Top 6: Regionals at Verdigris

Thursday saw state playoffs continue across Oklahoma. The 4A group at Verdigris featured a tough match-up between Poteau (6-7) and Catoosa (5-5) which went to overtime before Poteau pulled out the 53-46 victory. In the evening game, Verdigris (15-2) defended home court against Broken Bow (18-7), securing a 56-36 win to move through. Here are the top six players who stood out on Thursday. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0288-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1614367824.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-258207 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0288-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1614367824-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>No. 6 - [player_tooltip player_id="201707" first="Jordan" last="Chancellor"] | 5-9 G | Verdigris | 2021 | <a href="https://x.com/jodontdoit">@jodontdoit</a> To be completely honest, this list was originally going to be a top-3. Then Verdigris played and the three stars that they put on the court were too deserving to not mention. So, it became your standard top-6. Chancellor is fast. Like, stupid fast. I’m not sure I’ve seen any player in Oklahoma this year that gets down the court as fast with the ball in her hands. That probably explains her track and field scholarship offer from Northwestern Oklahoma State. But, as we all know, speed isn’t everything. She also has the ability to finish at the rim. She is tough and unafraid. She can also hit the three with a nice stroke and a nice high release. She is tall and long and is a true three-level scorer. Jordan has several offers from some good schools, but has not committed yet. There is still time for you other coaches to get a good look at her. You will be glad you did. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0175-scaled-crop-1529x1004-1614367906.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-258209 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0175-scaled-crop-1529x1004-1614367906-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>No. 5 - [player_tooltip player_id="151311" first="Lexy" last="Borgstadt"] | 5-9 F | Verdigris | 2021 | <a href="https://x.com/borgstadt_lexy">@borgstadt_lexy</a> The older of the absolutely amazing Borgstadt sisters is committed to Division-II Oklahoma Christian. Head coach Stephanie Findley has to be absolutely enamored every time she sees her future Eagle do what she did yesterday. All of Lexy’s many skills were on display. She is a fierce defender with great size. She is an immovable force on the block and has tremendous hands that force a lot of steals. She has a nice shooting touch that is soft, but strong. She nailed two three-pointers and all of her foul shots en route to 18 points total. In the first half of Thursday’s game, she did the majority of her work. She came out on fire and made herself a factor. Once the defense keyed on her, she did a good job of playing off the ball and being a nuisance and distraction. Lexy is a great player and from the looks of it, she is a great leader for this very good team. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0012-scaled-crop-1527x1003-1614368199.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-258211 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0012-scaled-crop-1527x1003-1614368199-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>No. 4 - Annika Dill | 5-7 G/F | Poteau | 2024 | <a href="https://x.com/annikadill1">@annikadill1</a> Seeing a player like Dill for the first time is kind of bittersweet, to be honest. On one hand, I got to see an outstanding player who I had no idea was as good as she is. On the other, I realize that we missed a very good player who should have been in our freshman rankings and it is a shame that she didn’t get the recognition she deserved. Annika is a big player. She has great length and is a hard-nosed scorer. Her Twitter is full of softball where she has racked up all kinds of honors and it makes sense that she is a "softballer" after seeing her on the court. She goes hard and is unafraid. She can shoot the three with a nice fluid stroke. She scored from every level and made her free throws, too. She is a willing passer and can play pretty much any position on the floor with her quickness and length She can defend everywhere. Dill finished with 15 and is going to be a very exciting freshman to watch over the next several years. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0145-scaled-crop-1524x1001-1614368374.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-258213 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0145-scaled-crop-1524x1001-1614368374-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>No. 3 - [player_tooltip player_id="197958" first="Morgan" last="Borgstadt"] | 5-11 G | Verdigris | 2023 | <a href="https://x.com/BorgstadtMorgan">@BorgstadtMorgan</a> Morgan is No. 17 in the current iteration of our 2023 player rankings. Those rankings are being re-worked and there is a good chance that Borgstadt will be moving up. Her game is incredibly well-rounded and she literally can do it all. She has tremendous size for a guard and is not only tall, but well-built. She is strong. She can jump out of the gym and does a great job on defense. She gets in her opponents face and blocks an inordinate amount of shots. When she gets hot shooting it, the team can ride her to huge scoring numbers. She hit three three-pointers in a row on her way to a team-high 19 points. That is saying a lot considering how good her team is. There is no word yet on whether she is looking to follow her older sister to D-II Oklahoma Christian, but I would dare say that she may be in D-I when all is said and done. She is a very high caliber player. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0056-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1614368515.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-258216 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0056-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1614368515-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>No. 2 - Brynlee Brown | 5-7 PG | Catoosa | 2024 Much like the situation with Annika Dill, Brown was a revelation on Thursday. She is the unrivaled star for her Catoosa squad. With the ball in her hands, she is just plain deadly. She is quick and has very good vision. She is a scoring point guard, but clearly has the ability to feed her teammates when faced with a defensive situation that she can’t conquer. Those situations seem to be rare, though. She showed off an otherworldly "eurostep", that surprisingly wasn’t called a travel like refs like to do when a girl performs it rather than a guy. She is a smart defender who positions herself well and does a good job of forcing the opposing point guard to do what she wants them to. Brown scored 17 points with one three pointer and a whole lot of buckets at the rim. Brown was overlooked once, but she won’t be again. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0202-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1614368655.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-258218 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0202-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1614368655-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>No. 1 - [player_tooltip player_id="211901" first="Jaylee" last="Lopez"] | 5-6 G | Broken Bow | 2022 Lopez was "in her bag" on Thursday and she was the entire reason for her team being close at all come halftime. Of her team’s 21 points at the half against Verdigris, Jaylee had 19. She was ranked No. 68 in the 2022 rankings, mainly because there wasn’t any quality video out there and we hadn’t seen her in person. She is another player who will sky-rocket up the rankings the next time they are edited. She is a very hard worker on both ends. Another player who is a really good softball player, she definitely takes that mentality to the hardwood. She is tough inside and finishes through a lot of contact. In typical playoff style, the refs were letting the teams play and Lopez took full advantage of that fact by driving hard into the lane and using her strength to force the ball in. She does a great job of getting out in transition and allowing her bigs to sail the ball down the court to her. More importantly, she finishes when given that opportunity. Jaylee finished with 24 points, adding five more to her total in the second half despite a constant double team from the much bigger players for Verdigris. Lopez is very fun to watch and coaches should definitely take the opportunity during the next season.