What we learned from Thursday's high school basketball tournaments in OKC metro area
Thursday kicked off another big high school basketball tournament week across the Oklahoma City area.
Here's a roundup Thursday's action:
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Bruce Gray Invitational
Boys: Midwest City 67, McGuinness 50
Nothing was between the basket and Jacobi Sebock.
He received a pass while driving to the basket, rose up and powered home a rim-rocking dunk. The play brought a loud cheer from his Midwest City teammates on the floor and on the bench.
5A ninth-ranked Midwest City used a big fourth quarter to pull away and top No. 7 McGuinness 67-50 in the quarterfinals of the Bruce Gray Invitational at Deer Creek. Sebock scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and 23 in the game, and the Bombers held off every McGuinness run to win comfortably.
Kevion Hudson added 13 points and Bryan Williams scored 10 for the Bombers (8-6 overall), which outscored McGuinness by 16 points in the second and fourth quarters combined.
Graham Tawwater scored 17 points for McGuinness (10-5), which struggled with the Bomber press at times. When the Fighting Irish turned the ball over, Midwest City capitalized every time.
Midwest City will face Deer Creek at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Girls: Stillwater 53, Heritage Hall 33
Janiyah Williams never took her eyes off the basket.
Stillwater’s dynamic freshman sliced her way through Heritage Hall’s defense and finished off the layup while getting fouled. It was a big basket for her in the middle of a first-quarter scoring outburst that helped the Pioneers pull away early.
Class 6A 17th-ranked Stillwater took control early in its 53-33 win against Heritage Hall, and Williams was a big reason why. She scored nine points in the opening quarter and finished with 18. In the first half, she alone outscored the Chargers 14-9.
Aspen Clarkson and Jayden Mason each added nine points for Stillwater (9-9), which led by 20 at half.
For Heritage Hall, freshmen guards Reagan Fowler (10) and Marly Moore (9) led them in scoring, and both played better as the game progressed. Willow Brimmett added eight points.
Stillwater will play Deer Creek at 5 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Prep parade: Here’s what Oklahoma high school basketball coaches think about adding a shot clock
Cashion County Line
Boys: Clinton 63, Bethel 48
It was a tale of two halves for Clinton.
In the first half the Red Tornadoes boys basketball team couldn’t find any offensive rhythm. In the second, they couldn’t be stopped.
4A 20th-ranked Clinton used a huge second half to top 3A No. 15 Bethel 63-48 in the quarterfinals of the Cashion County Line. Star guard Caden Powell tallied 23 points, Jackson Crumley added 20 and Clinton outscored Bethel by 28 after halftime to pull away.
In the first half, Bethel’s D.J. Whitten was unstoppable. He scored 15 points while Clinton as a team managed only 17, with Powell collecting nine of those. Yet after halftime, Clinton (9-3) locked down on defense and hardly allowed Whitten to possess the ball. He finished with 17 points.
Bethel scored only 18 points after half. Clinton, meanwhile, scored 22 and 24 per quarter after the break.
The Red Tornadoes face Dale at 8:20 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Cashion 44, Perry 38
Cashion stepped up at the free-throw line when it mattered.
The 2A second-ranked Wildcats held off Perry 44-38 in the final quarterfinal game of the Cashion County Line tournament Thursday night, and it did so because of a late free throw barrage. At one point, Cashion was 2-of-7 at the stripe before finishing making five straight to close the game.
Austin Frazier made a pair. So did Vance Raney. Landon Lagasse also added a make. Those three were pivotal as Cashion (10-3 overall), which led by 12 entering the final frame, held off Perry's late charge.
The Maroons (8-5) got within two before Cashion closed the game out at the stripe. Bryson Cash led all scorers with 19 points. Lagasse had 10 for Cashion while Frazier and Nick Nabavi added 9 points. Raney also added 8.
Cashion will face 3A No. 1 OCS in the semifinals at 5:40 p.m. Friday.
John Nobles Invitational
Boys: Westmoore 61, Millwood 57
Evan Barber crossed over to his left before dribbling hard toward the basket.
The junior guard at Westmoore then crossed over and stepped back, creating separation from Millwood’s Rickey Hunt. Barber pulled up and poured in the game-winning basket.
Barber was phenomenal for 6A No. 16 Westmoore in its 61-57 win against 3A No. 3 Millwood in the quarterfinals of the John Nobles Invitational at Moore. He scored 24 points, but none were more pivotal than his basket with 5 seconds left to lift the Jaguars to victory.
Barber scored 24 points to lead all players. He had 13 in the second, including a trio of 3s, and finished with five made from beyond the arc in the game.
Westmoore (8-6) led by double digits in the fourth quarter, but Millwood’s Kobe Law hit an and-1 bucket that started a furious comeback. The Falcons tied it at 57 after Hunt made two free throws, but Barber’s shot was enough to capture victory.
