14 points a game. Fellow junior James Sims has a team high 15 points per game. Guard Layton Choate, one of only two seniors in the starting line, chips in with 13 points a game.
#3 OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (21-8) VS #5 COLCORD (18-7)
Tuesday 12:00 PM
Oklahoma Christian Academy Spotlight
The Eagles are making the short trip from Edmond to the Big House. While they have more losses than some of the other top ranked teams, their location in the metro has allowed them to play a battle tested schedule. With almost half of thier losses coming from a combination of 4A State Tournament teams (Crossings Christian and Oklahoma Christian School) and 5A program Mount Saint Mary. In January they took down potential semifinals opponent Preston, 67-63 to claim the Morrison tournament title. To qualify for the State Tournament last Friday, OCA beat Wister 77-64.
OCA impressively have won all their playoff games by double digits. The senior trio of Ca’Ron Banks, Carson Thomas and Carter Owens is where it starts for OCA. They are the only Eagles in double figures, with Banks scoring a team high 19.5 points scoring average. Thomas is right behind him with 18 point a game, while Owens chips in with an average of 11.5 points.
Colcord Spotlight
The Hornets are another well tested team arriving in Oklahoma City, as they have a good mixture of wins against bigger towns. Including victories against 3A and 4A programs Kellyville, Westville, Adair and Vinita. In the playoffs, they navigated the Regional field with narrow wins over Warner and Fairland. Colcord suffered a setback in the Area championship against Dale, but on Saturday they responded by taking down Warner for the second straight Saturday night.
The junior duo of 16.3 points Gabe Winfield and Treyden Larmon lead the way for the Hornets. They score 16.3 points and 10.1 points respectively. Senior Kolton Jones is also in double figures with 10.1 points, and 6 foot 4 Evan Williams provides size while scoring 8.2 points per game.
#10 HOBART (23-6) VS #2 PRESTON (25-4)
Tuesday 1:30 PM
Hobert Spotlight
Hailing from southwestern Oklahoma, the highflying Bearcats have all five starters in double figures with junior Justice Johnson Justice Johnson 6'3" | CG Hobart | 2024 State OK impressively averaging 20 points a game. The only senior in their starting lineup is 6 foot 3 Ashton Norris, while sophomore Ty Harmon along with juniors Aiden Morris and Trey Eschiti round out their high scoring starting five.
After a strong regular season, they suffered a setback in the opening round of Regionals with a 62-51 loss to Fairview. Needing to five straight to make it to state, they responded with back to back double digit victories to make it out of Regionals. Then a narrow win over ranked Ketchum earned them a rematch with Fairview. The Bearcats avenged their loss from a week before with a 50-43 win. Earning them a shoot at Hooker, which Hobart won 50-40. Punching their ticket to the Big House.
Preston Spotlight
Nearly four months ago, Preston and Dale played on November 11th. With Preston taking the game to overtime, before Dale pulled away 54-46. Behind their electrifying backcourt of Jervais Goree Jervais Goree 5'8" | PG Preston | 2024 State OK and Giorgio Dunn-Spencer Giorgio Dunn-Spencer 5'8" | PG Preston | 2024 State OK , the Pirates will be looking to earn a potential rematch. Goree, already a 1,000 point scorer, is non stop action off the dribble and can fill it up from anywhere on the court. While Dunn-Spencer is a sniper from beyond the arc. They’ll give Preston the offensive firepower to compete with anybody in the field.
Preston enter the State Tournament through the winner’s bracket with two blowout victories over Mounds and Pawnee. They cruised with over 70 points in both contests. The Regional championship was a rock fight 33-30 win over Rejoice Christian. Then in Area they smoothened Pocola with another slower paced victory, 46-39. The Pirates this year have proved they can win with style, they can win ugly, can they win three more?