Oklahoma Boys High School Basketball: Week Five Rankings and Predictions
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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
Of the five teams who entered week four undefeated, four remain. We picked 18 games last week and were correct on 15 with 80% accuracy overall this season.
No. 1 Edmond North (1)
Edmond North (6-0) played only one game this past week and easily rolled to a 77-43 victory over No. 18 Deer Creek (3-4). The Huskies hold the No. 4 offense, No. 9 defense, and No. 2 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action on the 28th at the Tournament of Champions. They received 23 first-place votes.
No. 2 Midwest City (2)
Midwest City (6-1) reinforced their top five position with a pair of great wins last week. They edged out No. 4 Putnam City North (5-2) 62-61 and dominated 5A No. 11 Bishop McGuiness (0-5) 81-48. The Bombers hold the No. 1 offense and No. 2 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action on the 28th at the Tournament of Champions. They received one first-place vote.
No. 3 Union (3)
Union (3-0) picked up their second ranked win of the season 60-56 over No. 10 Broken Arrow (5-2) and also topped unranked Jenks (0-7) 66-40 last week. Three players doubled in the win over the Tigers, led by Adrian Rodriguez with 16. The Redskins hold the No. 1 defense and No. 8 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action on the 28th at the Tournament of Champions. They received one first-place vote.
No. 4 Putnam City North (4)
Putnam City North (6-2) lost to No. 2 Midwest City (6-1) for the second time this season, this time only 62-61. They also traveled to the Webb City Shootout and defeated Jackson 66-43. The Panthers hold the No. 5 offense and No. 9 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year at the Putnam City Invitational.
No. 5 (tied) Edmond Santa Fe (8)
Edmond Santa Fe (6-1) picked up a huge win last Thursday when they topped No. 5 Norman North (2-2) 84-73. The Wolves hold the No. 13 offense, No. 8 defense, and No. 7 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action after the new year when they compete at the Bishop McGuinness Tournament.
No. 5 (tied) Westmoore (7)
Westmoore (7-0) played only one game last week and topped in-town rival Moore (3-4) 59-49. The Jaguars hold the No. 9 offense, No. 5 defense, and No. 4 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action on the 28th when they travel to the Duncan Holiday Tournament.
No. 7 Putnam City West (6)
Putnam City West (5-3) is in the middle of the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas. They dropped their first two games last weekend, but will return to action Monday when they take on Cathedral Catholic. Last week they rolled to a 73-40 victory over 5A No. 11 Bishop McGuiness (0-5) on Tuesday before losing 64-59 to Bishop O'Dowd and 53-44 to Clark, Nevada. At the conclusion of the Vegas Tournament they will take the rest of the year off before competing at the Putnam City Invitational in January.
No. 8 Norman North (5)
Norman North (2-2) lost to their first Oklahoma opponent last week, 84-73 to No. 8 Edmond Santa Fe (6-1). The Timberwolves hold the number two offense in the state, averaging 82 points-per-game, but also give up more points than any other team in 6A at 75 for the No. 13 margin of victory. They will return to action after the new year when they host No. 7 Westmoore (7-0).
No. 9 Booker T. Washington (9)
Booker T. (4-2) suffered a 71-57 loss last week to 5A No. 2 Tulsa Memorial (9-0). The Hornets hold the No. 12 offense in 6A and will return to action Tuesday at 4A No. 8 McLain (3-2).
The pick: BTW 61 McLain 55.
No. 10 Broken Arrow (10)
Broken Arrow (5-2) split wins last week, coming from behind to edge out Sand Springs (3-3) 55-54, but falling 60-56 to No. 3 Union (3-0). Caleb Huffman led both games, scoring 29 against the Sandites and 16 against the Redskins. The Tigers do a good job sharing the ball with three players doubling against Sand Springs and four doubling against Union.
The Tigers hold the No. 2 defense and No. 12 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action after the new year when they compete at the Skiatook invitational.
No. 11 Muskogee (11)
Muskogee (6-0) has benefited hugely from junior transfer Brooks Haddock, who has led his new team in scoring five out of six games this season, averaging 20 points per game. With Tyreece Berry out of commission, it's been Haddock and Keondre Davis doing the bulk of the scoring for the Roughers. Davis hasn't been far behind Haddock with 14.5 points per game. Berry scored 25 in the season opener but hasn't played since. He is expected to return after the new year, however, making the Roughers a serious competitor for the State and Conference titles this year. Most recently they topped No. 19 Bixby (3-3) 65-63 and No. 14 Sapulpa (4-2) 58-50.
The Roughers hold the No. 7 offense and No. 6 margin of victory in 6A. They won't return to action till January 13th when they travel to No. 17 Jenks before their biggest test yet in No. 3 Union (3-0).
No. 12 Norman (13)
Norman (4-2) took last week and the rest of the year off, ending 2016 on a three-game winning streak at the Duncan Tournament. They hold the No. 8 offense, No. 11 defense, and No. 5 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action at the Bishop McGuinness Tournament.
No. 13 Sapulpa (14)
The Chieftains (4-2) split wins last week, defeating 5A No. 19 Bishop Kelley (2-2) 60-50, but falling 58-50 to No. 11 Muskogee (6-0). They have three handy scorers in Keenan Ballance, Trey Phipps, and Julian Smith. Phipps scored 24 against Muskogee, Ballance scored 28 against Kelley, and Smith averaged 11 between the two. Sapulpa owns the No. 10 offense in 6A and will return to action after the new year when they travel to the McDonalds Classic in Ada.
No. 14 Yukon (12)
The Millers (4-3) split wins last week, defeating unranked Southmoore (0-6) 72-53, but falling 49-48 to No. 16 Edmond Memorial (3-4). Cameron Martin scored 27 points over Southmoore. Yukon holds the No. 6 offense and No. 9 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action after the new year when they host unranked Deer Creek (3-4).
No. 15 Edmond Memorial (16)
Despite topping No. 12 Yukon (4-3) 49-48, the Bulldogs (3-4) only moved up one spot in the rankings. They'll take on No. 5 Westmoore (7-0) after the new year.
No. 16 Lawton (15)
Lawton (3-1) split a pair of 5A games last week, defeating No. 15 Del City (1-3) 63-61, but falling 67-60 to No. 13 MacArthur (5-2). They hold the No. 14 offense and No. 15 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action on the 28th at the Hobbs Invitational.
No. 17 Bartlesville (17)
Bartlesville (3-3) finished the year off two weeks ago at the Bixby Invitational and won't return to action till the Arvest Invitational on January 5th. The Bruins hold the No. 4 defense in 6A.
No. 18 Bixby (19)
Bixby (3-3) split their last week's games, falling 65-63 to No. 11 Muskogee (6-0), but defeating unranked Jenks (0-7) 49-36. The Spartans hold the No. 7 defense in 6A and will return to action after the new year when they host No. 17 Bartlesville.
No. 19 Moore (unranked)
Moore (3-4) moved up into the rankings after competing closely with No. 7 Westmoore (7-0) and only falling 59-49. They will return to action after the new year when they host No. 20 Mustang (2-3).
No. 20 Mustang (20)
Mustang (2-3) end their year two weeks ago after going 1-2 at the Harrah Panther Classic. They hold the No. 6 defense in 6A and will return to action at the Putnam City Invitational on January 5th.
Conference Strength
- Central Oklahoma (51)
- Big Ten (49.7)
- Green Country (48)
- Frontier Valley (40.8)
- All-City (32.5)
