ToC Title Game Top Performers

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Friday night championship game featured one of the top 6A girls programs, Edmond Memorial against the third ranked Class 4A program Lincoln Christian. In the battle of the Bulldogs, Edmond's versatile and strong defense would stymie Lincoln with a 13-3 edge in the first frame. Memorial would carry that defensive momentum into the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lincoln spent the second half slowly chopping away at the lead. And they were finally able to gain traction in the fourth quarter and made it a nail bitter down the stretch,. But despite bending, Memorial would never break. Leading wire to wire and holding on for a 47-45 win to claim the Tournament of Champions. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["309983"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"It was not Williams' night as a scorer, but the athletic and super active guard still cleaned up the glass and pressured the rim all night. From huge put-backs to securing tough contested defensive rebounds, she never let her extreme athletic gifts go to waste. She even punched away the loose ball rebound just before the horn sounded.  Even with the shooting struggles, she was never deterred from attacking and showed great perseverance to keep shooting, finishing with a team high 14 points and 13 rebounds.rnrnWith the combination of athleticism and non stop motor, it was easy to see why she's one of the highly sought after recruits in Oklahoma's loaded 2025 class.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["315217"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"An u0022Ice Coldu0022 performer, she's a versatile guard with the size and willingness to muck it up around the basket on both ends of the court. In the slow paced slugfest, she never got in a rhythm offensively. But when needed in the second half she popped up in key moments. There was one burst early in the second half with a three and a putback that helped Edmond Memorial hold off a challenge from Lincoln.rnrnThen with the game was teetering midway through the fourth quarter she drilled a three pointer through heavy contact. She proceeded to hit the ensuing free throw for a four point play that was simply ice cold.  Hjelmsted would finish the night with a productive double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["572965"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"The only thing that could slow down this promising sophomore prospect was foul trouble. Because when she was on the court, she was everywhere. Stewart first stood out with multiple blocks on the same possession.  She's athletic and flew around the court with a reckless abandon. Which had some benefits with rebounds, steals and blocks. But it also limited her to only 15 minutes and fouling out with a few minutes to play. Her fourth four in particular stood out as a moment of good intentions but youthful exuberance.  She was late sliding over in an attempt to take a charge, which was an easy call for the ref and sent her to the bench.  It was good to see the willingness to take a charge and make plays of that nature, but there's a time and place for it when factoring in foul trouble.rnrnIt wasn't just athleticism that made Stewart one of the top players in the game. She's a controlled scorer and creator with the ball in her hands. After sitting on the bench for much of the second quarter, she came off the bench in the closing moments to get downhill and fire a perfect pass to a teammate for an open three. There was even a huge stepback three in the fourth quarter that got her team's comeback chances going in earnest.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["238726"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"The Edmond Memorial floor general was another prospect who never lost her chill. She was quiet in the first half, but kept popping up in the final 16 minutes with big scores, gathering up a loose ball or other plays on the defensive end and helping to handle the frantic pressure and trapping Lincoln employed during their comeback attempts.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_4_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='829844' first='Jayla' last='Albert']","_player_evaluations_4_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_4_player_details_graduating_class":"2027","_player_evaluations_4_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_4_player_details_height":"5'10u0022","_player_evaluations_4_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_4_player_details_position":"12122","_player_evaluations_4_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_4_player_details_school":"Lincoln Christian ","_player_evaluations_4_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_4_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_4_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_4_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_4_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"The youngster didn't shy away from the intensity of the game, as she was active the jump when it came to mixing it up with Edmond Memorial on the defensive end.  Albert moves her feet when on the perimeter. And she plays bigger than her height thanks to her long wingspan and combative nature around the basket.  Despite some early good looks, she struggled as a shooter early on. But she was a key part of the fourth quarter flurry that had Lincoln Christian right in the game. The freshman ended up with 11 points on the night,","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":5,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-658f83e73c6c6"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->