Storyline: 6A sleeper Southmoore accomplished but unfinished
Southmoore High School has been a topic of interest since the earlier-season announcement that the eleventh-ranked Sabercats would head to the East side of the state in the 6A regional playoff bracket. Southmoore won last night in a 64-58 win…
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Continue ReadingSouthmoore High School has been a topic of interest since the earlier-season announcement that the eleventh-ranked Sabercats would head to the East side of the state in the 6A regional playoff bracket.
Southmoore won last night in a 64-58 win over crosstown rival Westmoore in the second Southwest Showdown of the season.
With that win, the Cats claimed their first Moore City Championship since 2013, according to the SHS coaching staff.
Led by Head Coach Tim Stogsdill, the Sabercats have amassed a 16-7 record headed into the state playoffs and are primed for a playoff run, but I believe Southmoore’s case could be better than most may realize.
The Cats have posted a few impressive wins; No. 7 Norman North, No. 9 Putnam City, and 5A No. 7 Carl Albert are just a few of those. All of the Sabercats’ seven losses came to ranked opponents, four of which were ranked in the top three at the time they played.
“I feel like we’ve come a long way,” said Southmoore point guard and leading scorer Jordan Thompson. “At the beginning of the season. . . we lost those two first games to (Edmond) Memorial and Deer Creek and we just kind of built and built.”
Growth has been the most impressive aspect of this team so far. I have watched them three times: in a loss in their first game of the year to Edmond Memorial, in a win over Norman a few weeks ago, and a win against Westmoore last night.
The Sabercats just seem to keep getting better each night. They have gone from being a group of talented individuals to a basketball machine hosting a pool of cohesion and complimentary skills in just a matter of weeks.
But even despite wining eight of their last 10 games, the Cats aren’t satisfied yet.
“We’ve had a good regular season, but that’s all in the past,” said Head Coach Tim Stogsdill, who will lead Southmoore in the first round of the 6A playoffs against Broken Arrow.
“We’ve gotta have good practices this week preparing for Broken Arrow,” Thompson said..
Southmoore defeated Broken Arrow on Jan. 25, but that doesn’t ensure a victory, the SaberCats said.
“We’ve gotta come to practice every day. That’s going to have a big impact,” said junior shooting guard Darrin Ryan.
“The bottom line is. . . we’ve got five days to lock in,” Stogsdill said. “It’s a new season.”
Tip-off for the first-round matchup between Broken Arrow and Southmoore is slated for Friday, Feb. 25 – exactly a month after their first matchup – at 6:30 p.m. at Charles Page High School in Sand Springs, Okla.