4A State Tournament Preview
With the high school basketball season coming to an end, the final eight teams have assembled in the 4A state tournament to knock off the defending champion Heritage Hall Chargers to take home the Gold Ball. Below is a breakdown…
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Continue ReadingWith the high school basketball season coming to an end, the final eight teams have assembled in the 4A state tournament to knock off the defending champion Heritage Hall Chargers to take home the Gold Ball.
Below is a breakdown of what to expect in the first round of the state tournament.
Kingfisher vs. Elgin: Thursday, 8:30 P. M. @ Fairgrounds.
Matchup: Elgin is a talented team and has only improved this season. They could easily be a dark horse in this tournament but they have to first catch Kingfisher slipping. Kingfisher rarely lets that happen though, at (25-1) their only slip up was at Booker T. Washington early in the season.
Kingfisher: Kingfisher has a group of four that account for the most lethal starting five in class 4A. If you’re an NBA fan, they’ll remind you of the Denver Nuggets of this season; talented, young and athletic.
Elgin: Elgin has some impressive wins this season: Lawton MacArthur, Star Spencer, Anadarko and most recently at the end of the regular season, El Reno. Elgin’s losses aren’t bad losses by any means: MacArthur, Anadarko, Kingston, and Heritage Hall in the area tournament. WHat’s most impressive is that most of their losses came early and most of their impressive wins coming late in the season. They went (14-0) from New Years to the last game of the regular season. Elgin could be the team to upset Kingfisher.
Anadarko vs. Holland Hall: Thursday, 3:30 P. M. @ Fairgrounds.
Matchup: Anadarko always seems to be here but Holland Hall is an intriguing matchup for them. One team ended their regular season on the rocks, and the other ended strong.
Anadarko: They ended their regular season with some bad losses, including a loss to unranked Bethany in the regional tournament but avenged that loss in Area, to get into the state tournament. As a team, they play with a ton of energy, usually generated on the defensive end. Whether they do that or not will determine their fate in this first round matchup.
Holland Hall: Coming from the Tulsa area, Holland Hall has played against some of the best schools in the state from any class. With that being said, five of their six losses come from quality basketball teams. The only questionable loss they have was against Bishop McGuinness.
John Marshall vs. Central (Tulsa): Thursday, 2:00 P. M. @ Fairgrounds.
Matchup: Both John Marshall and Central are talented, athletic teams and their first-round matchup early on Thursday may be the most exciting of the opening round.
John Marshall: The Bears are the third best team in the class and have the third-best odds to take home the state title. They are undoubtedly the most athletic team in the state tournament.
Central: Also coming from the Tulsa area, Central has faced some of the best teams in the state from every class but just like John Marshall, have some impressive wins on the resume. This is by far the most intriguing matchup of the opening round.
Broken Bow vs. Heritage Hall: Thursday, 7:00 P. M. @ Fairgrounds.
Matchup: Broken Bow is one of the surprises of the tournament and Heritage Hall is the defending champion and on paper, this looks like a lopsided matchup but it’s definitely not that.
Broken Bow: With a (24-4) record on the season, you may wonder why Broken Bow was the 10th ranked team in 4A at the end of the regular season. Their strength of schedule was tough, but most of the times they were given a chance to make a statement, they lost. That has changed as they’ve gotten hot in the playoffs.
Heritage Hall: After playing a relatively challenging regular season schedule, Heritage Hall is undefeated at (26-0). Everyone knows what Trey Alexander brings to the table but their success relies on key role players, Smitherman, McDonald, Spanier, and Swindle to maintain their supportive roles for the Chargers to defend their title.