By Scott Hansen
MaxPreps.com
When it is time to eat your crow, one must eat his/her crow.
Gulp.
From my February 4, 2008 Oklahoma recap:
The Contender
Putnam City: Pretty much, barring injury, it’s a one-horse race. Almost a year has passed since Putnam City’s remarkable pre-State exit. We all know about Xavier Henry, but the likes of Garen Wright and Brandon Jackson can play, too. If this team remains focused, which coach A.D. Burtschi will ensure it is, there is not anybody in Oklahoma that can compete with the Pirates.
Wow. Time to eat my words. Apologies go out to the players and staff at Tulsa Memorial for not believing. Memorial eventually claimed the Class 6A state title after its first round upset of Putnam City, holding the Pirates and Henry to just two second half field goals in the process. Memorial held Henry to nine points, a third of his season’s average of nearly 27. The title, obviously, was well-earned.
In the semifinals, the Chargers ensured Midwest City would not repeat with a methodical 35-32 victory. In the final, Tulsa Memorial defeated Putnam City North, 55-46.
Page, Clarke Recap
Two players, both scored over 3,700 points for their respective careers. Both capped their careers with state championships. Absolutely unreal.
Verdigris record-holder Rotnei Clarke scored 35 in front of a jam-packed 13,000 fans at the Big House as the Cardinals won the state title with a 62-51 victory over Sequoyah-Tahlequah to win the Class 3A title. Clarke finished with 3,758 points in his career.
Pawnee guard Keiton Page scored 54 points and dished out 13 assists as Pawnee won its second state title with a 95-79 victory over Oklahoma Christian. Page finished his career with 3,709 points and averaged 44.3 points per game for his senior season.
Page may have finished second in the all-time scoring chase, but he set numerous state records this season. Page’s 1,287 points this season was a record, along with his scoring average. Page also scored more points than any other player in state tournament history, netting 369 points over his four-year career.
The scoring chase was fun to watch and the top two scorers in Oklahoma history both are well-deserved to be sitting atop the list.
Now, who will be the Oklahoma player of the year? (Insert head-scratch here)
Oklahoma All-Time Leading Scorers
1. Rotnei Clarke, Verdigris (2008), 3,758
2. Keiton Page, Pawnee (2008), 3,709
3. Ty Harman, Maud (1989), 3,639
4. Kelenna Azubuike, Victory Christian (2002), 3,530
5. Kenneth Johnson, Grandfield (1979), 3,191
No Four-Peat for Sequoyah
Sequoyah-Tahlequah looked to be destined to be the first girls’ team in Oklahoma history to win four straight state titles. Apparently, Millwood did not get the memo. Millwood shattered the dreams of the Lady Indians with a 63-60 victory in the Class 3A final.
Was it a huge upset? Maybe. After further review, Millwood had every right to steal the crown from Sequoyah. Tijasha Reid was the surprising leading scorer in the final with 17, while Brittany Demery, Shea Bowden, and Joh’Vonna Mitchell all chipped in with double figures for the Falcons. Sequoyah star Angel Goodrich scored a game-high 22, while Lorin Hammer added 17.
Millwood’s only losses of the season came to Class 4A champion Star Spencer and Class 6A champion Tulsa Union.
Sequoyah-Tahlequah was widely thought to be untouchable in the Class 3A race. Millwood proved that on any given day, anything can happen. Congrats to Millwood for pulling off the near impossible.
Tulsa Union Squeaks Past Sapulpa, Brewer
Tulsa Union’s undefeated girls’ season was well-earned. In the Class 6A final, the Redskins barely got past Sapulpa and probable Oklahoma Player of the Year Alyssia Brewer, 49-48 to finish the season unbeaten.
Linsday Palmer, Union guard headed to Baylor, led the way with 20 points while Destinee Friarson chipped in with 12 for the Redskins. Brewer led Sapulpa with 22 points and 12 rebounds in her final high school game.
Bizarre Ending in 2A Girls Final
In probably one of the most bizarre endings in state tournament history, the result of the crazy Class 2A girls state title game gave Pocola a gold ball and gave Walters the ultimate roller coaster ride of jubilation and then, heartache.
