Oklahoma 4A Boys Basketball Playoffs Projections
The time has finally arrived. This weekend, District matchups kick things off for the postseason here in Oklahoma 4A basketball. Throughout the season we’ve seen some powerhouses, some struggle buses, and some sleepers. In this article, I’m going to highlight who I think will make a deep run or some noise within the next couple of weeks.
Area I - #2 Cascia Hall & #11 Bethany
Starting with Area I, there are 5 teams ranked in the Top 20 competing for the two slots in the State Championship. The area is led by #2 ranked Cascia Hall who has had a dominant season with over twenty wins and very few losses. Right behind them is the Weatherford Eagles, the reigning state champs, who have proven they want two in a row, even without three key players from last year who are now playing at the next level. Cascia will coast to the Regional Finals but the team they play there can be tricky. It will be either Holland Hall (12-11) or Inola (19-4). With Holland Hall’s rigorous schedule compared to Grove’s, I have them winning in Districts. Grove struggled to beat the JV team from Jenks. Holland Hall has played a total of 12 ranked opponents and beaten the varsity squad from Jenks. Holland Hall actually gave Inola one of their four losses earlier in the season at the Locust Grove Tournament in the Championship by a score of 56-54. The Longhorns will definitely be looking to redeem themselves of that loss and it is very hard to beat a team twice.
Moving on to the other side of the bracket in Area I, we will see a very good ranked matchup to start the Regionals with #11 Bethany taking on #14 OCS in Broncho territory. I have Bethany winning this one and finding themselves in the Regionals Finals against #6 Weatherford in the Eagle’s Nest. Both squads will have huge momentum going into this one but I think Weatherford stays strong and avoids the upset. After all, the two did matchup recently where the Eagles won in a low scoring game of 46-31.
The Area bracket will be very interesting. The Area Championship will be Cascia Hall vs Weatherford where the Eagles will put up a good fight but just not enough for the versatile and relentless Cascia Hall squad. The games leading up to the Area Consolation game though will even more entertaining as you’ll have Inola (Runner Up) vs OCS (Consolation Champ) and Bethany (Runner Up) vs Holland Hall (Consolation Champ). I think the Saints will benefit from their more difficult schedule and beat the Longhorns to advance. Bethany should handle the Dutch fairly well and find themselves against OCS the next game where again, the Bronchos keep moving on. They will then proceed to play Weatherford for the 3rd time this season where I have Bethany finally breaking free and pulling off the upset in an OT thriller to punch their ticket to State.
Area II - #1 Douglass & #7 Blanchard
The clear favorite here to win in Area II is the #1 ranked Douglass Trojans. The question is who is going to join them at State? In the upper bracket, it will be between Ardmore (16-6) and Lone Grove (15-7) to see who tries to withstand Douglass in the Winner’s Bracket. Ardmore has a strong schedule where their losses were to some tough teams. They’ll find themselves as the Runner Up and Lone Grove should prevail in the Consolation Bracket against Plainview again.
On the other side of the bracket, you have a ranked team or great game in each District. That’s 4 ranked teams battling for one final spot. Bridge Creek (14-9) hosts Byng (15-9) to start things off and this game will be a good one. Both squads don’t have that difficult of schedules with very few ranked matchups. Byng is no stranger to making noise in the postseason so I think they’ll go into Bobcat territory and make a statement win. Tecumseh faces off against McLoud for the third time this season where the series is split 1-1. Tecumseh won at home so I think McLoud does the same at their place with their packed crowd. #9 Ada will crush Madill (8-14) and same thing for #7 Blanchard who will do the same against Elgin (2-16). Blanchard will then take care of business against Byng advancing to the Regional Finals against Ada, creating one of the biggest games of the playoffs so far. Blanchard has a highly versatile group who excel at both sides of the ball so I think they will pull off the win here moving on to face Douglass in the Area Championship.
Douglass will for sure dominate that game and advance to State leaving Blanchard with a redemption opportunity to go back to the State Tournament after qualifying last year. The 4 teams competing for that final spot against Blanchard will create some good games. Ardmore (Runner Up) will face McLoud (Consolation Champ) and Ada (Runner Up) will play Lone Grove (Consolation Champ). It will be a very good game of Ardmore vs Ada and it could go either way. I do predict Ada to keep their dreams alive in an action-filled victory, advancing to play Blanchard yet again, where Blanchard will stay alive thanks to their senior floor general Emory Smalley.
Area III - #3 Crossings Christian & #5 Ft. Gibson
I would say that this is another area with a clear choice to win but with the recent injury of Crossings Christian’s best player, Braden Buckingham, the door is wide open for another team. In Area III there are 5 ranked teams but only one in the Top 12: Crossings Christian. CCS has had an abundance of recent success throughout the last seasons with several appearances in State Tournament and Championship. However, they did just lose their leading scorer to a hand injury. Luckily, the squad has already had several guys step up these last few weeks propelling the Knights to keep the winning streak going of nine games in a row. They’ll matchup against either Chickasha (13-11) or Western Heights (16-6). The Jets have had a pretty tough schedule this season with five games against ranked opponents and a handful against teams in a higher class. We’ll get a good Regionals opener with Purcell (17-7) taking on #13 Mount St. Mary where I predict the Rockets to survive in a close match. Crossings will get a good test by Western Heights but if their guys continue to rise to the challenge, they will win and advance to face Mount St. Mary in another true test. As much as I like this Rockets team to make noise here, they are 0-8 this season against Top 5 ranked teams. Crossings is my pick still to clench a berth to the Area Finals.
