'Never gets old': Fort Cobb-Broxton wins Class B boys basketball title, first since 2018

As time melted off the clock, Fort Cobb-Broxton’s starters realized they had only a few seconds to formulate a plan.

Junior forward Blayke Nunn admitted he wasn’t sure how it would go. As hometown fans enthusiastically waved blue metallic pom poms behind them, Nunn and his teammates started screaming out ideas.

How were they supposed to dogpile on the wooden court at State Fair Arena?

“We knew immediately we were going to center court,” Nunn said, “and we were just jumping all over each other.”

The top-ranked Fort Cobb-Broxton boys basketball team capped a magnificent season with a grand celebration after defeating Calumet, 68-52, in the Class B state finals Saturday afternoon in State Fair Arena. The Mustangs swarmed the court, and senior guard Jaxon Willits practically flew into the pile, spreading his arms as he took a big leap.

“It never gets old,” said coach Scott Hines, who added that he was tempted to jump in. “I don’t care how many times you’ve done this, it’s so special. It’s always a different group of kids, and it’s hard to put in words how special it is.”

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Fort Cobb-Broxton has captured eight boys basketball state titles, and Hines has led all of those teams.

Through recent years, the Mustangs have navigated hardship together. Just before this year’s tournament, the Willits brothers’ home was damaged on a night when multiple tornadoes popped up in Oklahoma. In 2020, Hines had a life-threatening bout with COVID-19 and pneumonia, and he also said he lost his father in a boating accident about a year and a half ago.

This was Hines’ first time to win state without his “best friend,” and he said it was tough, wiping tears from his eyes. But his dad taught him the value of hard work, and he shared that mission with the Mustangs throughout the season.

Hines reached the milestone of 700 career victories this year. Fort-Cobb Broxton (29-1) won every game except for a 52-49 clash with top-10 Class 4A team Newcastle.

And the Mustangs’ postgame jubilee at state reflected the way they claimed their first championship since 2018: as a dynamic, tight-knit unit.

Fort Cobb-Broxton ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run and never surrendered their lead, using lockdown defense and balanced offense as their cornerstones. Four Mustangs scored in double figures. Jaxon Willits turned in 14 points, freshman brother Eli Willits added 11 and senior guard Simeon Collins had 10.

But the Mustangs’ leading scorer was Nunn, who poured in 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. After a couple of quiet games in the quarterfinals and semifinals, the 6-foot-2 post ended the season with a statement. Along with leading Fort-Cobb Broxton in the paint, he went 3 for 3 from 3-point range.

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“It was awesome,” Nunn said. “Everybody was telling me I can’t shoot 3’s, so I had to prove them wrong.”

But Hines said he knows Nunn’s capabilities. He also knows the leadership of junior guard Kray Rogers, who added only six points but impacted the game in a huge way, recording game highs of 11 rebounds and seven assists.

“We had an idea that (Calumet was) going to come in, and they were gonna face guard me,” Rogers said. “I knew that I had teammates like Eli and Jaxon and all of them that can score. … It worked out perfect.”

Junior guard Dalton Belcher led fourth-ranked Calumet (28-2) with 19 points while Hunter Arnold added 10, but the team went through significant scoring droughts as the Mustangs’ defense maintained its focus. With a sizable lead, Fort Cobb-Broxton’s starters retired to the bench in the final minute.

They used that time to orchestrate their dogpile, which was a little more complicated than the baseball dogpile several of them had joined after winning a state title last fall.

Then they celebrated together.

“They are tight on and off the court,” Hines said. “You see one of them, you see about five or six of them all together.

“As you’re team building as a coach, you try to nurture that, but I really didn’t have to this year. These guys love each other.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSSAA Class B boys basketball: Fort Cobb-Broxton wins state title