Oklahoma Men's High School Basketball: Week Eight Rankings and Predictions
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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
The last of the undefeated teams have fallen, leaving Union as the indisputable top-dog in 6A basketball.
No. 1 Union (Last week No. 1)
Union (9-0) pulled in 28 first-place votes after winning the Putnam City Invitational last week. They defeated No. 20 Mustang (4-4) 49-37, 4A No. 7 Heritage Hall (5-4) 84-77, and No. 7 Putnam City West (8-5) 58-50. The Redskins hold the No. 15 offense, No. 7 defense, and No. 7 margin of victory in 6A, while playing one of the toughest schedules. They will return to action Tuesday when they host 5A No. 13 Bishop Kelley (4-3), then they will host unranked Owasso (5-4) on Friday.
The picks:
Union 57 BK 45
Union 59 Owasso 47
No. 2 Edmond North (2)
Edmond North (8-1) pulled in two first-place votes and held on to their second-place spot after a bye week. The Huskies hold the No. 3 offense, No. 13 defense, and No. 3 margin of victory in 6A and will travel to unranked Southmoore (1-8) on Tuesday and No. 13 Norman (6-3) on Friday.
The picks:
EDN 65 Southmoore 52
EDN 62 Norman 59
No. 3 Midwest City (3)
Midwest City (9-2) picked up a dominating 83-54 win over No. 16 Lawton (5-3) last week. The Bombers hold the No. 2 offense and No. 4 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action when they host 5A No. 6 Eisenhower (4-2) on Tuesday.
The pick: MWC 73 Ike 64.
No. 4 Putnam City West (7)
Putnam West (8-5) leapfrogged over the competition after a pair of quality wins at the Putnam City Invitational. They topped Putnam City (4-6) 65-56 and No. 6 Putnam City North (7-4) 91-88 in overtime before falling 58-50 to No. 1 Union (9-0). The Patriots hold the No. 10 offense and No. 17 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Tuesday when they host No. 15 Lawton (5-3).
The pick: PCW 66 Lawton 63.
No. 5 Putnam City North (6)
Putnam North (7-4) moved up a spot in the rankings despite losing two out of three games last week. They defeated the OKC Storm (16-14) 77-55 in the first round of the Putnam City Invitational, but fell 91-88 to Putnam West (8-5) and 71-55 to 4A No. 7 Heritage Hall (5-4). The Panthers hold the No. 5 offense and No. 11 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action at No. 20 Putnam City (4-6) on Monday, then will host unranked Choctaw (4-4) on Friday.
The picks:
PCN 64 Putnam 61
PCN 63 Choctaw 61
No. 6 Westmoore (5)
Westmoore (10-1) slipped a spot in the rankings after giving up a 78-63 upset to No. 8 Norman North (6-2). The Jaguars hold the No. 9 offense, No. 4 defense, and No. 1 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action Thursday when they host No. 17 Edmond Memorial (4-6).
The pick: Westmoore 59 EDM 51.
No. 7 Norman North (8)
Norman North (6-2) is coming off a big week as they swept the Bishop McGuinness Tournament and upset No. 5 Westmoore (10-1) 78-63. They topped No. 12 Norman (6-3) 70-68, the OKC Knights (4-12) 120-42, and No. 14 Yukon (7-4) 72-51. The Timberwolves hold the No. 1 offense and No. 2 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Friday with a rematch at No. 12 Yukon.
The pick: NN 80 Yukon 68.
No. 8 Booker T. Washington (9)
Booker T. Washington (7-3) moved up a spot in the rankings after taking second place at the Skiatook Invitational, despite suffering an overtime upset to an unranked team. They defeated 5A No. 20 Pryor (4-5) 67-49 and No. 11 Broken Arrow (7-3) 62-50, but fell 72-71 to Owasso (5-4). The Hornets hold the No. 8 offense and No. 13 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Tuesday against Will Rogers (5-7), then will travel to 4A No. 2 Tulsa Central (8-3) on Friday.
The picks:
BTW 68 Rogers 60
Central 70 BTW 67
No. 9 Muskogee (10)
Muskogee (6-1) finally lost their first game of the season, 77-69 to Life Prep Academy (2-6) at the Muskogee Shrine Tournament, but they're still undefeated against Oklahoma teams and in conference. The Roughers hold the No. 6 offense, No. 19 defense, and No. 9 margin of victory in 6A and will host No. 18 Sand Springs (5-4) on Monday before traveling to unranked Jenks (1-6) on Friday.
The picks:
Muskogee 59 CPHS 57
Muskogee 68 Jenks 56
No. 10 Edmond Santa Fe (4)
Edmond Santa Fe (7-3) dropped hard in the rankings after a stunning 47-45 upset by 5A No. 17 Bishop McGuinness (3-8), whom they were expected to throttle. They also lost a close 44-39 matchup to unranked Deer Creek (5-6) before finally snapping out of it with a 103-41 victory over the OKC Knights (4-12). The Wolves hold the No. 13 offense, No. 5 defense, and No. 5 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Friday when they get a home court rematch against Deer Creek.
