Oklahoma Opening Day Round-Up

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Though it's been a couple of days now and though every team didn't really play on Tuesday and though all of the smaller schools had already been playing for a while now, I'm still gonna call Tuesday, November 28th "Opening Day" for Girls Basketball for the 2023-24 season. Why? Because I can. No, just kidding. Because it was the first night where we had so many teams from so many different classes playing their first game of the season. The same thing will happen again tomorrow night and we'll probably do this all over again. Here's how it went and what prospects stood out!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Note:</strong> I was at Sand Springs vs. Edmond Memorial and you can read about it <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2023/11/game-report-sand-springs-vs-edmond-memorial/">HERE</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tulsa Union</strong> (1-0) opened their season with a 50-30 win over the Bartlesville Bruins (0-1). No. 25-ranked senior [player_tooltip player_id='249261' first='Aaliyah' last='Smith'] went off and <a href="https://x.com/WorldOfHighlig3/status/1729899810939904427?s=20">absolutely owned the paint</a>, swatting shot after shot. [player_tooltip player_id='315232' first='Esme' last='Smith'] shot the lights out and the Redhawks looks like a formidable team in 6A once again as they head down to Texas for the She Got Game Classic this weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bishop Kelley</strong> (1-0) defeated Pryor (0-1) by a final score of 42-29. Junior Anne Blankenship led the Comets with 11 points and senior Allie Strandmark had eight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Glenpool </strong>(1-0) jumped out to a 46-23 halftime lead over visiting Bishop McGuinness (0-1) and never looked back, going on to win by a final of 72-40. No. 19-ranked [player_tooltip player_id='315199' first='Aaliyah' last='Shawnee'] led all scorers and <a href="https://x.com/jaydenCshawnee/status/1729716457469006011?s=20">put on an absolute show</a>, from what I've been told. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='606265' first='Aiyanna' last='Gibson'] made her debut for Glenpool and finished with eight points and six assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After almost a year off due to injury, No. 45-ranked senior [player_tooltip player_id='364952' first='Kennedy' last='Hight'] was back on the court for <strong>Perry</strong> (1-0) and absolutely lit it up. The NWOSU commit had 32 points to lead the Maroons to a 58-40 victory over the other Maroons from Blackwell (0-1) on opening night!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bristow</strong> (1-0) opened with a huge 65-39 win against Sperry. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='331874' first='Addison' last='Alexander'] tied her school record nine assists. It was the third time she's done it and I would fully expect there to be a 10-spot coming this season. I should also add that Addi is uncommitted as far as I know and you're going to want to see this Bristow team play. They've got some prospects.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No. 22-ranked junior [player_tooltip player_id='315193' first='Emerie' last='Adams'] absolutely filled up the stat sheet in the <strong>Lone Grove</strong> Longhorns' (1-0) 44-39 victory over Byng (0-1). Adams had a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards. The uncommitted player is a borderline Division-I prospect and some college coach is going to get a steal with this tremendously talented athlete.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Much like she did in the scrimmage that I watched just before Thanksgiving, it sounds like [player_tooltip player_id='238727' first='Alex' last='McGarrah'] was running the show for the <strong>Owasso</strong> Rams (1-0) in their big opening night win over Enid (0-1). She had 15 points, but really made her money with defense and racked up the assists. Alex is uncommitted. Freshman Madi Hill made her debut with a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":814948,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/11/DSC_0204-crop-4813x3161-1701372113.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-814948" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Choctaw </strong>(1-0) ran away with their match-up against Southmoore (0-1) winning by a final of 79-31. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='633851' first='Shelbie' last='Pherigo'] led the charge as the Yellowjackets racked up the turnovers and were seemingly on the fastbreak all night <a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/games/11-28-2023/girls-basketball-23-24/choctaw-vs-southmoore.htm?c=9ZDMjisl8UeiiybAfSsHKQ#tab=recap&amp;schoolid=">from the looks of things</a>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The <strong>Harrah</strong> Panthers (1-0) defeated Crooked Oak (0-1) 64-52 on the back of some outstanding defense. Junior Ashley Hamm ended the game with seven rebounds and five steals. She is a very hardworker on both ends and I am looking forward to seeing this whole Harrah squad in person sometime soon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='558423' first='Leila' last='Washington'] was a force for <strong>Garber</strong> (1-0) as they took down Drummond, 54-36. She owned the paint and racked up the rebounds and a few awesome blocks. Leila has great size and gets up and down the court very well. The No. 20-ranked senior in Oklahoma had a really good opening night for the Wolverines.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Holland Hall</strong> (1-0) opened with a nice win over the Edison Eagles (0-1), 48-31. As a team, the Dutch racked up a whopping 19 steals. [player_tooltip player_id='357390' first='Ava' last='Casper'] had 19 points and was <a href="https://x.com/AvaCasper0/status/1729968969254109452?s=20">lights out from long range</a>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In one of the most evenly matched games of the night and one that I am going to HAVE to be at the rematch of, <strong>Fort Gibson</strong> (1-0) defeated Locust Grove (0-1) by a final of 51-49 in one of the most hotly contested match-ups of the night. No. 12-ranked prospect in the loaded 2025 class, [player_tooltip player_id='310154' first='Laynee' last='Stanley'] was in her bag and<a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/games/11-28-2023/girls-basketball-23-24/fort-gibson-vs-locust-grove.htm?c=p6QbmdLSqEajDT2FXuHmOQ#tab=videos&amp;schoolid="> racked up the numbers </a>in every stat category as well as making some big time clutch three-pointers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another top prospect in the class of 2025, [player_tooltip player_id='331864' first='Josie' last='Megehee'] and the <strong>Bethel </strong>Wildcats (1-0) demolished Little Axe (0-1) by a score of 67-8. From her <a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/games/11-28-2023/girls-basketball-23-24/bethel-vs-little-axe.htm?c=hHo-ZQG6t0uRb-l9nYdrnw#tab=videos&amp;schoolid=">opening three-pointer</a> until the last hustle steal, the Tulsa commit exerted her will on the team from Little Axe.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I know that I didn't get to everyone. A lot of that has to do with not getting to see any video online or there just being too many games on one night. I will try to do better in the future. You can help by telling your coaches to upload video to MaxPreps, Hudl, and Twitter. Thanks!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->