Hunt led Millwood (10-5) with 19 points. Law added 13 and star freshman Jaden Nickens poured in 12.
Zach Hays scored 18 points for Westmoore.
The Jaguars will face the winner between Moore and Putnam City at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Girls: Choctaw 59, Norman North 35
Possession after possession, Choctaw continued finding an open shooter.
With each possession resulted another made 3-pointer. By the time the end of the first quarter came, Choctaw had knocked down six.
The 6A second-ranked Yellowjackets down Norman North 59-35 in the opening round of the John Nobles Invitational on Thursday at Moore. Choctaw gained a 25-4 lead after the first quarter and did it behind stellar shooting and great defense.
The Yellowjackets (11-0 overall) only made one 3 after the first quarter, but its lead was one Norman North couldn't overcome. Jazmin Adams led Choctaw with 11 points, but Carley Gasaway and Hannah Smith each added 10 points. Raven Jackson, who hit a trio of 3s, scored nine points.
Avery Robins led Norman North (2-10) with 12 points while Hannah Fields tallied 11. The Timberwolves settled in after a shaky first quarter, but Choctaw's lead was too large to overcome.
The Yellowjackets will face the winner between Broken Arrow and Midwest City at 4 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Prep parade: Here’s what Oklahoma high school basketball coaches think about adding a shot clock
Jones Kiwanis Invitational
Girls: Tuttle 72, John Marshall 24
Madi Surber just couldn’t be slowed down.
The senior from Tuttle routinely found herself under the rim after blowing by John Marshall defenders and it paid off for the Tigers.
With Surber leading the way, Tuttle throttled John Marshall 72-24 in the first round of the Jones Kiwanis Invitational Thursday morning. Tuttle used its speed and height to dominate in the paint scoring 60 of its 72 points in the lane. The Tigers put in just four 3-point baskets in the route.
The Class 4A defending state champions outscored John Marshall 32-7 in the first quarter and was able to coast to an easy victory from there. Surber turned in a game-high 18 points with Landry Allen (10) and Teague (8) assisting her.
Top-ranked Tuttle remains undefeated against Oklahoma teams, its only loss coming from Glenwood in the Arkansas Tournament of Champions early in December.
Girls: Locust Grove 55, Lindsay 27
Bailey Wiggins tallied another steal in the third quarter which led to a quick Locust Grove layup.
Turnovers and a dominant third quarter were the difference in the first-round matchup as Locust Grove turned over Lindsay nearly 20 times to taketh 55-27 win. Locust Grove’s defense held Lindsay to just one point in the third quarter, which allowed its starters to rest in the fourth quarter.
Tierra Williams led all scorers with 11 points, followed by Wiggins (10) and Peytin Gilman (7).
Girls: Bethany 62, Woodward 60
Avery Marchino just snuck behind the Woodward defense once again.
Marchino had just scored the go-ahead bucket on a wide-open layup the possession before but after a pair of Woodward free throws the game was tied again.
It gave her another opportunity.
Marchino waited ran under the rim as the Woodward defense focused on Southeastern Oklahoma State commit Lauryn Scalice at the 3-point line. Scalice saw the sophomore and dumped the ball off to Marchino who laid it up for the easy basket.
Bethany went the full court in eight seconds to take down Woodward 62-60 on a buzzer beater.
Bethany had full control of the game from the tip to the third quarter thanks to Scalice and ESPN Top 25 freshman point guard Keziah Lofton.
Lofton tiptoed around her defender on the sideline until she could see an open lane and would Scalice at the top of the 3-point line. Scalice knocked down the 3-pointer to give Bethany a 10-point lead early in the second half. But from there it was all Woodward, which went on a 24-10 run in the fourth quarter led by junior Thessaly Pfeifer who finished with a game-high 31 points to force Bethany to win in the final second.
Lofton finished with 22 points while Scalice turned in 17.
Boys: Tuttle 58, Locust Grove 32
Isaac McDoulett saw the pass coming and took action.
The 6-foot-5 senior from Tuttle reached his hand out and tipped the pass to himself as he sprinted down the floor. McDoulett rose and slammed home a two-handed dunk — which hadn’t been a rare occurrence Thursday afternoon.
McDoulett scored 26 points as Tuttle bested Locust Grove 58-32.
Tuttle dominated from the beginning only being slowed down in the second quarter where it scored just eight points. But with McDoulett leading the way the Tigers expanded their lead in the fourth quarter. Garrett Redwine scored 10 along with a made and-1 basket before the halftime buzzer and Tylor McCarthey also turned in 10 points.
Cameron Jourdan and James D. Jackson, Staff writers
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What we learned from Thursday's high school tournaments in OKC metro
