OCS Prevails Against Crooked Oak in High-Energy Affair

Image
  • Luke Gray (25) battles in the post with Pablo Rodriguez (21)
    Luke Gray (25) battles in the post with Pablo Rodriguez (21)
  • Carter Hodson brings the ball up the court
    Carter Hodson brings the ball up the court
  • Karsten Levings prepares to shoot a free throw
    Karsten Levings prepares to shoot a free throw
  • OCS prepares to defend an in-bounds play
    OCS prepares to defend an in-bounds play
Body

Emotions ran high in the gym, but the hosts never wavered.

The Oklahoma Christian School boys’ basketball team never trailed Friday night in a 68-56 win against Crooked Oak in Edmond.

OCS (5-3) scored first and never looked back as the Saints dominated the first quarter.

Crooked Oak (7-6) failed to score until over five and a half minutes into the game.

OCS coach Brandon Weaver called the game sloppy.

“Crooked Oak plays hard, and they just keep coming,” Weaver said. “We had a really good start to the game, but they just kept fighting, really clawed their way back into it.”

Crooked Oak never managed to tie the game but responded well to a poor first quarter. OCS scored the game’s first 13 points and led 23-6 after the first. Crooked Oak finished the first and started the second on a 12-0 run to close the deficit to 23-16, but the Saints were able to keep the Ruf-Nex at arm’s length.

Junior Jon McKee led OCS with 19 points. Freshman Luke Gray followed with 16, and junior Luke Melton had 10.

Gray said he loves having multiple players who can step up and score.

“All those guys are my brothers over there,” Gray said. “They work hard every day. They push me to work hard every day. I love them all the time.”

There were multiple bizarre moments. Between the first and second quarters, the officials realized a scorekeeping error had caused OCS to shoot free throws as if the Saints were in the bonus despite Crooked Oak being one foul short of it. The scoreboard operator took a point off the board to correct the mistake, but the officials insisted the point could not be voided and had it returned to OCS.

Later, there was confusion with who should have the possession arrow when a held ball was called. Then, in the fourth, Gray scored and drew a foul, so he shot a free throw. He missed, but no one reacted. The officials had thought there were two free throws, then realized their mistake and gave the ball to Crooked Oak.

Emotions ran high at times, due in large part to the controversial calls. Trash talking occurred throughout the fourth quarter and after the final horn.

McKee said the Saints had to battle through the emotions.

“We tried to keep our mindset stable throughout the whole thing,” McKee said. “We tried to stay steady during halftime and time outs. Coach said they were going to come out with a lot of energy, which they did. So, we just had to stay stable-minded and keep our energy and keep our cool.”

Fortunately, outside of one shove following a made free throw, things never escalated beyond control as the players mostly kept their cool. Nevertheless, the energy and effort showed for both teams and made for an exciting game.

Sign up for the Free Weekly newsletter

* indicates required