Buck Ringgold: Upcoming Class 4A girls basketball playoffs will definitely be one to watch

The Class 4A Oklahoma prep girls basketball field is stacked, which should set up an entertaining state tournament and title game.

By Buck Ringgold

In slightly less than a month from now, six state basketball champions will be crowned at Oklahoma City's State Fair Arena.

Of those six state championship games scheduled for March 12 at "The Big House," which includes classes 2A through 4A, boys and girls, perhaps the most compelling game might take place in the 4A girls bracket.

Regardless of who the last two teams are that make it through that bracket, both will have definitely earned the right to play 32 more minutes for a gold ball.

The 4A girls tournament field is wide open and there are a bunch of teams more than capable of hoisting the gold ball when all is said and done.

Obviously, the perceived top two favorites going into the 4A playoffs - which start Friday with district games throughout the state - have to be Tuttle and Classen SAS, and with good reason.

Tuttle is the defending 4A state champions and the Lady Tigers return a solid core from that title squad. They include senior forward and Tulsa commit Hadley Periman and junior center Landry Allen, an Oklahoma commit.

The Lady Tigers lost just once all season, to an out-of-state opponent in a tournament in Fort Smith, Ark. They've won 17 straight ballgames, and in 11 of their last 13 wins, they have held their foes to 35 points or less.

Classen SAS brings just as impressive a resume to the 4A big dance. The Lady Comets also have just one loss, coming to an out-of-state foe in the title game of a prestigious tournament in Phoenix, Ariz.

Like Tuttle, SAS boasts star power, especially with three players that have scored at least 1,000 points in their Lady Comets career.

They include Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, the Baylor signee who was picked to play in the McDonald's All-American Game later this year. There's also Jordan Harrison, who set a state girls 5-on-5 record earlier this year with a 74-point performance, as well as Micah Gray.

And, in similar fashion to Tuttle, Classen SAS has been putting the clamps on its opposition. The Lady Comets allowed 69 points total over their past four games.

They also have a chance to bolster their playoff resume even more on Thursday, when they take on 6A top-ranked Edmond North, as Classen SAS drew a bye from this weekend's districts.

But there's a few other teams that can stake its claim at a gold ball in 4A.

Holland Hall owns a win against Tahlequah - now one of the hottest teams in 6A after reaching the 5A title game a season ago - along with two wins against 3A No. 1 Lincoln Christian in a span of 10 days earlier in February.

Weatherford had reeled off 11 straight wins before falling to Tuttle in its regular season finale. In that winning streak, the Lady Eagles beat three 5A schools en route to capturing first place in their own tournament.

Verdigris is riding a 14-game win streak heading into the playoffs. The Lady Cardinals got their latest win Tuesday, 45-36, against Inola in a match-up between two top 10 ranked teams in 4A.

Speaking of Inola, the Lady Longhorns won 10 straight games at one point this season, highlighted by beating another highly ranked 4A team, Fort Gibson, in the finals of the Lady Tigers' own Old Fort Classic last month.

Then speaking of Fort Gibson, you can never count the Lady Tigers out of 4A title contention. The Lady Tigers - who lost to Tuttle in last season's 4A championship game - are bidding for an 18th straight trip to the state tournament, and ended the regular season with eight straight wins.

Yet another 4A team to watch this postseason is Ada, which features a dynamic freshman in guard Sania Richardson and has currently won 14 of its last 15 games. That includes a sweep against McAlester, ranked No. 2 on the East side in 5A.

How deep is 4A? So deep that the No. 11 ranked team in the final OSSAARankings.com poll is Bristow, which stands at 20-1 and comes into the postseason on an 18-game winning streak.

Another example of the depth of this class is Stilwell, which ended the regular season with seven straight wins and won every game in the ultra-competitive NOAA Conference. And the Lady Indians ended up No. 15 in the final rankings.

Remember in 2019, when Anadarko defeated Muldrow for the 4A title? Those two teams aren't quite what they were three years ago, but both teams are ranked in the top 15 and are more than capable of making a run to state.

And while Kingfisher's boys have been dominant the past few seasons, the Kingfisher girls are making a name for themselves, entering the postseason 18-4, having won six of its last seven regular-season games.

So starting this weekend, I am definitely going to be keeping close tabs on the 4A girls teams' respective road to "The Big House." The regional and area rounds should be full of great games, and likewise the 4A state tournament itself should be highly entertaining.

I wouldn't be surprised if Tuttle and Classen SAS end up meeting for the title, but I also won't be shocked if there's someone else instead.

Either way, sign me up to be there front and center when the ball tips off for the 4A girls title on Championship Saturday.