Oklahoma high school basketball: Takeaways from second day of Bishop McGuinness Classic

The 64th annual Bishop McGuinness Classic continued on Friday evening. Here's a recap of the second-round of action.

More: Oklahoma high school basketball: Takeaways from McGuinness Classic quarterfinals

Edmond Memorial 47, Deer Creek 44

Although Hudson Franz was tense in the final moments, he leaned onto his initial intuition.

After picking up on how Deer Creek's defense began to guard him while trailing at the start of the fourth quarter, he came to coach Shane Cowherd with a proposal during the game's climax.

"He wanted to see if a different look would be available instead of my original play call after noticing how they were playing him," Cowherd said. "It was a pretty stinking good play call by him."

After Deer Creek guard Clyde Davis Jr. drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 44 with a minute remaining, the Bulldogs came down the floor with a sense of urgency. Franz manipulated his defender as if he was popping behind the arc before jetting toward the rim as forward Brady Hancuff found him on the cut to score with 12 seconds remaining.

"Hudson came through for us with flying colors," Cowherd continued. " For him to respond that way — especially being a sophomore — to have the wherewithal to understand the next play before we were even in that situation was a huge show of growth and maturity from him."

Franz's layup was the eventual game-winning bucket as the Bulldogs defeated Deer Creek 47-44 to advance to the McGuinness Classic Championship game. The two teams faced off in a rematch of last year's first-round matchup, in which the Antlers emerged victorious en route to winning the tournament championship.

Edmond Memorial trailed the Antlers by eight heading into the final quarter before Franz scored seven of his game-high 19 points in the fourth to spark the comeback effort.

"I just knew they were going to overplay me down the stretch, so I told coach my read, and he trusted me," Franz said.

"That's just the trust he and I have player-to-coach, so we got the job done. At the end of the third quarter, we all came together and discussed being more physical and communicating better. Especially when the gym is as loud as it was tonight, we have to lean on one another in those moments to come out on top."

The Class 6A rivals did not disappoint crowdgoers in their season's first matchup.

After a defensive first half ended with Deer Creek leading by just one point, the Antlers seemed to spark momentum early out of the halftime break. Davis Jr. caught fire in the third quarter, scoring seven of his 13 points to extend the Antlers' lead to five heading into the final quarter.

However, the Bulldogs stepped up again down the stretch, forcing repeated turnovers which led to free transition points. Edmond Memorial outscored Deer Creek 15-7 in the final quarter and stripped Davis Jr. in the last seconds to improve to 8-3.

"As we grow, you can start to see little glimpses right now of what I foresee happening in March," Cowherd said. "And we're still a long way away from that, but I like where we're going. So my challenge to them is to stay consistent with pursuing more teamwork."

More: Oklahoma high school basketball: Takeaways from second day of Putnam City Invitational

Choctaw 64, Edmond Santa Fe 49

Before Camden Hyman knew it, he was thrust back into the fire.

He missed multiple weeks of practice during winter break due to an ankle injury. However, Hyman returned to the rotation as if he'd never left — stepping up to the plate when his Yellowjackets needed him most.

Hyman scored 20 points for Choctaw, leading them to a 64-49 win over Edmond Santa Fe to advance to the McGuinness Classic Championship game. The senior guard also played an immense role in the Yellowjackets' first-round win over Del City, scoring 15 points and dishing out seven assists in his first game since returning from injury.

"Since I've come back, I've tried my best to switch up my mindset and be ready to shoot the ball," Hyman said, "But since I play with such great players, there are times where I can put my teammates in position to score too, so why not?"

Choctaw possessed a heightened sense of urgency out of the gate after failing to do so against Del City in the quarterfinals. Hyman and teammate Ja'Mon Valentine were in a zone following tip-off as the duo combined for 25 of the Yellowjackets' 35 first-half points and outscored the Wolves, who had scored just 22 points as a team by halftime.

Their stifling defense continued to force a profusion of Wolves turnovers, which converted to additional fastbreak points in the Yellowjackets' favor.

"It's always fun to play with a talent like Ja'Mon," Hyman said. "When we get going, we're hard to stop. I love our dynamic. I try not to take playing with a guy like that for granted."

Choctaw would extend their lead to 16 by the end of the third quarter as their defense continued to get stops on the other end. Valentine finished with 17 points, while his younger brother, Jordan, scored nine of his 12 points out of the halftime break to help the Yellowjackets improve to 7-1.

Head coach Jermaine Simpson viewed the McGuinness Classic as the perfect opportunity for the team to build further continuity heading into the full swing of the season. Through the tournament's first two days, it appears his group has fully bought into his next-play mentality.

"We've been off almost a month since our last game," Simpson said. "Trying to simulate true game action in practice has been tough, so we used that first game to get our juices back flowing. It's fun for us, man. I love to compete, and so do our guys. We're looking forward to tomorrow's challenge and hope to hoist that trophy."

Choctaw will face off against Edmond Memorial in the McGuinness Classic Championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Yellowjackets look to win the annual tournament for the first time in program history, while Edmond Memorial is seeking its fourth tournament trophy in nine years.

Jordan Davis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Jordan? He can be reached at jdavis@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jdavis34_. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Jordan’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school basketball: McGuinness Classic Day 2 roundup