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ANA LLANUSA, CHOCTAW
SYDNEY MANNING, DEER CREEK
Sydney Manning had her family convinced early she would never be a high scorer at the high school level.
Throughout little league and middle school Manning refused to shoot the ball. She’d rather find the open teammate yet to score in the game for an open look.
“It wasn’t my first thought,” Manning said about scoring.
After a quietly dominant and efficient junior season, Manning isn’t known as an elite scorer but instead an all-round force for Deer Creek.
It’s why the Antlers made the Class 6A state championship game in just their second season in the state’s highest classification. It’s also why she’s on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team.
Manning averaged 16.9 points as she shot nearly 59 percent from field-goal range and 46 percent from 3-point range.
“She wants to get her whole team involved,”said Deer Creek coach Totsy Manning, who is Sydney’s mom. “I grew up playing that way as well and I don’t want her to be a selfish player and take every shot, because we’re never going to win doing that.”
Sydney Manning never took more than 15 shots in a game this season, Totsy said.
That’s still more than she shot when younger.
Totsy said she set a goal for Sydney to shoot at least 10 shots per game in little league. More times than not, she missed that goal. In middle school she bragged more about helping a teammate score than her own baskets.
She still does that. Only this time she’s the humble leader of a perennial state contender with offers from Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Wichita State among others.
“There’s other ways that you can contribute more than just scoring,” Manning said. “I just like to keep to myself and know that I just take pride in what I do.”
INFO
Height: 5-9 Position: Guard Class: Junior The story: An incredibly efficient scorer, Manning averaged 16.9 points while leading the Antlers to a Class 6A state runner-up finish. She also averaged 4.9 rebounds and led her team in nearly every statistical category. She has offers from Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Wichita State, Texas-Arlington and Missouri State.
TAYLOR ROBERTS, CLASSEN SAS
Taylor Roberts didn’t know what the big deal was until her senior year.
She had scored at a brisk pace for three years — averaging 28 or more points each season — and had never heard of a career scoring record.
Perhaps her coach, Malcolm Roberts, — also her father — hid it from her. He disputes that, though.
Either way, Roberts entered her senior season at Classen SAS with a small chance at the record. She did better than that.
Roberts broke the record and raised it before finishing with 3,429 career points. She also led the Comets to their first state tournament berth.
That all led Roberts to a spot on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team.
“I never thought in a million years I would accomplish something this big,” Roberts said. “For me to do that is just selfmotivating to do more and keep working harder for more accolades.”
Roberts, a 5-foot-11 guard, averaged 30.5 points per game. As a junior, she averaged 28.9. Her sophomore year was remarkable with 35.7 points after she averaged 28 her freshman year.
“She’s the best ballplayer I ever coached and I had some good ones,” Malcolm Roberts said.
Ironically, the player Taylor Roberts passed also learned late about the record she was about to set. Stephanie McGhee — now known by the last name Smith — said she never knew of the mark until her friend Heather Kephart set it.
“My whole life the thing I wanted to do was go to the Big House and win the state championship,” said McGhee, who scored 3,376 points at Pocola and Howe. “That was just something cool that happened along the way.
“I know I worked hard my whole life to get where I was. Sad to lose that record, but good for her. I’m happy for her.”
INFO
Height: 5-11 Position: Guard Class: Senior The story: The state’s premier scoring threat, Roberts put her name atop the record book with 3,429 career points. She averaged 30.5 points this season, but took more pride in leading the Comets to their first ever state tournament appearance. She is choosing to play between Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State and Texas State.
MADDISON COLLYER, HARRAH
Maddison Collyer loves the small-town life. It fits the diminutive but talented point guard.
And that doesn’t even always revolve around her hometown Harrah.
Collyer is the daughter of a small-town preacher. She’s spent plenty of time south of Harrah in the tiny community of Pink, at the Baptist church with her father, Mike.
“I feel like being in a small town, a small area and a small church we’re like a family,” Collyer said. “We know everybody at the church and you get a lot of good home-cooked meals … so that’s great.”
Collyer used leadership skills on the court this season learned from watching her father. As a result, Harrah won the Class 4A state title that had eluded the program since 1998.
Collyer is on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team.
“Kids follow her,” Harrah first-year coach Jeff Mahoney said. “She’s so contagious. The biggest thing is your leader always has to go the hardest. Otherwise, it’s hard being a leader.”
Collyer, at 5-foot-6, averaged 13.8 points and 4.4 assists while leading the Panthers to a 28-1 record.
