On The Road For The Holidays
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Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The last week of December is headlined by holiday tournaments in Oklahoma. The mainstay for years has been the Tournament Of Champions in Tulsa. More recently,…
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The last week of December is headlined by holiday tournaments in Oklahoma. The mainstay for years has been the Tournament Of Champions in Tulsa. More recently, Mustang has began running a holiday tournament and it has gotten quite the response in it’s early stages. However, for Booker T Washington, Broken Arrow and Putnam City West, these 6A squads decided to hit the road for the holidays. With all three teams heading out of state to participate in tournaments and other showcase events. All three teams not only represented Oklahoma incredibly well, they went a combined 8-1 over the holiday break. We caught up with all three teams to see how it went.
BOOKER T WASHINGTON HORNETS (4-0)
Beat Columbia Rock Bridge 65-54
Beat Richmond 85-50
Booker T Washington participated in the inagural “12 Courts Of Christmas” event in the Kansas City area over the holiday break and would go 2-0 in their showcase games. Holland Hall would also participate in the event and went 1-1. The Hornets would knock off Columbia Rock Bridge 65-54 and then run away from Richmond in an 85-50 blowout.
In their first game against Rock Bridge, the Hornets were led by senior guard Aaron Potter Aaron Potter 6'2" | SG Owasso | 2022 State OK , who led the Hornets with 27 points in the win. Booker T Washington has one of the best backcourts in the state and a few players who can absolutely fill it up on any given night. However, in their showcase opener, it was Potter who led the way.
Things did not go well at the start of their second game against Richmond. Booker T Washington would go down 19-3 before making a run by the end of the first half. It’s easy to suggest that the Hornets flipped the switch when you consider they were down 19-3 and would go on to win by 35 points. The Hornets would start chipping away throughout the first half and would only trail 33-30 by halftime. In the second half, it was all Booker T Washington as they dominated the final two quarters in Kansas City.
Booker T Washington takes the floor at home on Tuesday night against Sand Springs. Later this week, they’ll travel up to Bartlesville for what should be arguably the best tournament on the east side of the state this week.
BROKEN ARROW TIGERS (5-2)
Beat Desert Vista 75-54
Beat Red Mountain 91-48
Beat Chaparral 62-39
Lost To Perry 64-63 (OT)
Out of the three teams featured here, Broken Arrow certainly traveled the furthest as they flew out to Arizona and participated in the Vista Mesa Challenge in the Phoenix area. In fact, they arrived to Arizona late after flight delays on Sunday led them to fly out on Monday. After touching down shortly after 4PM, the Tigers took the court at 7PM and would go on to win that game by 21 points. Broken Arrow would finish up the showcase event at 3-1 with their only loss coming on the final day to Arizona powerhouse Perry in overtime.
Head coach Beau Wallace mentioned about Perry that he hadn’t faced a team that had that many high profile recruits at any point of his career. And his Tigers pushed them to the brink, falling in overtime. Wallace was very excited about what’s ahead for the Tigers after playing such tough competition and coming together as a team against good teams and some travel adversity.
Leading the way for Broken Arrow was star senior Anthony Allen Anthony Allen 6'5" | SF Broken Arrow | 2022 State OK and sharpshooter Connor Dow. Allen averaged 15 points per game and would score 21 points in one of the contests. The highlight of the week came in the final game when Allen soared through the air for a dunk over a 7-foot defender who’s committed to Arizona. Dow showed off his shooting abilities throughout the week and ended up leading the Tigers in scoring in Arizona, averaging 17.5 points per game. He dropped 26 points in one of their games and would knock down six three-pointers and seven three-pointers respectively.
The Tigers return to the floor on Tuesday night against Bixby. Prep Hoops Oklahoma will be in the house to see how the Tigers look following their Arizona getaway. It should be a good one as they look to slow down the Spartans and one of the top juniors in the state in Parker Friedrichsen Parker Friedrichsen 6'4" | SG Bixby | 2023 State #165 Nation OK .
PUTNAM CITY WEST PATRIOTS (9-1)
Won The Coke Classic In Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Beat Bryant 68-54
Beat Southside 74-62
Beat Northside 73-59
Putnam City West head coach Lenny Bert makes a point to take his team out of state every season. That’s been the case since 2012 and this year was no exception as they went east to Fort Smith, Arkansas and won the Coke Classic, knocking off three Arkansas teams by double digits to bring home the tournament title. After falling to Memorial in the Norman tournament title game earlier in December, the Patriots were happy to be coming back to Oklahoma with some hardware.
After leading the tourney title game by one point following the first quarter, Putnam City West would open things up in the second period behind the three-pointer. Bert mentioned that his team hadn’t been shooting the deep ball well but that was not the case as they ran away from Fort Smith Northside in the title game. Sophomore guard Jordan Warrior Jordan Warrior 6'0" | CG Putnam City West | 2024 State OK would end up taking home tournament MVP honors. The Patriots have some youth to go along with a few seniors in their starting lineup.
In addition to Warrior, the Patriots also start a freshman in Carlsheon Young, who finished with 15 points in the tournament championship game. On the season, their leading scorer is junior guard Orian Scales, averaging just over 16 points per game. In the latest coaches rankings in Class 6A, Putnam City West jumped up into a tie with Jenks for #2 behind Edmond Memorial at 1.
The Patriots hit the road on Tuesday night, facing a strong Choctaw team. Prep Hoops Oklahoma will be on hand for that one as well.