The Carl Albert boys took third place in the MidFirst Warrior Classic over the weekend after a couple of gritty performances.

The Titans had very limited services from forward Hayden Howell due to the flu. He missed all of the first game, didn’t start, and was limited in day two of action and got into foul trouble in day three that limited his play.

Still, the Titans, ranked third in 5A, put together a three-day run that they can be proud of.

It started last Thursday with a resounding win over the homeschool Oklahoma City Storm North team by a score of 77-48.

The scrappy OKC Storm North team is a young bunch who took to Carl Albert early, but Carl Albert would eventually gain control of the ball game and never look back.
Carl Albert Head Coach Jay Price thought they handled the first night very well. It would have been easy for Carl Albert to look ahead to a probable second day matchup with the No. 2 team in 4A host Anadarko, but Carl Albert buckled down to handily defeat the upstart Storm squad.

Carl Albert wanted a match up with the Anadarko Warriors in day two and they got their wish. It was a sluggish start for Carl Albert, who got down early to the home team. They would come back to tie the game going into the half.

However, they would again be trailing by the end of third quarter. Carl Albert erased a 9-point Anadarko lead in the fourth quarter to take the lead. It wasn’t meant to be on this night for Carl Albert as the Warriors came back late to edge out the Titans 43-42.

It was a tough loss for Carl Albert but Coach Price thinks it’ll pay dividends for them down the road.

With a chance to win the tournament out of reach, the Titans returned on day three to see if they could take third place against the 4A’s 20th ranked Star Spencer Bobcats.

Carl Albert got off to a big lead early, but if Carl Albert expected Star Spencer to fold up, they had another thing coming to them.

The Bobcats fought back with some scrappy play and great shooting. They even had the Titans down at multiple points in the fourth quarter. Yet, Carl Albert was able to pull out the victory 63-61.

Carl Albert forward Cameron Warren had a huge tournament with back-to-back-to-back double-doubles. He scored 28 against the Storm, 24 against Anadarko and 32 against Star Spencer. All-tournament selections weren’t handed out, but it’s safe to assume Warren would have gone home with one if they had.

Coach Price said he was happy with the tournament because they gained some valuable experience on the road against a quality opponent in a hostile environment. He still thinks they have a bit of a ways to go to be where they need to be.

They are still working through getting their guard experience and to play more
consistent.

Carl Albert plays again at Harrah Tuesday, Jan 21.