Basketball action picks up
The holiday break is over, and high school basketball is in full swing again. See how your favorite team did on Tuesday night.
The winners for the annual Ferguson Jenkins Outstanding Student Athlete Award and the Michele Smith Outstanding Student Athlete Award were recently announced.
The awards are presented annually to the state’s top high school baseball and softball players and coaches based on athletic and scholastic achievement. They will be presented as part of the Warren Spahn Award Gala on Feb. 2 at the Jim Thorpe Museum & Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
Baseball winners include Southmoore’s Conner Uselton, Deer Creek’s Mitchell Stone, Stillwater’s Ryan Vilade, Norman’s Justin Cooke and Heritage Hall’s Roman
Phansalkar. Outstanding coach is Heritage Hall’s Breck
Draper.
Softball winners include the Southmoore trio of Sydney Sherill, Trenity Edwards and Lindsey Stoeckel. Chandler’s Neleigh Herring and Chickasha’s Brighton Gilbert are also winners of the award. Outstanding coach is Southmoore’s Jeff
Small. Chicago Cubs ace Jon
Lester will receive the Warren Spahn Award the same night. The award is presented annually to the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.
Westmoore’s Murcer commits to OU
Westmoore junior Jessi
Murcer is staying close to home. Murcer announced on her Twitter page Sunday night that she had committed to the Oklahoma women’s basketball program. The 5-foot-6 guard has been a prolific scorer for Westmoore since her freshman season. Last season, she averaged 20.9 points while helping Westmoore make the Class 6A state tournament for the first time since 2003.
She entered the season with 968 career points and multiple school records.
Noble’s Moore commits to UCO
Noble star receiver Christian Moore announced over the weekend his commitment to Central Oklahoma, choosing the Bronchos over MIAA rivals Emporia State (Kan.) and Northeastern State.
Moore was one of the state’s top receivers last season and was first team on The Oklahoman’s All-State selections. He caught 72 passes for 1,633 yards and 22 touchdowns while helping Noble make its first playoff appearance since 2007. During the past two seasons, Moore emerged as a prolific receiver with his impressive speed at 6-1 and 175 pounds. In that span, he caught 136 passes for nearly 3,000 yards
and 37 TDs.
Edmond Memorial’s Alli Evans wins Gatorade honor
The Oklahoman’s All-City Volleyball Player of the Year, Edmond Memorial’s Alli
Evans, added another honor to her list as the Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year, the organization announced Tuesday.
Evans, a 6-1 senior who has signed with Tulsa, finished the season with 350 kills, 433 digs, 60 blocks and 42 service aces while leading Edmond Memorial to the Class 6A state championship.
She finished her career with 1,091 kills and 1,220 digs, while maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average in the classroom. She took a two-week mission trip to East Asia last year and has worked in various community service initiatives.
“Alli Evans has been the No. 1 factor for Memorial’s success,” Deer Creek coach
Lisa Polcovich said. “They are a different team without her on the court.”