Trailing 54-52, Walters’ Vanessa Karpe canned a go-ahead three-point shot and was fouled with 0.7 seconds remaining, sending the Walters bench into delirium. Due to the foul call, the clock had stopped before expiring. Walters was hit with a technical foul was the bench celebration spilled onto the playing floor.
Karpe hit the free throw giving her a four-point play to give Walters a 56-54 lead.
After having the feeling of losing the championship game and being handed a lifeline, Pocola’s Lasea Been hit the first technical free throw, but missed the second leaving Pocola down 56-55.
It appeared Walters was out of the woods until the game took another dramatic twist. With just the 0.7 seconds remaining, Pocola inbounded to Callie Slate, who set her feet and fired a 36-foot desperation heave towards the basket. Nothing but net, Pocola wins.
That’s why they call it March Madness.
Check out the Oklahoman video here.
Oklahoma Boys Final Top 10
Final Records
1. Bishop McGuinness, 26-4 (2) *Class 4A
- Won Class 4A State Championship with an 80-63 victory over Oklahoma City Southeast.
2. Tulsa Memorial, 24-5 (4)
- Won Class 6A State Championship with a 55-46 victory over Putnam City North.
3. Putnam City, 25-2 (1)
- Lost to Tulsa Memorial in the first round of the Class 6A state tournament, 40-38.
4. Putnam City North, 22-6 (6)
- Lost to Tulsa Memorial in the Class 6A State Championship, 55-46.
5. Midwest City, 22-6 (5)
- Lost to Tulsa Memorial in Class 6A semifinals, 35-32.
6. Guthrie, 23-4 (NR) *Class 5A
- Won Class 5A State Championship with a 58-57 victory over Tulsa Washington.
7. Tulsa Washington, 20-5 (NR)
- Lost to Guthrie in Class 5A State Championship, 58-57.
8. Tulsa East Central, 23-5 (5) *Class 5A
- Lost to Tulsa Washington in Class 5A semifinals, 63-46.
9. OKC Star Spencer, 25-5 (NR) *Class 4A
- Lost to Bishop McGuinness in Class 4A semifinals, 61-58.
10. Edmond Santa Fe, 19-9 (NR)
- Lost to Putnam City North in Class 6A semifinals, 69-60.
Dropped Out: OKC Capitol Hill, 23-3 (3); Tulsa Bishop Kelley, 23-4 (7); Lawton, (9); Jenks, 22-6 (10)
Class 6A Boys Top 10
Tulsa Memorial, 24-5 (2)
Putnam City, 25-2 (1)
Putnam City North, 22-6 (3)
Midwest City, 22-6 (4)
Edmond Santa Fe, 19-9 (7)
Jenks, 22-6 (6)
Broken Arrow, 19-8 (9)
Tulsa Union, 18-8 (8)
Westmoore, 16-11 (NR)
Lawton, 21-7 (5)
Dropped Out: Bartlesville (10)
Class 5A Boys Top 10
Guthrie, 23-4 (9)
Tulsa Washington, 20-5 (5)
Tulsa East Central, 23-5 (2)
OKC Capitol Hill, 24-3 (1)
Tulsa Edison, 20-7 (6)
Tulsa Bishop Kelley, 23-4 (3)
Harrah, 25-3 (4)
Carl Albert, 18-8 (7)
Ardmore, 18-9 (10)
Ada, 21-6 (8)
Dropped Out: None
Class 4A Boys Top 10
Bishop McGuinness, 26-4 (1)
OKC Star Spencer, 25-5 (4)
OKC Southeast, 18-9 (7)
OKC Douglass, 22-6 (3)
Cascia Hall, 22-7 (5)
Victory Christian, 19-9 (6)
Tulsa McLain, 16-12 (8)
Vinita, 25-2 (2)
Anadarko, 21-8 (NR)
Woodward, 15-8 (10)
Dropped Out: Fort Gibson (9)
Small School Final Top 10 (Classes 3A through B)
Pawnee, 27-2, 2A (1)
Verdigris, 27-3, 3A (2)
Stringtown, 27-5, B (3)
Agra, 27-3, A (NR)
Sequoyah-Tahlequah, 19-10, 3A (7)
Oklahoma Christian, 17-11, 2A (NR)
OKC John Marshall, 15-14, 3A (10)
Apache, 24-4, 2A (9)
OKC Millwood, 14-14, 3A (NR)
Talihina, 26-5, 2A (NR)
Dropped Out: Garber, A (4); Adair, 3A (5); Heritage Hall, 3A (6); Snyder, 2A (8)
Oklahoma Girls Final Top 10
Final Records
1. Tulsa Union, 27-0 (3)
- Won Class 6A State Championship 49-48 over Sapulpa.
