Oklahoma high school girls basketball: Roundup of Saturday's championship games

The second big weekend of basketball tournaments across the state wrapped up Saturday.

Here's a roundup of girls games across the city.

GIRLS

HARDING CHARTER PREP 51, MCGUINNESS 40

Kendra Gillipsie sized up her defender before making a hard dribble toward the basket. 

She spun to her left, then took a step back toward the center of the lane before picking up her dribble and spinning a layup of her glass with her right hand. It fell in the basket, giving Harding Charter Prep a double-digit lead.

The Class 4A 11th-ranked Eagles got off to a slow start but were the better team the final three quarters in their 51-40 win against Class 5A No. 8 McGuinness in the championship game of the Titan Classic at Carl Albert. Gillipsie was dominant. She earned Tournament Most Valuable Player honors and scored 25 points. 

McGuinness jumped to a quick lead but Gillipsie found her rhythm after the first quarter. She made a couple 3-pointers, was able to make her way inside the lane for easy layups and converted her chances when she went to the free-throw line. 

Harding Charter Prep (12-3 overall) outscored McGuinness each of the final three quarters after trailing by 5 following the first quarter. The Eagles played great defense, forcing turnovers and contesting nearly every shot. 

Raegan Crisp led McGuinness (11-3) with 16 points. 

CLASSEN SAS 51, CHOCTAW 48 

Jordan Harrison made her way to the lane as Classen SAS had a fast break opportunity. The junior guard brought the ball up as if she was going to shoot a layup and then dished it off to Darianna Littlepage-Buggs after drawing the defender to her. Littlepage-Buggs finished at the rim. Harrison’s assists was one of ten for her on Saturday as she made a habit of slicing her way through the Choctaw defense. 

Classen SAS bested undefeated Choctaw 51-48 to win the John Nobles Invitational in overtime at the Douglas H. Frederick Sports Complex. Littlepage-Buggs was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She finished the game 22 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. 

But it was her running mate who fed her all night. Over half of Harrison’s assists were to Littlepage-Buggs and Harrison tallied 11 points, 10 assists and three steals in the championship game. 

“She’s tough and we believe she’s the best point guard in the state of Oklahoma,” Classen SAS head coach Jim Perinovic said of Harrison. “It’s one of those things she comes every night… we’re lucky to have her.”

Classen SAS went into halftime down eight points and it had much to do with Choctaw’s Raven Jackson, finding her shot from deep. She finished with 14 points on four 3-pointers. But after Perinovic made some defensive adjustments, Class 4A No. 1 Classen SAS made its comeback to take the crown and avoid its second loss of the season. 

“That was a fun one, we needed that,” Perinovic said. “We dropped one to [Tulsa] Union last tournament. We had them within two points and two minutes left and lost it so to pull this one out shows a little bit of growth.”

PIEDMONT 57, LAWTON MACARTHUR 46

Piedmont and Lawton MacArthur were trading shots and battling back and forth in the first half of the Otho “Sweet Pea” Curtis Invitational title game. 

But when the third quarter began, Piedmont began to assert its dominance. 

The Class 5A fourth-ranked Wildcats outscored No. 6 Lawton MacArthur by eight points in the quarter and pulled away for a 57-46 victory Saturday night in Newcastle High School’s gymnasium. 

“We did a really good job of taking what was given to us,” Piedmont coach Eric Carr said. “We found the right kid. We found the next pass. We made extra passes.”

Tulsa signee Delanie Crawford led Piedmont (11-4) with 18 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Trinity Harman was the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer with 13 points. 

After a rough start to the season, Piedmont is on a roll. The Wildcats have won nine straight games and won each of their three tournament games by at least 10 points. 

With the loss, Lawton MacArthur fell to 12-5 on the season.