Another strong field in store for this year's Mustang Bank 7 Holiday Classic basketball tournament
MUSTANG, OKLAHOMA - When Mustang athletic director Robert Foreman is putting together the field for the annual Bank 7 Holiday Classic, it has become obvious he isn’t looking for any cupcakes.
Each year, the bracket gets stronger and tougher.
When the Classic tips off Thursday at the Mustang Activities Center, it will once again have one of the toughest fields of any basketball tournament in the state, according to Mustang girls coach Katie Bass.
“In my opinion, it's kind of looking like the Tournament of Champions (held in Tulsa), but I feel like it's a better field than Tournament of Champions,” Bass said. “That's just my opinion. And Foreman does a great job of finding the best of the best every year.
"It's not like they invite the same teams all the time. Usually, he's always trying to find to make it the most competitive.”
The 2023 Holiday Classic will feature five of the state’s defending champions. That includes three for the girls' half of the bracket and two on the boys’ side.
“So, we battle with the Tournament of Champions, which is the same week,” Mustang boys coach Scott Hodges said. “So that's one of the most historical tournaments in Oklahoma. But considering, I think our tournament ranks right up there with the Tournament of Champions as far as just being a great tournament on the boys' and girls' side.
"And that's just a testament to the way our athletic department runs it and just does a great job every year with it.”
Headlining the Classic field for the girls are the two-time defending Class 6A state champions in Edmond North. They head to Mustang looking to secure a third straight tourney title as well.
The Lady Huskies have a 5-0 record that includes early-season victories over Putnam City North and Mustang. Despite losing the likes of Laci Steele (now with North Carolina State) and Elle Papahronis (San Francisco), they still appear to be on course to battle for another title behind the play of Creighton commit Allison Heathcock.
Along with the Lady Huskies, Bethany and Seiling will bring their championship pedigree to the Mustang High School gym this week.
Also, like North, Seiling (6-0) Is searching for a third straight Class A State title. The two teams met in the Holiday Classic Championship last season, with the Lady Huskies prevailing.
While Seiling has made several appearances in the tournament, this will be Bethany’s first time.
The Lady Bronchos - which won the program's first-ever state title by claiming the 4A crown this past March - are led by a pair of future University of Oklahoma Sooners Keziah Lofton (2025) and Zya Vann (2024).
They come into the tourney with a 4-1 record and the top-ranked team in Class 4A. Their one loss came in the finals of the Tournament of Champions in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
If both Bethany and Edmond North win their opening-round games, the two squads will face off in Friday’s semifinal contest. Having championship-caliber games in the second round is one of the reasons coaches want their teams to compete in the Holiday Classic.
Even first-round contests like Mustang (5-3) and Classen SAS (7-4) show there are no easy paths for anyone.
“I think it helps because you don't want to go to tournaments and win by 50 and win it easy because that's not preparing you for anything,” Bass said. “I think that no matter the classification, we want to play the best of the best and our goal is to get to state and try to get as far as we can. That's our goal this year.
"And so if we went to easy tournaments, I don't think it would benefit us in any way. This is going to benefit us at all levels, win or lose. We're playing the best of the best every game, so it is more beneficial for us come March.”
Both the girls' and boys' brackets have programs from all classes of play. That includes Caddo, which won the Class A boys championship last season.
“It's tough, man. It's like this every year,” Hodges said. “It's fun because you've got a good mixture of big schools that everybody's kind of familiar with.
"And then you've got some small schools sprinkled in there, too, that maybe people haven't seen as much around here.”
Paced by senior DJ Dill, the Bruins (4-2) will open the tournament against Midwest City Carl Albert (2-2), who made it to the 5A title game in 2022.
The other defending state champion in the field is 5A's Del City.
The Eagles are without current Oklahoma State freshman Brandon Garrison, who was named the MVP of the 5A state tournament. Without him and other key losses, they are finding it tough early on to recreate their success from last year.
However, if Del City can go on a run in Mustang, it’s the type of momentum that could get them back on course to defend their championship.
The Eagles will take on No. 6 Seiling (Class A) in the first round.
Putnam City North, which defeated Mustang in last year’s tournament championship game, is also making a return to the Classic. Under first-year coach Mike Jeffries, the Panthers (4-5) will take on Southmoore (2-2) in the opening round.
The championship games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday for the girls and an 8:30 p.m. start for the boys.
“Our athletic department, they do a great job putting it on. They make it first class to where they've got the hospitality room, they've got the live stats at the game,” Hodges said. “It helps to have a really nice arena that we get to play our games in.
"They just run it better than any tournament around. And I think that attracts teams to just continue to come back and get that competition and just kind of feel a part of it.”
Photo of Putnam City North's boys team after winning the 2022 Mustang Holiday Classic
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
