Oklahoma girls basketball notebook: Ada getting hot at right time; Classen SAS rallies past Edmond North in showdown; Kingfisher, Luther among teams eager for postseason

News and notes from around Oklahoma prep girls basketball

By Buck Ringgold

One team definitely on a roll entering this weekend's Class 4A playoffs is Ada.

The Lady Cougars enter their district playoff on Saturday having won 14 of their past 15 ballgames. Included in that stretch was a 12-game winning streak.

Though that streak ended with a 51-49 loss at Sequoyah-Tahlequah on Feb. 8, Ada bounced back in a big way on Feb. 11. On that night, the Lady Cougars posted a season sweep against highly ranked Class 5A McAlester, winning 55-45.

Then on Monday, the Lady Cougars posted a 60-48 win at home in their regular-season finale, defeating Seminole.

"We stubbed our toe at Sequoyah recently, but besides that game, I think we have played some really good basketball," Ada coach Christie Jennings said. "We are peaking at the right time with playoffs about to start.

"Of course the McAlester wins were really fun, but we celebrate every win with the tough schedule we play. We hope it catapults us into a deep playoff run."

Ada, which posed a 61-53 win at McAlester on Jan. 25, raced out to a 13-2 lead in last week's rematch and also built a 21-8 advantage. The Lady Cougars also hit seven 3-pointers in the opening half.

The Lady Cougars went on to build a 20-point advantage early in the third quarter.

Freshman guard Sania Richardson led the way with 26 points and had four of the team's 14 steals. Senior Amaya Frizell had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds, along with hitting two 3's.

Ada also got out to a hot start in Monday's win, scoring 17 of the first 19 points. The Lady Cougars went on to build a 41-15 halftime lead.

Three Lady Cougars were in double figures, led by Frizell's 18 points and 17 from Richardson. Shayla Wofford, a senior, had 11 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Lady Cougars are at home on Saturday to take on Bridge Creek in the 4A district playoffs. They will also be hosting a regional next week.

Classen SAS

Perhaps the most highly anticipated game in the regular season certainly lived up to its billing Thursday night in Edmond.

Despite falling behind 11-0 and also trailing by 15 points at a later juncture, Classen SAS stormed back to pull off a 58-56 win at previously undefeated Edmond North in a match-up between two prime state title contenders.

The Lady Comets trailed by two, 56-54, with more than a minute left and the Lady Huskies having possession. But North missed a shot, and Classen SAS got the rebound.

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, the McDonald's All-American who had put together a monster second half to help fuel the Lady Comets' comeback, tied the score with 48 seconds left on a jumper in the lane.

The Classen SAS defense then forced an errant pass on the ensuing possession. With 14.2 seconds left, point guard Jordan Harrison drew a foul and went to the free-throw line, where she sank both foul shots.

Edmond North had three shot chances in the waning seconds, two of which were 3-point attempts, but came up empty on each occasion as the Lady Comets celebrated their comeback win after the buzzer sounded.

Held scoreless in the first half, Littlepage-Buggs scored 15 points in the third quarter and ended the game with 21 points along with 16 rebounds. Edmond North junior standout Laci Steele led her team with 20 points, going a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.

Classen SAS (18-1) now prepares for the 4A playoffs as one of the top contenders in that class. The Lady Comets drew a bye from this weekend's district and return to action on Thursday, Feb. 24 in the regional semifinals at Tecumseh, taking on the winner of Friday's district playoff between Tecumseh and Poteau.

As for Edmond North (21-1), the Lady Huskies will have a chance to bounce back on Friday as they take on Edmond Santa Fe before beginning 6A regional play on Feb. 24.

Kingfisher

While the boys basketball team is considered a favorite to win the 4A title, the Lady Yellowjackets have a chance to claim the gold ball themselves.

Kingfisher ended the regular season with four straight wins, the latter a 60-49 win against 4A No. 10 Bethany in a game played at Oklahoma City's Paycom Center. The Lady Jackets - ranked No. 6 in the final OSSAARankings.com 4A poll - also won six of their last seven ballgames.

