Moore boys win their John Nobles Invitational behind big night from Ebi Bortey

Bortey had 15 points as Lions lock down Midwest City Carl Albert, 60-45

MOORE, OKLAHOMA - Ebi. Ebi. Ebi. 

The small, but vocal, crowd inside Moore High’s gymnasium broke out with the chant three times Saturday night during Moore’s game against Midwest City Carl Albert in the championship game of the 49th Annual John Nobles Invitational. 

Having his name chanted was something Moore’s Ebi Bortey had never heard or expected to ever hear. But after leading the Lions to a 60-45 victory over the Titans, the senior was happy to have experienced it at least once.

“It felt good because that’s never happened before,” Bortey said. “It means a lot because they are all cheering for me and it shows I’ve come a long way.”

Bortey scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter as he bullied the Titans' front line. That included going 4-of-5 from the free-throw line as the Titans were forced to foul him whenever he got the ball in the paint.

But it was his performance over three days that earned him the tournament MVP.

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“It feels good because you don’t get this back,” Bortey said of his MVP selection as a senior. “I’m just going to keep on and keep improving.”

However, it was more than a one-man show that wrecked the Titans' championship aspirations. While Carl Albert had to focus on keeping Bortey out of the paint and away from the rim, Moore’s perimeter shooters made them pay throughout the evening.

“He's big and he's wide (6-foot-7, 300 pounds) and he's hard to defend. And plus, I think we've got a couple of shooters around him now,” Moore coach Gregg Hardin said of Bortey. “Teams are starting to double team him. We're starting to hit some outside shots as well.

"A good offense to me is an inside-out game. You live by the 3, you're going to die by the 3. We got Ebi in there and we got some kids that can shoot it as well. So we can go inside and go score and hopefully try to kick it out and make a couple of 3's here and there.”

Moore's Ebi Bortey (right) celebrates after being named MVP following the Lions' win against Midwest City Carl Albert for the John Nobles Invitational title Jan. 20, 2024

Darian Grant led Moore in scoring with 23 points and Tristan Hankins added 10 points.

Sophomore Jayden Hopkins paced Carl Albert with 18 points and earned a spot on the all-tournament first team. Quincy Hopkins added 11 points.

“It wasn't one of our better performances overall,” Carl Albert coach Jay Price said. “We didn't score it very well. And I think a lot of that had to do with Moore's defense.

"I thought they did a really good job of pushing us out of our stuff, but we didn't score it very well, didn't shoot it very well. We got ourselves behind a little bit. I don't think our energy was real high defensively to start off with, and that kind of got us behind the eight ball a little bit behind to play catch up.”

The three-game run the Lions (10-5) displayed to win the John Nobles is the type of effort and execution that Hardin wants to see from his team when the postseason arrives.

“It was an exciting win. All those kids played together,” Hardin said. “I take my hat off to those kids that were out there. They played as a unit, which usually that's a tough thing for us.

"But we are starting to play together at the right time, which I think we did about this time last year and we reeled off about 11 to 12 games in a row, so hopefully we can keep it going. If 40 (Bortey) plays like he's been playing it, he's going to make us a whole lot better.” 

Action between Moore (in red) and Midwest City Carl Albert in the championship game of the John Nobles Invitational on Jan. 20, 2024. The Lions defeated the Titans

-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK