TULSA – Dale’s basketball team established itself in the Tournament of Champions record books Thursday evening in defeating 4A No. 2 Crossings Christian 70-55 in the semifinal game at the BOK Center.
Before Dale’s win, a 2A team had not advanced to the T.of.C finals since 1979 (the largest classification at the time was 4A). The feat had never been achieved since the inceptions of 5A and 6A.
“We’ve wanted this opportunity to prove how good we are against these bigger schools,” said Dale junior guard Dayton Forsythe, who led all scorers with 27 points. “I don’t know if other people did (expect us to win), but I know we did.”
“We were happy to be invited to such a prestigious tournament. These kids have grown up in gyms playing a lot of basketball, so they know all about the Tournament of Champions,” Dale coach Edmonson said. “They kind of always talked about doing it, even when we were playing back in the second and third grade.”
The defending state champions will play 5A No. 1 Tulsa Memorial for the 57th T.of.C title at 8:30 Friday night. A win would make Dale the first 2A team to win the T.of.C since Fort Towson in 1973.
Primetime Forsythe
Thursday was not Forsythe’s first time leading Dale through an elimination game; he dropped 37 as the Pirates defeated Cashion in the 2A state championship in March, hence why Edmonson was not surprised when the Division I prospect pioneered Dale through an early deficit.
“He (Forsythe) steps up big in big games, just like all the great players always do,” Edmonson said.
The Pirates squeaked by the Knights on a late first-half run to enter the break leading by 3.
Midway through the third quarter, Forsythe went on a 7-3 run against the entire Crossings team to lift Dale to a 10-point lead. Dale’s defense jammed the Knights on the opposite end of the floor. They struggled to respond.
“We started flying around on defense and trusting each other,” Forsythe said.
The Pirates were not yet out of the woods. A Crossings run late in the third quarter cut Dale’s lead to 1.
Jones provides late spark
Deken Jones, who had been held to a single free throw all night, responded. The Dale junior guard scored 13 points in the fourth quarter alone to maintain and extend Dale’s cushion.
“(Jones) really came out and just kept playing hard and finally, in the fourth quarter, reaped the benefits,” Edmonson said. “He had some big finishes and hit a lot of free throws and got some steals.”
“That was big. He was down on himself at halftime. We were all telling him to keep doing what he was doing. It was going to work out just fine,” Forsythe said. “He came up big. I’m proud of him, for sure.”
Sophomore forward Trayden Chambers scored 22 points in the win.
