
Classesn girls basketball is the Week 18 winner of the Oklahoma Team of the Week, presented by the Oklahoma National Guard.
Courtesy photo
Week 18 Winner: Classen Girls Basketball
With five freshmen on a seven-person roster last season,
Classen (Oklahoma City) coach Malcolm Roberts must have known good days were ahead.
The
Comets, in fact, enjoyed a fine 17-10 season in 2012-13, but
inexperience showed during a three-game losing streak to close the year.
But
Classen has likely surpassed Roberts’ early expectations with an 11-1
start, highlighted by two tournament titles — one at the Okemah
Tournament and the other the Crooked Oak.
For their early-season
success and two tournament titles, the Comets are the MaxPreps Oklahoma
Team of the Week, presented by the Oklahoma National Guard.
"Our
offense is created from our defense, so we have been working hard in
practice and focusing on our defensive stuff," said Roberts. "We try to
take after what the University of Arkansas does. Our style of play is
fast break basketball, getting up and down the court as quick as we can.
We are now preparing for the Army National Guard Tournament at Kansas
at the end of this month."
Classen won the Okemah Tournament title with a 61-49 win over host Okemah as a new freshman,
Taylor Roberts exploded for 24 points, sophomore
Kennedy Williams added 14 and freshman
Victoria Vickers contributed 10. A 33-17 run in the middle quarters keyed the victory.
The
5-10 Roberts then led the Comets to the Crooked Oak title by scoring 27
points in a 72-51 win over Oklahoma Centennial. Williams added 19
points and Vickers 12. Roberts also had eight of the team’s 18 steals.
"(Roberts) makes our team go and she makes the other players around her
better," said coach Roberts, also Taylor's father. "She helps out the
other guards on the team and the post players. She missed our first three
games of the season and without her, we didn't flow as well as a team."
For
the season, the sensational Roberts leads the team and the entire state
in scoring at a 28.7 points per game clip, followed by Williams (11.6),
sophomore
Maya Thompson, Vickers (7.6) and senior
Jetta Smith (6.8).
"She
can be a shooting guard or play the point and she's a freshman who is
already receiving phone calls from colleges, which is pretty
remarkable," coach Roberts said of his daughter. "It is pretty neat that
she has those type of stats, especially as a freshman. It makes this
even cooler because she's my daughter."
Williams is 5-9, Thompson 5-11, Vickers 5-2 and Smith 6-1.
Thompson leads the team in rebounds with 105, followed by Smith (73) and sophomore
Maite Bradford (53).
The Comets get many of their buckets off steals, and with 142 on the season the team averages almost 12 per game.
Ranked
sixth in the state, Classen has almost doubled the output of its
opponents, scoring 819 points (68.2 per game), while giving up just 430
(35.8).
"We want to win a state championship," said Roberts.
"This is my third year coaching and the first year I was here, we had a
five-person roster and had to cancel our season early. Last year we
increased to a seven-person roster and went 17-10. This year we were
able to pick up a few more players to add to our team.
"As a
coach, I am more concerned about the quality of players I have, not the
number. I would rather have nine players who are skilled and can play,
and I am lucky to have that this season."
Do you know a team that deserves
consideration for Oklahoma Team of the Week? Email us with your
nominations at OKteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.