Tournament MVP Performers (Jan. 5-7)
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It was another great tournament week all across Oklahoma and Prep Hoops Oklahoma was on hand for plenty of action throughout the state. In this post, we’re putting a spotlight on some of the notable tournament MVP’s from the various tournaments across the state. This post does not feature MVP’s from Bartlesville as they were featured already in this article! Keep it locked in to Prep Hoops Oklahoma for more tourney content! But for now, we take a look at ten players who earned MVP honors after showing out for three straight days.
We’ve mentioned quite a bit how competitive and deep Class 4A is this season and that’s going to be a theme here as Bethany sophomore Aiden Todd Aiden Todd 5’11” | CG Bethany | 2025 State OK is the first of several 4A standouts that earned MVP honors on Saturday. Todd and 4A’s #10 ranked Bronchos would beat up on 3A’s #11 Lindsay 80-50. Todd would lead all scorers with 31 points in the win and also dished out quite a few assists. Todd is having an outstanding sophomore season and is a big reason why Bethany is a team to take seriously in Class 4A. They began the week with a 20-point loss to Newcastle and ended the week as tournament champions in a big bounce back performance over the last three days. Bethany will need that momentum to carry over into their next three games. They host #8 Tuttle before traveling to face #3 Weatherford and then #1 Kingfisher, all within the next ten days.
After losing to Bethel on Tuesday night, Mount Saint Mary needed to bounce back in a big way in the Noble tournament. They would respond with the tourney title and junior star Braeden Lloyd Braeden Lloyd 6’1″ | CG Piedmont | 2024 State OK would take home tournament MVP honors. Lloyd would go off in their win on Friday night as he finished with 36 points and a very full stat line as they beat Blanchard in the tourney semifinals. Lloyd and Mount Saint Mary would hold off Perkins-Tryon in the tourney title game to finish off the week. Lloyd had a great performance throughout the week as he was doing a little bit of everything to help his team win. Offensively, it felt like he couldn’t be stopped and he could hurt defenses in a variety of ways. Mount Saint Mary is an interesting team to look out for when it comes to Class 5A. Because they are going to have one of the best players in the playoffs and that could be enough.
We got a potential state tournament preview in Stroud on Saturday as 4A’s #2 Crossings Christian knocked off #7 Oklahoma Christian School 59-57 to win the Route 66 tourney. Once again, leading the way for the Knights was sophomore guard Cal Furnish Cal Furnish 5’11” | PG Crossings Christian | 2025 State OK . The sophomore finished with 18 points in the win. The Knights captured the tourney title after a week last week in Tulsa where they played the #1 teams in Class 6A, 4A and 2A and walked away with a 2-1 record in the Tournament Of Champions. Furnish and the Knights are once again a serious contender in Class 4A and as we’ve mentioned a few times this season, get used to seeing them. With the sophomore standout leading a very young and talented Crossings Christian team, this squad is going to be in the mix for the next few seasons. Furnish continues to rack up the accolades this season.
Another Class 4A standout (we warned you) from this last week was Victory Christian junior big man Chris Mason Chris Mason 6’6″ | PF Victory Christian | 2024 State OK . The Conquerors would capture the Skiatook Invitational title by beating a much improved Cascia Hall team on Saturday night. Mason wasn’t the leading scorer on Saturday but he did finish with 16 points and averaged over 20 points per game in the three days in Skiatook. He was dominant on Friday with 26 points in a semifinal win over Berryhill. Mason has been outstanding with the Conquerors this season since moving from Union last year. Mason and the Conquerors started off the week with a loss to Holland Hall but they bounced back in a big way with their tourney win in Skiatook. Mason is a skilled big man that showcased his athleticism this week with several show-stopping dunks but he also has the ability to knock down jumpers all over the floor.
And we wrap up the Class 4A theme with perhaps the best performance from the class and that came in the Weatherford tournament as the host Eagles were dominant for three straight days and wrapped up the tourney title with a win over Tuttle, improving to 11-0 on the season. Weatherford’s star sophomore CJ Nickson CJ Nickson 6’6″ | SF Weatherford | 2025 State #309 Nation OK got the tournament off to a great start on Thursday as he poured in 41 points as the Eagles dominated Clinton. Nickson then dropped 25 in a semifinal win over Yukon before scoring 35 points in their championship win over Tuttle. Nickson and the Eagles are currently ranked #3 in Class 4A and they are definitely one of the teams that are going to be in the mix when March rolls around. If Nickson has another stretch in March like he just had in Weatherford’s tourney, the Eagles are going to be a hard team to beat.
