Looking Back, Looking Ahead: 2021 Class 4A State Championship

<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2021 Class 4A Championship Game – Tuttle 53, Fort Gibson 38 </strong></span> By all accounts, this championship game should not have even had Fort Gibson in it. Every pundit, every basketball person, every person you talked to had Classen SAS penciled in as champion before the tournament - perhaps the season - even started. Instead, the Tigers defeated the Comets in the quarterfinals in grand fashion by holding a nationally ranked team who had scored over 100 points three times in the season to just 29 points. But, when it came down to it, they were not able to hold Tuttle to few enough. A 20-point fourth quarter for the other Tigers - the ones from Tuttle - helped them take home their first Gold Ball in school history. Both teams were well-rounded in terms of scoring and age with players from each class getting buckets for both teams in the championship. The future looks bright for both squads. As for Classen SAS, they’ll be fine. They’re bringing back perhaps the best player in the country for her senior season this year in [player_tooltip player_id="150924" first="Darianna" last="Littlepage-Buggs"] and will most definitely be making another run at the championship - maybe hoping they don’t have to see Fort Gibson this time. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2021 Runner-Up Outlook: Fort Gibson Tigers (2020-21 Record: 21-4)</strong></span> Though she was held to just six points in the championship game, Lexie Foutch was the senior leader of this Tigers squad. As an inside presence, her 6’2" frame made opponents hesitate from heading into the paint. Now she will be doing the same at the Division-I level with Tulsa. Foutch averaged 7.3 points per game and was somehow overlooked in the first rankings that I ever made during my time here at PGH. Sorry, Lexie. Two other seniors were unranked in Kynzi London (10.3 ppg) and Reese Webb (5.5 ppg). Though these three have moved on, the future still looks bright up in Fort Gibson. This year’s senior leadership will be provided by No. 70-ranked [player_tooltip player_id="327789" first="Feather" last="Two Shields"] who saw big minutes off the bench last season with the Tigers. She is a flat-out baller who gets after it all game long and will definitely be playing somewhere in college following her senior season. [player_tooltip player_id="327867" first="Marianne" last="Parks"] is another guard for the Tigers who is ranked and will be called on as a senior leader. She can drain it from outside at a high percentage and is a very fun player to watch. The highest-ranked player for this year’s version of the Fort Gibson Tigers will be No. 6-ranked [player_tooltip player_id="241011" first="Gracy" last="Shieldnight"]. Gracy is a 6’0" post player who can play inside or outside and does both equally well. As a freshman she averaged 9.5 points per game and will most definitely be improving upon that as the main option in the middle for scoring and rebounding. In a case of the rich getting richer, the Tigers will also be welcoming [player_tooltip player_id="315234" first="Addy" last="Whiteley"] - a Super-16 All-Star and the No. 56-ranked freshman in the state - to an already stacked squad. The future continues to look bright for head coach Chuck London and his perennial tournament team. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2021 Champion Outlook: Tuttle Tigers (2020-21 Record: 25-3)</strong></span> The lone senior on Tuttle’s squad, Shayla Wilson, has graduated but there are still a lot of very good players left on a very good team. There should be some very interesting conversations in the locker room at TU when Tuttle’s [player_tooltip player_id="211847" first="Hadley" last="Periman"] - our No. 6-ranked player in the 2022 class - arrives to work alongside Lexie Foutch after this season. The 6’2" forward can do it all and really stretches the floor with her ability to hit from all three levels. She is strong and defends very well. As a senior, look for her to assert herself even more and improve on her 8.4 ppg average. No. 26-ranked [player_tooltip player_id="211865" first="Rylee" last="Kopf"] should be running the point for the state champions this season. The level-headed, smart passing Kopf has an offer from UT-Tyler currently. The aforementioned players are great and could very easily have the Tigers back in the championship game, however, there is one very big player who will be the key to their success. Only a junior, No. 3-ranked [player_tooltip player_id="150925" first="Landry" last="Allen"] led all scorers in the championship game with 17 points. The OU Sooner commit, who is a tremendous all-around player, absolutely owns the paint and is a very big reason that Fort Gibson’s inside game was all but nonexistent in the championship. As a sophomore Landry averaged 12.9 ppg to lead the team and I would not be at all surprised to see those numbers creep up near the 20’s before all is said and done. She is seriously that good. There aren’t any other youngsters on the radar just yet for the Tuttle Tigers but, that is definitely no reason to think that they aren’t out there. For a 4A school to have this much Division-I talent, something is happening right in the town as far as development and training... or maybe there’s something in the water. Who knows? Either way, I can’t wait to be there to see it! &nbsp;