STANDOUTS: Class 6A West Area Consolation Championship
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On Saturday afternoon, Putnam City North and Mustang punched their tickets to the Class 6A State Tournament. Here’s a look at the prospects who made it happen for their squads, and tough performances from Norman and Yukon players in their…
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Continue ReadingOn Saturday afternoon, Putnam City North and Mustang punched their tickets to the Class 6A State Tournament. Here’s a look at the prospects who made it happen for their squads, and tough performances from Norman and Yukon players in their defeat.
The star of the day in Shawnee, Dillard did EVERYTHING for the Panthers in the win. Multiple times her quick hands and great anticipation skills allowed her to make recovery blocks to save points for her team. Those same anticipation skills put her in position to take at least two huge charges on the defensive end. Dillard’s contribution didn’t stop on the defensive end, she was a consistent with her tough finishing at the rim. And even drilled a huge pull up three to answer a Yukon three. The junior was a complete guard on the day, and would not be denied. Now, Dillard and her teammates will get to showcase their skills on the big stage of the Class 6A State Tournament.
What a pair of back to back Area games for the Mustang junior. She’s a defensive difference maker, with how quickly she covers ground to trap or stay in front of the opposing ballhandler. The amount of deflections and steals she created over the two games is flat out ridiculous. Offensively, she was a consistent threat as a driver, looking very comfortable finishing with her left hand when going left. While overall not looking bothered by contact on the rims. The growing influence of Haywood’s two way impact marks her as a very interesting wing prospect.
Another key part of Mustang’s quality defense, Long crashes the glass on both ends of the court hard. While having the height and wingspan to contest shots and be very disruptive in the passing lanes. On the offensive end, she continued her blue collar ways, with good finishing around the rim. Which was crucial in holding off the Norman comeback attempt.
Demy Howard
Demy Howard
The freshman stepped up down the stretch with a pair of huge plays that helped PCN ice the game. First, she spun past a defender, took a bump from a help defender and still finished. Howard didn’t get the foul call but was unbothered, sprinting back on defense. Soon after, she used a nasty crossover to get her defender guessing the wrong way. On the drive, the help defender was in better position, but Howard make a great read and fired a pinpoint bounce pass to a wide open teammate for an easy two points. A youngster making clutch plays in a game with the stakes of Saturday afternoon is very impressive.
Parks recently narrowed her college choices to 15, with some of the top programs in the nation battling for her services. While Norman’s season came to a close on Saturday, it was easy to see why she’s such a high level prospect. Her handles and finshing ability are ridiculous. Even when drawing a crowd as the focus of the defensive, she has subtle dribble moves and the balance to slip through any defense. She hit some borderline circus shots around the rim, with the best one probably being one where she didn’t get continuation call after a foul. As the foul call knocked the ball loose, but she recovered so quickly and fluidly to hit a tough shot. She also played with her hair on fire on the defensive end, creating some big turnovers in the second half that kept Norman within striking distance. The future remains very bright for the nationally ranked recruit.
The senior had a eight straight personal scoring run in the second quarter that was impressive for the Millerettes. She’s a controlled driver with great touch on her floaters out to the 10-12 feet. Often using ball fakes and other moves to get defenders to bit, then stepping through and calmly scoring.
A sparkplug of a player, Jefferson hit big jumpers throughout the contest. A couple of her three attempts were ruled twos, with her feet just on the line. But in the second half, she made she her threes were counted as threes with a DEEP one in the third. Then after a loose ball late in the third, she scooped it up and banked in an one legged runner that was also from behind the line . Along with her shooting from deep, Jefferson is an eager on the ball defender. In the first half, she was able to force a 5 second count with unrelenting pressure on the ball.