A Closer Look: Locust Grove vs. Ft. Gibson

At "The Fort" on Tuesday night, No. 12 (4A) Locust Grove (11-4) took on No. 3 (4A) Ft. Gibson (13-2) in a rematch of the first game of the season for both teams, which Ft. Gibson won pretty handily, 65-28. In a battle of one team that prefers to play inside, versus another that can shoot the lights out from deep, it was Ft. Gibson’s bruising interior play that won the day. In the end, the Tigers walked away with a hard-fought 44-36 victory over the visiting Pirates. <strong>Offensive Player of the Game:</strong> <strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/01/DSC_0099-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1611724606.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-250170 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/01/DSC_0099-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1611724606-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>Kaitlynn Spradlin | 5-5 CG | Locust Grove | 2021</strong> Spradlin is an absolute scoring machine. In the second quarter, she had three three-pointers and another field goal to total 11 of her team’s 14 points. It was her points that kept her team in the game come halftime. She shows great handles and the ability to weave through traffic on her way to the hoop. When going against the size of Ft. Gibson proved too much, her teammates found her in the corner for smooth three’s. She is undersized, but a D-II, D-III, NAIA or JuCo coach who needs a tremendous scoring guard who isn’t going to give the ball away needs to check out her Hudl or get to Locust Grove. Spradlin finished the night with a total of 19 points. <strong>Defensive Player of the Game:</strong> <strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/01/DSC_0245-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1611724722.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-250172 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/01/DSC_0245-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1611724722-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>Reese Webb | 6-1 F | Ft. Gibson | 2021</strong> To be honest, I’ve never done both an offensive and defensive player of the game. Sometimes a performance warrants changing things up a bit, though. Webb totaled nine rebounds, a block and four points - all from the line - in a game that was low scoring and could not have possibly been won without winning the battle on the boards. I saw Ft. Gibson earlier this year and Webb was not in the game. I can definitely say that she is a game-changer for the Tigers. She is strong and ferocious on the defensive end. She is a great rebounder, obviously, and is very good at using her size to force position on the block. She can shoot the three and has made them regularly in previous games. She went to the line twice and sank all four shots. It is unclear if Webb is committed anywhere, but if not, you would be missing out if you do not take a look coaches! <strong>Other Standouts:</strong> <strong><img class="size-medium wp-image-250173 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/01/DSC_0109-1-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" />[player_tooltip player_id="241011" first="Gracy" last="Shieldnight"] | 5-11 PF | Ft. Gibson | 2024 | <a href="https://x.com/GShieldnight">@GShieldnight</a></strong> After making her debut in the 2024 player rankings at No. 9, Shieldnight went out and showed exactly why she is the No. 1-ranked power forward in the class. Gracy has become a lot better at working inside and as she learns to use her size and strength more, the scoring comes with it. She has tremendous touch for a "big" from almost anywhere and is great at turning and shooting a nice, fluid jumper from the side of the basket. On a very talented team, it is obvious that Shieldnight is the go-to. The talented lefty has improved dramatically since I saw her previously and I can only imagine where she could end up when all is said and done. She is currently projected as a midlevel D-I player and she could completely end up at a "Power-5" school should she continue to get better. On the night, Shieldnight had 14 points, six rebounds and a block. <strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/01/DSC_0134-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1611725196.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-250176 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/01/DSC_0134-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1611725196-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>[player_tooltip player_id="211919" first="Peytin" last="Gilman"] | 5-10 F | Locust Grove | 2022 | <a href="https://x.com/GilmanPeytin">@GilmanPeytin</a></strong> Gilman is another player that seems to improve every time I see her. On Tuesday night she drew the unenviable task of guarding 6-2 Lexie Foutch, Ft. Gibson’s senior star. Foutch ended the night with only one field goal. Gilman is a very good defender with quick hands who uses her high basketball IQ to read and react to the offense’s plan. She forced several steals, came down with two rebounds and ended up with seven points. Six of her seven were from long range where she uses her length to release the ball high - virtually unblockable. Gilman is a very good player in a very strong recruiting class, but she definitely deserves a look. I mean, what coach doesn’t love lockdown defense? <strong>All Scorers</strong> <strong>Locust Grove:</strong> Kaitlynn Spradlin - 19, [player_tooltip player_id="211919" first="Peytin" last="Gilman"] - 7, Tierra Williams - 4, Madison Hunt - 3, Bailey Wiggins - 2 <strong>Fort Gibson:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="241011" first="Gracy" last="Shieldnight"] - 14, Kynzi London - 8, Feather Two Shields - 6, Lexie Foutch - 4, [player_tooltip player_id="201710" first="Jordan" last="Gann"] - 4, Reese Webb - 4, Jenna Whiteley - 3