Parks scores 51, leads Norman past Midwest City
NORMAN — The Norman girls’ basketball team has just one player with previous varsity experience.
But oh, what a player she is.
“I had a lot of confidence and I feel like my team trusted me a lot,” Norman junior guard Keeley Parks said after scoring an astounding 51 points in the Tigers’ 63-61 overtime victory against Midwest City in the semifinals of the Joe Lawson Tournament Friday night at Norman High School. “I just keep going and doing my game.”
Parks’ 51 points established the single-game school record for Norman High, an incredible achievement for a Tigers’ program that has six state titles over the past three decades. Parks drilled six 3-point baskets and accounted for all but 12 of Norman’s 63 points, a disparity that her coach and father, Frankie Parks, expects to even out a little more as the rest of his roster accumulates experience.
“Sometimes when a kid has got it going, you kind of just ride the wave until it dissipates,” Frankie Parks said. “Her teammates put her in a good position. They believe in her. We have just got a great team and they care about each other. They play hard, they play together and they play for each other.”
With the game tied at 61-all in the final seconds of overtime, Keeley Parks added ‘clutch’ to her robust list of superlatives. As she cut through the Midwest City defense on her way to the basket, the ball nearly got away. Parks was able to collect herself, corral the ball and stepped back for a short bucket that gave her team the lead with less than three seconds to go.
“I was just trying to score,” Keeley Parks said. “I came off the screen and then I attacked and then almost turned it over. I quickly picked it out kind of threw it up there, hoping it would go in.”
The victory was the third in the first five games of the season for Norman, which finished last year at 22-5 and the runner-up in Class 6A. That type of resume will undoubtedly produce a target on the backs of the Tigers despite a quartet of new starters in sophomore Ady Hybl and juniors Destinee Deer, Bailey Johnson and Gaby Lee.
“Everyone comes out against us and plays their best game,” Keeley Parks said. “But we are getting better every game, too.”
Parks’ record-setting night will likely come as no surprise to the host of Division-I colleges that have already extended her scholarship offers, a list that includes Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, a pair of Ivy League schools in Harvard and Penn and current top-25 programs like Baylor, Colorado and Virginia Tech.
“Probably a top 10, 12 (list) soon,” Keeley Parks promised.
Senior De’Yanna Douglas scored 24 points for Midwest City (3-1).
Norman advanced to Saturday night’s final against Putnam City North.
“Compete with each other,” Coach Parks said. “Right now, obviously they are on a pretty good high and I think they will carry that into tomorrow’s games because we are defending champs in this tournament.”
Norman boys also advance
“A little smaller and faster.” Norman boys’ basketball senior Trashaun Combs-Pierce offered up that description of how the current Tigers differ from the bunch that reached the Class 6A state tournament last season.
“More mobile,” Combs-Pierce said. “Last year, we were tall and long, slower than a lot of teams. It is just good that we can speed teams up, play faster and not have to play slow. Get out in transition.”
In the Tigers’ 46-29 victory over Putnam City North in the semifinals of the Joe Lawson Tournament Friday night at Norman High School, they seemed fairly versatile, too. With 11 points, CombsPierce was one of three players that scored in double figures as junior Isaiah Amous led Norman with 13 points and senior Tony Jefferson registered 12 via four 3-point baskets.
“Our guys are selfless,” Norman coach Cory Cole said. “They share the sugar. We’re just a team that has a lot of different weapons and one of the best players in the state with Trashaun. He does everything. Isaiah Amous stepped up tonight, was huge in the post against a really good interior defense. It is just our balance. Our guys really fit together.”
The Tigers used a 15-2 explosion in the second quarter to take control of the contest.