Maybe Westmoore wasn’t the pick heading into the Putnam City Invitational but the Jaguars proved they belong in consideration with the best in Class 6A after beating Putnam City West and Norman in back to back days to capture the PCI title. Senior guard and UCO signee Evan Barber Evan Barber 6’1″ | CG Westmoore | 2023 State OK continued his claim to be one of the top shooters in the state as he helped lead the Jaguars to the tournament title. Barber absolutely exploded in the tourney after being somewhat contained, that didn’t last long. Westmoore first knocked off the host Patriots on Friday and then they got a little revenge on a Norman team that had beaten them a month ago in the Norman tourney. Barber also hit seven threes in their first round win over Putnam City. The Jaguars are gaining more and more confidence and are going to be a fun team to watch in Class 6A as we move into the second half of the regular season.
Highlights
In Class 5A, you have your usual suspects Carl Albert, Del City and Memorial. But as we’ve mentioned, this class is much deeper than we’ve seen over the last decade and one of those teams that continues to win and win big is #4 El Reno, who dominated Lawton MacArthur to capture the Anadarko tourney title. Leading the way is James Reveles Jr James Reveles Jr 6’3″ | SF El Reno | 2023 State OK who was named the tournament’s MVP on Saturday night. Reveles is one of the more underrated forwards in the state because he is undersized but when you watch him play, that doesn’t really stand out. He is an extremely physical and strong player that doesn’t play small. Reveles and the Indians are definitely a team to watch out for this year in Class 5A and they get their chance to make their claim as one of the best teams in just 48 hours. On Tuesday, they travel to Del City to take on the #3 Eagles.
Nathan Hale junior guard Kabron Lewis Kabron Lewis 6’2″ | CG Hale | 2024 State OK has firmly established himself as one of the breakout stars of this season and he’s a big reason why the Rangers are a serious contender in the Class 5A state title picture. Lewis and the Rangers were absolutely dominant in Locust Grove as they took home the tourney title. Lewis averaged well over 30 points and would drop 41 points in the title game against Inola. Nathan Hale was not truly tested this week as they won their tenth consecutive game. We have January 24th circled on our calendars already as Nathan Hale will travel to face defending champion Memorial, the only team that has beaten the Rangers this season. Lewis is a complete player and when our updated prospect rankings are released next month, we expect Lewis to rocket up the current ranks and challenge some of the better players in the state’s 2024 class.
Highlights
If you’re not taking Purcell very seriously as a 3A state championship contender, you’re making a big mistake. Sophomore guard Kobe Freeman Kobe Freeman 5’11” | PG Purcell | 2025 State OK and the Dragons capped off another tournament championship and improved to 10-0 on the season. Purcell won the Mother Road Classic in Verdigris as the Dragons beat 5A’s #12 and #10-ranked teams in back to back nights. While Freeman didn’t go off in the tourney championship game, he got his teammates very involved from the start as Coweta made defending Freeman a priority throughout the night. But Freeman’s performance throughout the three days in Verdigris was enough to earn him tournament MVP honors and the accolades for the sophomore just keep coming. After a stellar offseason of grassroots basketball, Freeman has kept that momentum going and is having an outstanding sophomore season.
5A’s #9 Edison would capture the Lincoln Christian tournament title after beating 4A’s #11 Stilwell on Saturday. Senior guard Luke Parish Luke Parish 6’2″ | SG Edison | 2023 State OK was named tournament MVP and teammate Jermiah Johnson earned All Tournament honors. That backcourt with Parish and Johnson has been outstanding so far this season for the Eagles and they could be enough to make Edison a state tournament team this season. The Eagles have now won five games in a row and their only losses this year are to 6A’s Broken Arrow and Jenks. But this is a big week for the Eagles as they’ll host East Central on Tuesday before two massive road games to wrap up the week. They go to Nathan Hale on Friday night before traveling to face rival Memorial on Saturday. That back to back stretch will certainly feel like what we’ll see when the area tournament rolls around in March.