2. Sapulpa, 27-2 (1)
- Lost to Tulsa Union in Class 6A State Championship, 49-48.
3. Midwest City, 25-2 (4)
- Lost to Tulsa Union in Class 6A semifinals, 59-39.
4. Millwood, 28-2 (6) *Class 3A
- Won Class 3A State Championship over Sequoyah-Tahlequah, 63-60.
5. Sequoyah-Tahlequah, 27-3 (2) *Class 3A
- Lost in Class 3A State Championship to Millwood, 63-60.
6. OKC Star Spencer, 28-1 (10) *Class 4A
- Won Class 4A State Championship over Fort Gibson, 51-43.
7. Norman, 21-6 (7)
- Lost to Sapulpa in Class 6A semifinals, 51-44.
8. Tulsa Washington, 26-3 (8) *Class 5A
- Won Class 5A State Championship over Coweta, 48-43.
9. Fort Gibson, 26-3 (9) *Class 4A
- Lost to Star Spencer in Class 4A State Championship, 51-43.
10. Del City, 22-5 (5)
- Lost to Tulsa Union in Class 6A first round, 52-40.
Dropped Out: None
Class 6A Girls Top 10
Tulsa Union, 27-0 (2)
Sapulpa, 27-2 (1)
Midwest City, 25-2 (3)
Norman, 21-6 (5)
Del City, 22-5 (4)
Claremore, 23-3 (7)
Owasso, 21-6 (9)
Putnam City, 21-6 (6)
Tulsa Memorial, 19-7 (8)
Choctaw, 15-12 (NR)
Dropped Out: Jenks (10)
Class 5A Girls Top 10
Tulsa Washington, 26-3 (1)
Coweta, 23-5 (3)
Carl Albert, 24-3 (2)
Tulsa Edison, 19-9 (5)
Harrah, 21-6 (4)
El Reno, 19-9 (8)
Tulsa East Central, 15-10 (9)
Ada, 15-11 (NR)
McAlester, 18-8 (7)
Tulsa Bishop Kelley, 11-11 (10)
Dropped Out: Durant (6)
Class 4A Girls Top 10
Star Spencer, 28-1 (3)
Fort Gibson, 26-3 (1)
Cache, 26-2 (2)
Vinita, 27-1 (4)
Perkins-Tryon, 25-3 (6)
Sallisaw, 23-5 (10)
Bethany, 22-4 (5)
Anadarko, 20-9 (NR)
Elgin, 18-5 (7)
Newcastle, 20-5 (9)
Dropped Out: Bishop McGuinness (8)
Small-School Top 10 (Classes 3A through B)
Millwood, 28-2, 3A (2)
Sequoyah-Tahlequah, 27-3, 3A (1)
Kansas, 24-5, 3A (NR)
Washington, 24-5, 3A (3)
Pocola, 26-5, 2A (NR)
Walters, 27-2, 2A (NR)
Konawa, 24-1, 2A (4)
Howe, 28-2, A (NR)
Fort Cobb-Broxton, 30-2, A (8)
Lomega, 29-3, B (NR)
Dropped Out: Dale, 2A (5); Kiowa, B (6); Preston, A (7); Oktaha, 2A (9); Pawnee, 2A (10)