"Throughout the regular season, we really hung our hat on the defensive end of the floor, holding teams to an average of only 34.4 points per game and turning teams over on average 17.8 times a game," Kingfisher coach Taylor Cooper said.

"We have shooters who can stretch the floor and knock down shots, along with a post presence that can finish around the rim."

Leading the Lady Jackets are a pair of seniors, forward Rayland Garner and guard Allison Green, who are averaging 17 and 16 points, respectively. Kingfisher is also getting contributions from sophomore point guard Peyton Walker, who is averaging eight points and nearly five assists.

Garner scored 12 fourth-quarter points in Monday's win and ended up with 23 points, making 9-of-11 free-throw attempts. Green had 15 points, eight of those in the fourth quarter as her and Garner accounted for all but one of Kingfisher's 21 points in that span.

Green also had all 18 of her points in the first half in the Lady Jackets' 65-24 win against Elgin on Feb. 11, with Garner chipping in with 14.

The Lady Jackets' four losses were to 4A No. 1 and defending 4A champion Tuttle, a ranked 6A team in Putnam City North and two teams ranked in the top five in its respective classes, 4A Weatherford and 5A El Reno.

Kingfisher will begin its postseason on Saturday, getting the chance to host Harrah in the district round.

"In our program, we value toughness, respect, discipline, accountability, hard work and competing in everything we do," Cooper said. "In the playoffs, it is all about who can survive and advance, so being able to respond to adversity and grind out tough and close games will be key going into the playoffs." 

Luther

In his ninth season as the Lady Lions coach, Johnny Vick believes he finally has a team capable of winning it all.

Luther (19-3) was ranked No. 6 in the final OSSAARankings.com 3A poll and comes into the 3A playoffs riding an eight-game winning streak, capped by an 81-15 win against Meeker on Tuesday. Also in that streak was a 67-47 win on Jan. 29 against Lomega, ranked No. 1 in Class B at the time.

"We're playing pretty good right now," Vick said. "Scoring-wise, we've finally kind of got everyone kind of healthy. ... Our last three or four games, we've been scoring about 80 points per game, so we're playing good; our defense is looking good and we're peaking at the right time which is what we try to do every year around this time is when you want to play your best ball.

"Defense is our main thing; our defense feeds our offense, so defensively, we're doing pretty well."

The Lady Lions aren't very big size-wise, as their tallest player is 5-foot-11 (senior Savannah Nunley). But they more than compensate for that with an abundance of guards.

"We have a bunch of guards; that's why we play up-tempo ball," Vick said. "We press, we run, we drive, we kick.

"All my kids can shoot 3's. I think one game, our highest was 15 3's, so we can shoot. Fun to watch, up-tempo style."

Leading the Lady Lions' charge is freshman point guard Halyn Browning, who scored 23 points in Tuesday's win and is the team's top scorer averaging 16 points per game. There's also Savannah Nunley, the 5-11 senior post who has signed with Western Oklahoma State College in Altus.

The Lady Lions have also gotten a lift from senior point guard Shawntae Silva, who had been a three-year starter before missing part of this season with an injury before returning, along with sophomore guard Addison Harris who was the team's second-leading scorer last season.

On Feb. 11, the Lady Lions had six players in double figures in an 87-34 win against Hennessey, with Harris leading the way with 22 points.

In the season before Vick took over at Luther, the team went 4-21. It's been a gradual process of improvement since then, and in 2019, the Lady Lions reached the state tournament for the first time in 64 years the program has achieved that feat.

"Our program's kind of been on an upgrade," Vick said. "In nine years, we've had 10 kids sign to play college ball at some level, so it's been a building process.

"By far, this is probably the most capable team I've had to get a chance to maybe compete and win a gold ball."

Luther will be at home Saturday for its 3A district playoff against Newkirk.