Oklahoma Opening Day Round-Up
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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…
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Continue ReadingThough 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!
Note: I was at Sand Springs vs. Edmond Memorial and you can read about it HERE
Tulsa Union (1-0) opened their season with a 50-30 win over the Bartlesville Bruins (0-1). No. 25-ranked senior Aaliyah Smith Aaliyah Smith 6'0" | PF Tulsa Memorial | 2024 State OK went off and absolutely owned the paint, swatting shot after shot. Esme Smith Esme Smith 5'10" | SF Tulsa Union | 2025 State OK 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.
Bishop Kelley (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.
Glenpool (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 Aaliyah Shawnee Aaliyah Shawnee 5'8" | CG Glenpool | 2025 State OK led all scorers and put on an absolute show, from what I’ve been told. Freshman Aiyanna Gibson Aiyanna Gibson 5'3" | PG Glenpool | 2027 OK made her debut for Glenpool and finished with eight points and six assists.
After almost a year off due to injury, No. 45-ranked senior Kennedy Hight Kennedy Hight 5'7" | PG Perry | 2024 State OK was back on the court for Perry (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!
Bristow (1-0) opened with a huge 65-39 win against Sperry. Senior Addison Alexander Addison Alexander 5'4" | PG Bristow | 2024 State OK 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.
No. 22-ranked junior Emerie Adams Emerie Adams 5'10" | SF Lone Grove Schools | 2025 State OK absolutely filled up the stat sheet in the Lone Grove 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.
Much like she did in the scrimmage that I watched just before Thanksgiving, it sounds like Alex McGarrah Alex McGarrah 5'8" | CG Owasso | 2024 State OK was running the show for the Owasso 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.
Choctaw (1-0) ran away with their match-up against Southmoore (0-1) winning by a final of 79-31. Senior Shelbie Pherigo Shelbie Pherigo 5'10" | SF Choctaw | 2024 State OK led the charge as the Yellowjackets racked up the turnovers and were seemingly on the fastbreak all night from the looks of things.
The Harrah 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.
Leila Washington Leila Washington 5'10" | SF Garber | 2024 State OK was a force for Garber (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.
Holland Hall (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. Ava Casper Ava Casper 5'7" | SG Holland Hall | 2025 State OK had 19 points and was lights out from long range.
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, Fort Gibson (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, Laynee Stanley Laynee Stanley 6'0" | PF Fort Gibson | 2025 State OK was in her bag and racked up the numbers in every stat category as well as making some big time clutch three-pointers.
Another top prospect in the class of 2025, Josie Megehee Josie Megehee 5'10" | CG Bethel | 2025 State OK and the Bethel Wildcats (1-0) demolished Little Axe (0-1) by a score of 67-8. From her opening three-pointer until the last hustle steal, the Tulsa commit exerted her will on the team from Little Axe.
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!