Memorial, North and OCS survived and advanced, while Deer Creek saw the end of its season
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Edmond Memorial’s Ciaran Pedulla pushes the ball up court through the Deer Creek defense Wednesday morning during the first round of the state tournament. Photo by Drew Harmon.
The opening rounds of the 2024 OSSAA State basketball tournaments kicked off Tuesday and three Edmond-area boys’ teams emerged victorious to advance to the semifinal round of their respective brackets.
Edmond Memorial, Edmond North and Oklahoma Christian School each found wins in their first round matchups and are two victories closer to winning a state title.
Deer Creek, however, played their final game of the season after narrowly losing to cross-town foe Edmond Memorial at OU’s Lloyd Noble Center. The Bulldogs pulled out a 54-49 win thanks to a big second half from Ciaran Pedulla and Hudson Franz, as well as a stellar defensive effort in the fourth quarter, allowing just four points to the Antlers.
Down 52-49 in the closing seconds, Deer Creek had an opportunity to tie the game and play for overtime, but Hudson Linsenmeyer couldn’t convert the three, leading to the Antlers’ first loss in over a month.
On top of finishing with a team-high 15 points, Ciaran Pedulla nailed the game-sealing free throws to send Memorial to the 6A semifinals for a matchup with Edmond North. It’s the Bulldogs’ first tournament win since 2021.
The Antlers finish the season 21-6 with their second-consecutive state tournament appearance, although the program has yet to pick up a tournament win since 2015.
Speaking of Edmond North, the defending state-champion Huskies played Westmoore in the following game Wednesday, winning 55-50 over the Jaguars to make the 6A semifinals for the fourth-straight year.
North senior Dylan Warlick put on a scoring clinic in this one with a game-high 23 points as well as nine rebounds. The University of Wyoming commit got whatever he wanted offensively while making life hard for Westmoore on the defensive end.
Westmoore remained competitive even late into the game, trailing by just a point entering the fourth quarter at 37-36. However, they failed to keep Warlick and the rest of the Huskies off the free-throw line in the final period, resulting in a five-point win for coach Scott Norris’ squad.
Finally, Oklahoma Christian School moved on to the semifinal round of the Class 3A state playoffs after downing Kellyville, 75-51, in round one Tuesday. Carson Jones put up 24 points and Luke Gray scored 19 with nine rebounds as the Saints won their sixth game in a row by 15-or-more points.
All three local teams moving on to the next round will play on Friday for a shot at their respective state title games. Edmond Memorial and Edmond North face off against each other at 10:30 A.M inside the Lloyd Noble Center, while OCS takes on Cascia Hall at 2 P.M. at Yukon High School.