Edmond North Boys Repeat as Champions

The Huskies of Edmond North defeated the Broken Arrow Tigers in the Class 6A boys finals, 58-49. The win marked a clean sweep of 6A basketball for Edmond North High School.

Repeating as a champion is never an easy task. Edmond North head coach Scott Norris, in his fifth season, knew the expectations were high coming into the season.

“We had high expectations going into the season. We returned everyone but one player from the year before. We had a lot of outside noise that said we should repeat easily and anything short of another championship would be a disappointment. I was proud of our team for just focusing on the daily habits that it takes to be a championship team,” said Norris.

The team stayed focused during the season and played consistent basketball. Coach Norris said the team always found a way to win.

“Defensively, we were very sound the whole season. Our guys always continued to work and try to improve. I felt we were never satisfied with how we played and always knew we could improve. Late in the season we had some very close games that could have gone either way. Our team always found a way to get the win. We battled some injuries but always stayed focused on getting better today. The championship game against Broken Arrow in the second half was our best defensive effort of the season. Our guys made a lot of great plays on the defensive end of the floor,” said Norris.

Dylan Warlick ended the season as a two-time state tournament MVP. Warlick was a force all season. TO Barrett put in another stellar year for the Huskies. Barrett shouldered the load offensively early in the season and remained a fierce competitor throughout the year.

“TO hit some big shots against Broken Arrow and was a good play maker for others,” said Norris.

TJ Strong averaged double figures in the last 10 games of the season according to coach Norris. Strong’s leadership and toughness set the tone. Dontrell Yearby was another great defender, ball handler, and was a consistent three-point shooter. 

“Bryce Potts and Xavier Ross were huge inside players for us. Very physical and made it extremely hard for people to score in the lane. Both, at times, had very good nights offensively for us,” said Norris.

Tatum Ridge played his best game of the year in the championship game against Broken Arrow. Coach Norris said his spark off the bench was huge for the Huskies all season.

Managing expectations is something this team did extremely well – a fact not lost on coach Norris.

“High expectations were our biggest challenge. We had to change our mindset from being scared to fail to making sure we were hunting another championship. We weren’t defending our 2022 championship. No one could take that from us. We had to be hungry for another. We wanted to be hungry every day,” said Norris.

The team will return all but one player next season. No 6A team has ever won three championships in a row. Yet.