MaxPreps Oklahoma Team of the Week: 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."

MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.

Do you know a team that deserves consideration for Oklahoma Team of the Week? Email us with your nominations at OKteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.