The pick: ESF 60 DC 50
No. 11 Broken Arrow (11)
Broken Arrow (7-3) won two of three games at the Skiatook Invitational, hammering Daniel Webster (2-9) 72-42, falling 62-50 to No. 9 Booker T. Washington (7-3), then topping 5A No. 5 East Central (7-4) 59-45. Caleb Huffman averaged 16.3 points per game, followed by Tony Hall with 14.3 and Braden Boyer with 12. The Tigers hold the No. 19 offense, No. 3 defense, and No. 10 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Tuesday at No. 14 Sapulpa (5-2).
The pick: BAHS 60 Sapulpa 57
No. 12 Yukon (14)
Yukon (7-4) won two of three games at the Bishop McGuinness Tournament and took second place last week. They topped Deer Creek (5-6) 64-57 and 5A No. 17 Bishop McGuinness (3-8) 65-58 before falling 72-51 to No. 8 Norman North (6-2) in the finals. The Millers hold the No. 11 offense, No. 18 defense, and No. 14 margin of victory in 6A and will get a rematch against Norman North on their home court Friday.
The pick: Norman North 68 Yukon 65
No. 13 Norman (12)
Norman (6-3) took a slight dip in the rankings after winning two of three games at the Bishop McGuinness Tournament. They topped No. 15 Edmond Memorial (4-6) 41-38 and 5A No. 17 Bishop McGuinness (3-8) 50-48, but fell 70-68 to No. 8 Norman North (6-2). The Tigers hold the No. 14 offense, No. 10 defense, and No. 8 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Tuesday at Mustang (4-4), then will host No. 2 Edmond North (8-1 on Thursday).
The pick: Norman 57 Mustang 52
No. 14 Sapulpa (13)
Sapulpa (5-2) dropped a spot despite a 78-66 win over Newcastle (2-6) in the first round of the Ada Tournament, which was cancelled on day two. The Chieftains hold the No. 6 offense and No. 16 margin of victory in 6A and will host No. 11 Broken Arrow (7-3) Tuesday before traveling to No. 16 Bartlesville (5-4) on Friday.
The pick: Sapulpa 58 Bartlesville 56
No. 15 Lawton (16)
Lawton (5-3) moved up a spot in the rankings despite getting hammered 83-54 by No. 3 Midwest City (9-2). The Wolverines hold the No. 12 offense in 6A and will travel to No. 4 Putnam City West (8-5) Tuesday, then will host No. 20 Putnam City (4-6) on Thursday.
The pick: Putnam City 62 Lawton 60.
No. 16 Bartlesville (17)
Bartlesville (5-4) moved up a spot in the rankings after a second place performance at their home tournament. They defeated Enid (3-10) 63-57 and Southmoore (1-8) 44-36, but fell 63-44 to 5A No. 1 Carl Albert (11-0). Barron Tanner led the team with 14 points per game, followed by A.J. Archambo with 13.3. The Bruins hold the No. 6 defense in 6A and will return to action Tuesday at No. 19 Bixby (4-5) before hosting No. 14 Sapulpa (5-2) on Friday.
The pick: Bartlesville 52 Bixby 51.
No. 17 Edmond Memorial (15)
Edmond Memorial (4-6) had a rough go at the Bishop McGuinness tournament, defeating the OKC Knights (4-12) 79-27, but falling 41-38 to No. 12 Norman (6-3) and 52-51 to unranked Deer Creek (5-6). The Bulldogs hold the No. 2 defense and No. 19 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Tuesday when they host unranked Stillwater (4-6). They will travel to No. 6 Westmoore (10-1) on Thursday.
The pick: EDM 53 Stillwater 49.
No. 18 Sand Springs (19)
Sand Springs (5-4) moved up a spot in the rankings after a bye week. The Sandites hold the No. 16 offense, No. 1 defense, and No. 6 margin of victory in 6A and will travel to No. 9 Muskogee (6-1) on Tuesday, then will host No. 19 Bixby (4-5) on Friday.
The pick: CPHS 58 Bixby 50
No. 19 Bixby (18)
Bixby (4-5) dropped a spot in the rankings after winning only one of three games at the Bartlesville Tournament last week. They fell 79-61 to 5A No. 1 Carl Albert (11-0) and 52-51 to 5A No. 15 Del City (4-6) before topping unranked Enid (3-10) 62-60 in overtime. The Spartans hold the No. 14 defense in 6A and will host No. 16 Bartlesville (5-4) on Tuesday before traveling to No. 18 Sand Springs (5-4) on Friday.
No. 20 Putnam City (unranked)
Putnam City (4-6) entered the rankings after winning one of two games at the Putnam City Invitational last week. They fell 65-56 to No. 7 Putnam West (8-5) and 54-48 to No. 20 Mustang (4-4), but defeated the OKC Storm (16-14) 64-53.
Conference Strength
- Big Ten (52.5)
- Central Oklahoma (46)
- Green Country (45.33)
- Frontier Valley (45.3)
- All-City (31.5)
