Moore Super Scrimmage: What we Learned

The Moore Super Scrimmage was this last weekend and we saw a lot of really good basketball played across multiple subsites. I was at the Moore High main site so I primarily seen action in Class 3A up to Class 6A.

The one scrimmage that caught my eye was Edmond Memorial and Bixby, While the Lady Spartans won both halves the Lady Bulldogs looked like a team that will be a force to be reckon with in Class 6A, Both teams had a lot of length in the starting five, For Edmond Memorial their frontcourt of Makenna Hall and Avery Hjelmstad can space the floor and you have Hall who is looking to defend the post and get boards while Hjelmstad can do a little bit of everything, The backcourt duo of Baylor Franz and Janiyah Williams along with a skilled wing player in Kaitlyn Berry makes for a really good defensive unit as well as a good scoring trio as well, On the other side of things for Bixby they return all five starters from last year’s team that made it to the title game for the second consecutive year, The backcourt of Gracy Wernli and Gentry Baldwin is really quick on both ends of the floor and will look to either space the floor and get the open shot from range or get it down low to the posts, Alyssa Nielsen is one of those hybrid wing/post players that can do a little bit of everything from post up to look for the midrange shot where she excelled in last season while down low in the post you have Meredith Mayes who is one of the best post players in the State, Similar to Makenna Hall for Edmond Memorial she defends the post and gets boards really well and is a really efficient scorer. There’s no doubt these two teams will meet again in the postseason but they could possibly matchup in the Bixby Tournament in a few weeks.

The Washington Lady Warriors are definitely a team I think could surprise a lot of people in Class 3A this year, In their three scrimmages they held their own against two time defending state champion Jones as well as a young Silo team and they couldn’t miss in their opening scrimmage against Comanche, The team overall had a lot of freshman that was very talented, Kelby Beller and Preslee Johnson was two players that stood out in all three scrimmages. The team overall spaces the floor really well and I look for them to make a deep run this year and it will be interesting to see how they do this season.

The Jones Lady Longhorns return everything from last year’s team and will be the favorite to win it once again. They looked the part in all three scrimmages and they have more depth to go along with the current core. The backcourt of Zoe Tucker and Boston Berry is one of the best in Class 3A and can play really good defense and score efficiently. Sofi Woodson in the post is a really good defender and can get boards and score. They will look to go for the three-peat this season

The Edmond North Lady Huskies are the defending state champion in Class 6A and despite losing three starters from a year ago they are primed to defend the 6A crown this year. They return Laci Steele and Elle Papahronis as well as Allison Heathcock, Kate Melton and KK Peeler. The Lady Huskies looked really good in their scrimmages against Classen SAS, Bethany and Lincoln Christian and it will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds as we go in the season and one other thing to note they are in the Bixby Tournament with Edmond Memorial and Bixby so you could have two potential state tournament matchups along with two matchups with Memorial in regular season.

There are quite a few teams here I think will definitely be in contention, Bethany looked legit and could very well be a favorite in 4A this year with them having everything back including Keziah Lofton and the Vann sisters who came in from Southmoore, Lincoln Christian will once again be a force this season, Their duo of Ellie Bruggeman and Audrey Hopkins can do a little bit of everything, Ada is a young team overall but they are quick and really good defensively and Saniah Richardson is one of the top guards in the state. Moore was another team that looked really young but looked good all around. Silo is in Class 3A for the first time and on paper they are young but have one of the best post players in Tiani Ellison and I look for them to make some noise in the class, Classen SAS was probably the youngest team there and with them only having two returning starters it will be interesting to see how they do this year. Comanche like Classen SAS had a young core but had a veteran point guard. Broken Arrow is another young team in 6A I could see making a run in the east, They have length and depth and like Moore they could be a tough out in the playouts. Ft. Gibson will be a definite darkhorse in Class 4A with pretty much everyone back including their post player in Laynee Stanley.

I think it’s gonna be really interesting to see what all the teams this season and I’m looking forward to seeing the road to the gold ball in postseason later on down the road.