bluesooner17
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EDMOND —
Having absorbed one final collision with Chantae Embry, Danna Wagnon sprawled on the court, looked up at the referee and held her breath.
Charge.
Once Wagnon saw the call Thursday afternoon, she flailed her arms and kicked her legs and shouted her excitement. She had fouled out the superstar from Prague High. The role player from Kingston had knocked one of the country’s best freshmen out of the state tournament opener.
But the truth is, Wagnon had knocked Embry off her game long before that.
Kingston 61, Prague 52.
“It’s just amazing,” Wagnon said of being part of the Kingston girls’ first ever win at state. “Like a dream come true.”
That could also be said of how Wagnon played Embry.
On a weekend when star power will be plentiful — if a high school team has a great player, they tend to make state — Wagnon is a reminder that stars will also be made. There will be kids who become legends in their towns.
There will be players who don’t score a ton of points but who make contributions that their fans will long remember.
No one from Kingston is going to forget what Danna Wagnon did. Even though she didn’t hit a basket from the floor and scored just four points, no one had a bigger impact on the game. From the tip, she hounded Embry.
She fronted her. She bodied her. She followed her whether in the paint or on the perimeter.
Now, Embry has played against physical defenders. The 15-year-old is so good that she’s regarded as one of the best players in her recruiting class and is already committed to Oklahoma State, so of course opponents give her a lot of attention. Double teams. Triple teams. Defenders coming over from the help side. Others sagging down from the wing.
But because Embry is 6-foot-2 and active — she dives on the floor a lot, which is pretty impressive for someone so young and so big — it is difficult for defenders to keep up the energy. She wears them down.
Wagnon turned the tables Thursday.
“She is a super, super tough kid,” Kingston coach Chad Rumer said. “I’ve never seen a kid in high school, boy or girl, that has a motor like she does.”
Wagnon will guard everything from point to post, big enough at 5-8 to hang with centers but quick enough to stick with guards.
“When we go through scouting reports and we start talking about, ‘OK, that’s their best player,’ before I even say matchups, she’s going, ‘That one’s mine, right?’” Rumer said. “That’s just how she is.”
Wagnon was relentless against Embry, picking her up 94 feet from the basket if necessary. Other Kingston players helped from time to time, but much of the work fell to Wagnon, a sophomore.
She admitted the first few possessions were difficult. It’s one thing to see a great player on film and another to engage them for the first time. But Wagnon wasn’t about to wilt; she knew how vital her defense on Embry was.
“What we’ve seen watching them on film, everything goes through her,” Wagnon said. “If we could make sure she didn’t get it ... ”
That seemed a tall task, and yet, Embry managed only eight shots and made just three of them. She came into the Class 3A state tournament averaging 23.1 points a game but scored only nine against Kingston.
Embry actually had more turnovers than baskets.
I’ll admit, I went to Edmond Santa Fe planning to write about Embry. The freshman phenom has become something of a sensation. She’s so versatile and fun to watch that even coaches have been known to use their off nights to go see her.
I wanted to see the show.
Instead, I wrote about the showstopper.
After Wagnon fouled out Embry with six minutes left in the game, Kingston outscored Prague 21-10 the rest of the way. Wagnon continued to do little things. Inbounded the ball. Dribbled up against the press. Went to the hoop and drew fouls.
She even threw a three-quarter-court pass with less than a minute remaining that turned into a game-sealing threepoint play.
Wagnon celebrated with three giant leaps near midcourt.
“That’s what it’s all about,” she said, laughing. “Having fun.”
She did that and more — much, much more.
Having absorbed one final collision with Chantae Embry, Danna Wagnon sprawled on the court, looked up at the referee and held her breath.
Charge.
Once Wagnon saw the call Thursday afternoon, she flailed her arms and kicked her legs and shouted her excitement. She had fouled out the superstar from Prague High. The role player from Kingston had knocked one of the country’s best freshmen out of the state tournament opener.
But the truth is, Wagnon had knocked Embry off her game long before that.
Kingston 61, Prague 52.
“It’s just amazing,” Wagnon said of being part of the Kingston girls’ first ever win at state. “Like a dream come true.”
That could also be said of how Wagnon played Embry.
On a weekend when star power will be plentiful — if a high school team has a great player, they tend to make state — Wagnon is a reminder that stars will also be made. There will be kids who become legends in their towns.
There will be players who don’t score a ton of points but who make contributions that their fans will long remember.
No one from Kingston is going to forget what Danna Wagnon did. Even though she didn’t hit a basket from the floor and scored just four points, no one had a bigger impact on the game. From the tip, she hounded Embry.
She fronted her. She bodied her. She followed her whether in the paint or on the perimeter.
Now, Embry has played against physical defenders. The 15-year-old is so good that she’s regarded as one of the best players in her recruiting class and is already committed to Oklahoma State, so of course opponents give her a lot of attention. Double teams. Triple teams. Defenders coming over from the help side. Others sagging down from the wing.
But because Embry is 6-foot-2 and active — she dives on the floor a lot, which is pretty impressive for someone so young and so big — it is difficult for defenders to keep up the energy. She wears them down.
Wagnon turned the tables Thursday.
“She is a super, super tough kid,” Kingston coach Chad Rumer said. “I’ve never seen a kid in high school, boy or girl, that has a motor like she does.”
Wagnon will guard everything from point to post, big enough at 5-8 to hang with centers but quick enough to stick with guards.
“When we go through scouting reports and we start talking about, ‘OK, that’s their best player,’ before I even say matchups, she’s going, ‘That one’s mine, right?’” Rumer said. “That’s just how she is.”
Wagnon was relentless against Embry, picking her up 94 feet from the basket if necessary. Other Kingston players helped from time to time, but much of the work fell to Wagnon, a sophomore.
She admitted the first few possessions were difficult. It’s one thing to see a great player on film and another to engage them for the first time. But Wagnon wasn’t about to wilt; she knew how vital her defense on Embry was.
“What we’ve seen watching them on film, everything goes through her,” Wagnon said. “If we could make sure she didn’t get it ... ”
That seemed a tall task, and yet, Embry managed only eight shots and made just three of them. She came into the Class 3A state tournament averaging 23.1 points a game but scored only nine against Kingston.
Embry actually had more turnovers than baskets.
I’ll admit, I went to Edmond Santa Fe planning to write about Embry. The freshman phenom has become something of a sensation. She’s so versatile and fun to watch that even coaches have been known to use their off nights to go see her.
I wanted to see the show.
Instead, I wrote about the showstopper.
After Wagnon fouled out Embry with six minutes left in the game, Kingston outscored Prague 21-10 the rest of the way. Wagnon continued to do little things. Inbounded the ball. Dribbled up against the press. Went to the hoop and drew fouls.
She even threw a three-quarter-court pass with less than a minute remaining that turned into a game-sealing threepoint play.
Wagnon celebrated with three giant leaps near midcourt.
“That’s what it’s all about,” she said, laughing. “Having fun.”
She did that and more — much, much more.