On the upper side of the bracket, you have #5 Ft. Gibson, #15 Broken Bow, and #19 Muldrow battling it out. Ft. Gibson and Broken Bow will meet each other in the Regional Finals, where Ft. Gibson will survive and meet Crossings in the Area Finals. Broken Bow will be the runner up but Muldrow could find themselves getting upset in the consolation as they have already lost to Sallisaw (12-10) earlier in the season. The series is tied 1-1 for the season. Muldrow did win by twenty points though for the first meeting. I predict Muldrow to benefit from their home crowd and advance to Area.
To start things off for the Area finale, Broken Bow (Runner Up) will face Western Heights (Consolation Champ) and Mount St. Mary (Runner Up) will see themselves against Muldrow (Consolation Champ). Here, I think Western Heights is a dark horse and they pull off the upset against Broken Bow, moving up in the bracket. Mount St. Mary should be fine here against Muldrow where they will then face the Jets for the chance at the last spot in the State Tournament. I have the Rockets staying alive in this one and earning a shot at state against either Crossings or Ft. Gibson. I predict a little bit of chaos here as I think Ft. Gibson upsets the Knights earning another trip to State. If Buckingham is not back by now, it could be trouble here for Crossings. However, I strongly believe they will pull it off thanks to the help of Slade Black and Bo Barber, two key pieces in the recent wins.
Area IV - #4 North Rock Creek & #8 Catoosa
Again, this area we could see some chaos ensue as there are some ranked teams in here but they have had close calls with unranked opponents. Starting with a Conference matchup of #12 Perkins-Tryon hosting the Berryhill Chiefs (9-14). The two have faced off twice this year with both games going in favor of the Demons. However, each contest was a close one as Berryhill lost by 7 the first time and only 2 the second time. If the Chiefs can pull off this one, they set themselves up for a decent run and a good shot at Area. Skiatook has really turned their program around as they have a winning record again this season and will coast by Locust Grove in Districts. The Catoosa vs Metro Christian game could be interesting. The Indians are undefeated and are an electric team. Each player can contribute at high levels. Freshman guard RJ Hall dropped nearly 30 points against Top 10 ranked Ft. Gibson. Junior guard TJ Hooks just dropped nearly 30 points as well against Wagoner last week. Junior guard Ryder Phillips had 20 points against Wagoner as well. They all can go. The Patriots will put up a fight though. They have been streaky all season but are coming off a big win against top ranked 3A Victory Christian by almost 30 points. I do have Catoosa staying strong with a big game from every guy on their squad. The McLain Titans are a dark horse in this side of the bracket. They have had a tough schedule and have managed to end with a 16-8 record. It is important to note that they did lose by almost 30 to Catoosa earlier in the season, as the two could meet in Regionals. I do have Berryhill pulling off the upset against Perkins-Tryon but falling short to McLain. Catoosa will win a solid matchup against Skiatook then add another win to the belt against McLain, earning a trip to the Area Finals. The consolation bracket will be interesting though with ranked Perkins-Tryon in there battling it out with Skiatook, Metro Christian, and Berryhill again. I think the consolation finals will be Perkins-Tryon and Berryhill again for the fourth matchup of the year. The Demons have already proved they can beat a team twice and I think they prove they can follow through with the third, advancing to Area.
The other side of the bracket will have almost the same level of chaos as you have two top 10 ranked teams competing for the Area Finals slot against Catoosa. Tulsa Central will travel to Mannford and pull off the win there. They are coming off a big rivalry win against McLain last week. The Kingfisher vs Cushing game could be interesting. Cushing is a team that can heat up quickly and stay hot from beyond the arc. However, they have also shown that they are vulnerable with losses to teams they should have beaten. We have another conference matchup between Cleveland (14-8) and Bristow (5-18). The Tigers have had a solid season with some good wins so they will take care of business here. North Rock Creek has had a tremendous season and they are eager to get to the state tournament. They win an easy one against Seminole. The Cougars will have a decent matchup against Tulsa Central but will get the job done to get to the Regional Finals. Cleveland will fall short of the #10 ranked Yellow Jackets creating a very good Regional Finals matchup in which I do have North Rock Creek surviving in, earning a trip to the Area Finals.
The Area bracket will start out with McLain (Runner Up) taking on Perkins-Tryon (Consolation Champ) in a close game where McLain will pull off the upset against the Demons. Next will be Kingfisher (Runner Up) battling Tulsa Central (Consolation Champ) where I have another Tulsa team with another upset, beating the top 10 ranked squad. This creates a huge matchup of a rivalry to decide who gets the last chance at going to the Area Consolation. The season series is tied 1-1 and I have the McLain Titans taking the victory in a heated matchup. They will take on the loser of the Top 8 matchup between Catoosa and North Rock Creek, which could be either team. I have Catoosa winning this one as they are just loaded with talent and ability to take over a game. North Rock Creek will survive though against McLain earning a trip to state.
