Starting Five – Dec. 8th, 2021
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The basketball season is in full swing and Prep Hoops Oklahoma will continue to be your home for the best high school basketball coverage from across the state. Several writers were out at games on Tuesday and then hitting the phones on Wednesday to get all the best numbers and performances from Tuesday night’s games. In our “Starting Five” series throughout the season, we’ll take a look at five games and in particular, some of the top standouts from those games. Are we missing a standout performance? Hit us up on Twitter @PrepHoopsOK or shoot me an email at Michael@PrepHoops.com.
BOOKER T WASHINGTON 86, BIXBY 74
For the complete game story by Bryce McKinnis, check out the link above.
The first of a couple big games in the Tulsa area took place in Bixby as the Spartans hosted Booker T Washington and the visiting Hornets made quite a statement in the 86-74 victory in their first game of the season. The Hornets were led by their trio of guards with Ijai Johnson Ijai Johnson 6'1" | SG Booker T. Washington | 2022 State OK , Owasso transfer Aaron Potter Aaron Potter 6'2" | SG Owasso | 2022 State OK and Kam Parker Kam Parker 6'2" | PG Booker T Washington | 2022 State OK , who combined for 60 points. Johnson finished with a team-high 22 points, Potter had 21 and Parker chipped in with 17. As Bryce writes in his story, Parker showed plenty of grit and heart playing on Tuesday with his left hand heavily bandaged. For Bixby, junior guard Parker Friedrichsen Parker Friedrichsen 6'4" | SG Bixby | 2023 State #165 Nation OK showed why he was one of the best in Oklahoma. Despite coming up short as a team, the junior poured in a game-high 35 points in his season opener. The Hornets have the week off before playing Muskogee while Bixby plays in the Tahlequah tournament starting on Thursday.
DEL CITY 88, SHAWNEE 46
Del City had no problems with Shawnee on Tuesday nights as they went on the road and won big with a 42-point victory. The Eagles, who are one of the favorites to win Class 5A this season, looked outstanding and caused plenty of problems for the Wolves. The defense put in work on Tuesday, making things incredibly tough for Shawnee’s backcourt. And then you have junior forward Brandon Garrison Brandon Garrison 6'8" | C Evans | 2023 State #33 Nation OK , who is one the best players in the state, especially among the state’s big men. He led all scorers with 22 points and also grabbed 18 rebounds in the win. Del City head coach Lenny Hatchett talked to us today about Garrison and praised the Del City big man for the offseason he had when it came to becoming more of a leader. Before, Garrison was a role player and a quiet underclassman. Now, Garrison is ready to not only become more of a leader on his team, but become one of the more dominant players in the state. He’ll get a chance to showcase his skills this week when Del City participates in the Joe Lawson Memorial tournament in Norman.
JENKS 79, BARTLESVILLE 73 (OT)
It took overtime and steady defense but the Jenks Trojans opened up their 2021-2022 season with a win 79-73 win over Bartlesville. All eyes were on the Trojans and how they would slow down super sophomore David Castillo, one of the best 2024 prospects in the country. The Trojans contested just about everything Castillo did but the young standout still led all scorers with 41 points. Jenks head coach Clay Martin was incredibly complimentary of Castillo and even admitted, although it might have been in a joking manner that their goal was to keep him under 50. Mission accomplished. For the Trojans, they just had too much firepower for Castillo and the Bruins to keep up with and senior forward Chase Martin Chase Martin 6'5" | SG Jenks | 2022 State OK ended up registering his first career triple double in the season opener for his senior season. Martin finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. His father Clay, Jenks’ head coach, talked about how Chase is going to be almost like a swiss army knife for the Trojans and play a lot of different roles. Jenks returns to the floor on Thursday with the Tahlequah tournament and Bartlesville has some time off before traveling to Broken Arrow on December 17th.
McALESTER 83, BROKEN BOW 82
McAlester knocked off Broken Bow 83-82 in one of the more exciting games from Tuesday night. The Buffaloes needed a late shot and then a defensive stand to get out of Tuesday with the win over the Savages. 2022 guard Adante Holiman Adante Holiman 6'0" | PG McAlester | 2022 State #224 Nation OK was outstanding for the Buffaloes and showed why he’s one of the best scorers in the state, regardless of class as he dropped 40 in the win. Holiman is hungry to lead the Buffaloes into being a contender in Class 5A and having his younger brother on the squad will certainly help. Another thing that will help McAlester is their senior standout lighting up the scoreboard like he was able to do against Broken Bow.
UNION 91, SAPULPA 45
For the complete game story by Michael Knight, check out the link above.
Union returned home after opening the season against a pair of Texas teams and got their first win with a dominating 91-45 win over Sapulpa. The Redhawks absolutely blitzed the Chieftains from the start of the game and used their advantage in size and athleticism to cause problems for Sapulpa all night. Union was led by their junior star forward Trent Pierce Trent Pierce 6'6" | SF Union | 2023 State #73 Nation OK . The junior has been offered by plenty of programs all over the country after a big offseason and he certainly looked the part on Tuesday night, leading all scorers with 26 points on 8-13 shooting. Union head coach Rudy Garcia talked to us following the game and said that Pierce has the chance to be one of the great ones to come through a very successful Union program. Skill-wise, Pierce is very unique with his combination of size and skills with the basketball in his hands. Both teams have the week off before returning to the court on the 14th for road games.