Oklahoma HS shot clock debate in focus after 4-2 basketball game (yes, that was the score)
The tweet reads: “Eagles win the offensive shootout against Anadarko.” The graphic in the post shows boys basketball players and a final score of 4-2.
For a moment, you think the graphic editor made a mistake before blasting out the tweet. Either the sport is wrong or the score is wrong. Then you re-read the photo caption and you realize the line is a joke and that the 4-2 score is, in fact, the score of a basketball game.
Twenty-seven days after the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association voted against implementing a shot clock, the Weatherford (Okla.) High School boys basketball team outlasted the Anadarko (Okla.) High School’s team in perhaps the lowest scoring game in the nation this season.
A sped-up video shows the affair, with Anadarko spending the majority of the time holding the ball.
This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Oklahoma needs a shot clock man. Hurts the game, hurts the KIDS. pic.twitter.com/6Y1C3M4KBN
— Derek Murray (@DMurrayHoops) February 8, 2023
At the end of the first quarter: The score was tied at zero. By halftime, Weatherford had taken a 2-0 lead after a pair of free throws made by sophomore C.J. Nickson with about 7:30 to play in the second quarter, according to MaxPreps. Zero field goals were made in the first half.
In the third quarter, Weatherford broke open the game by taking a 4-0 lead on what looks to be the first possession of the half. Anadarko held the ball for most or all of the rest of the quarter and did not increase its urgency to score in the fourth quarter, continuing to play keep-away. The only time the Warriors scored was on a fast break with about 2:30 to play.
According to MaxPreps, both teams attempted four shots. Three of the Anadarko shots were 3-point attempts. Weatherford had just one rebound, and Nickson scored all four points for the Eagles.
Twitter’s reaction was not unanimous: Some people said that this was proof the state needs a shot clock, while others argued that the two-win Anadarko team was simply implementing the best strategy it could to take down the now-19-1 Weatherford team. Isn’t the point to win? Or is it to challenge the athletes to develop?
On Jan. 11, a motion that would have implemented a shot clock beginning in the 2024-25 season from Classes 3A to 6A in Oklahoma was denied, according to KOCO.
The debate will rage on.
