Battle In The Sunflower: 15U Undefeated Spotlight
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We had one more tune up tournament before the circuit finals this weekend in St. Louis. We were up in Wichita for the Battle In The Sunflower tourney and my focus all weekend was on the 15U division. That division…
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Continue ReadingWe had one more tune up tournament before the circuit finals this weekend in St. Louis. We were up in Wichita for the Battle In The Sunflower tourney and my focus all weekend was on the 15U division. That division was absolutely loaded and featured some really strong teams, especially from the state of Oklahoma. In fact, the two best teams (record-wise) were both from Oklahoma. Oklahoma Fusion and Tulsa JYD were the only 15U teams that finished with a perfect 4-0 record from the showcase event. In this spotlight, we take a look at both teams and the weekend that each had.
Oklahoma Fusion (4-0)
Game 1: Won 72-60
Game 2: Won 53-33
Game 3: Won 64-24
Game 4: Won 56-31
After watching both teams throughout the weekend and looking at the stats that each team put up, it’s hard not to say that the Oklahoma Fusion had the best weekend and came out of the tourney as the best team. They won their opening game by 12 points and it was blowout city after that. After giving up 60 in their first outing, Oklahoma Fusion gave up just 88 points combined in the next three games. They won all three games by at least 20 points.
The Fusion had several players that put up impressive numbers throughout the weekend when they were blowing out team after team. However, the most consistent player from start to finish, and their leading scorer was Annaston Brown, who scored in double figures in all four games. She finished the tournament as their leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game and knocking down 12 three pointers throughout the weekend. She hit multiple three pointers in every game and her best outing came in their closest game of the tournament. She scored 18 points in their tourney opening win and stayed in double figures throughout.
Brown is a 2024 prospect out of Tahlequah Sequoyah and the future is certainly bright for Sequoyah with Brown as an up and comer. She showed an excellent job throughout the weekend as being a legitimate inside/outside threat. She can clearly shoot the ball, knocking down double digit three pointers in the four games. She also has really nice touch inside the paint and knows how to take advantage of defenses.
Tulsa JYD (4-0)
Game 1: Won 62-51
Game 2: Won 51-45
Game 3: Won 52-28
Game 4: Won 41-35
The other unbeaten team was the Tulsa Junkyard Dogs organization. They had an impressive weekend as well, just not as dominant as the Oklahoma Fusion. However, they were very entertaining to watch and they played in one of the better games of the weekend. After starting the tournament 3-0, they would face off with Della Lamb in the final game and Della Lamb came into the game 3-0 as well. It was back and forth throughout but it was Tulsa JYD finishing off the weekend 3-0 with a 41-35 victory.
In that game, their point guard Addison Mootry Addison Mootry 5'5" | CG Inola | 2024 State OK could not miss from beyond the arc and led them to the win, scoring 15 points in the victory. All 15 points came from three pointers as she knocked down five in the win. Mootry showcased her skills as a shooter on Sunday for sure. In addition to the five three-pointers in the fourth game, she made four three-pointers in their third game of the tourney. All in all, Mootry led the team in scoring, averaging 12 points per game.
Combining with Mootry was forward Makenna Yokley Makenna Yokley 6'1" | PF Owasso | 2024 State OK . That 1-2 punch was very difficult for teams to stop or even slow down. They got out to a fast start to the tourney as well. In their first game, both Yokley and Mootry would score 15 points each. Yokley would finish the tournament averaging just under 10 points per game. However, she brought much more than scoring to the table. She was a defensive force and a rebounding machine for Tulsa JYD throughout the tourney.