An Oklahoma Christian signee, Collyer said she felt like she had to step up this season after watching Newcastle celebrate the year before.
“Since some of the leaders from last year graduated I needed to step up and be a leader this year and do what was best for the team that night,” Collyer said.
During the state tournament, Collyer struggled shooting the first two nights yet found ways to help her team advance. Then in the title game she scored 22 points and knocked off No. 1 Fort Gibson with a second-half rally she started.
“You can’t ever replace leaders, and we’ll miss that for sure,” Mahoney said.
INFO
Height: 5-6 Position: Guard Class: Senior The story: She’s not the biggest player, but she may be the toughest. Collyer made the Panthers go while averaging nearly 14 points and 4.4 assists. The Oklahoma Christian signee was often the best player on the court, which showed as she led Harrah to the Class 4A title.
KENI JO LIPPE, ADAIR
Keni Jo Lippe, as people say, has yet to meet a stranger.
She’s bubbly. She’ll talk to just about anyone and try to become a friend. Yet, each time Kevi Luper comes around that changes.
Lippe locks down. She’s suddenly shy.
“She’s just not a normal person to me,” Lippe said. “She’s like a celebrity. Like a Justin Bieber.”
For a small town northeast of Tulsa, Luper was that when she led Adair’s basketball team before starring at Oral Roberts.
Lippe noticed that as a fifth grader and wanted to be just like her. Turns out, Lippe might be better.
She eclipsed Luper’s school scoring record with 2,304 points — No. 20 all time — and led her team to the state tournament each year to earn a spot on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team, just like Luper.
“I always thought she was the greatest human to ever walk this earth,” Lippe said. “But her faith in God, too, and the person that she was off of the court, she was the player I wanted to be but also the kind of person and the kind of heart that I wanted to have, too.”
Lippe averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds while leading Adair to the Class 3A state semifinals. And she did it at 5-foot-10 while playing each position.
Her athleticism led her to sign with ORU, just like Luper.
But she hesitated at first because she was worried people would believe she was copying Luper too much. Then a sophomore, Lippe still felt ORU was the best fit.
“I got to a point where this is about me,” Lippe said. “But being able to say I’m going to the college that Kevi Luper went to is super cool. I’m not complaining about that at all. I think that’s awesome.”
INFO
Height: 5-10 Position: Forward Class: Senior The story: A talented athlete capable of playing any position on the floor, Lippe really showed her dominance with 22 points and 10 rebounds per game. An Oral Roberts signee, she led Adair to the Class 3A state semifinals and finished with 2,304 career points, which is No. 20 all-time and a school record.
SYDNEY MANNING, DEER CREEK
Sydney Manning had her family convinced early she would never be a high scorer at the high school level.
Throughout little league and middle school Manning refused to shoot the ball. She’d rather find the open teammate yet to score in the game for an open look.
“It wasn’t my first thought,” Manning said about scoring.
After a quietly dominant and efficient junior season, Manning isn’t known as an elite scorer but instead an all-round force for Deer Creek.
It’s why the Antlers made the Class 6A state championship game in just their second season in the state’s highest classification. It’s also why she’s on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team.
Manning averaged 16.9 points as she shot nearly 59 percent from field-goal range and 46 percent from 3-point range.
“She wants to get her whole team involved,”said Deer Creek coach Totsy Manning, who is Sydney’s mom. “I grew up playing that way as well and I don’t want her to be a selfish player and take every shot, because we’re never going to win doing that.”
Sydney Manning never took more than 15 shots in a game this season, Totsy said.
That’s still more than she shot when younger.
Totsy said she set a goal for Sydney to shoot at least 10 shots per game in little league. More times than not, she missed that goal. In middle school she bragged more about helping a teammate score than her own baskets.
She still does that. Only this time she’s the humble leader of a perennial state contender with offers from Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Wichita State among others.
“There’s other ways that you can contribute more than just scoring,” Manning said. “I just like to keep to myself and know that I just take pride in what I do.”
INFO
Height: 5-9 Position: Guard Class: Junior The story: An incredibly efficient scorer, Manning averaged 16.9 points while leading the Antlers to a Class 6A state runner-up finish. She also averaged 4.9 rebounds and led her team in nearly every statistical category. She has offers from Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Wichita State, Texas-Arlington and Missouri State.
TAYLOR ROBERTS, CLASSEN SAS
Taylor Roberts didn’t know what the big deal was until her senior year.
She had scored at a brisk pace for three years — averaging 28 or more points each season — and had never heard of a career scoring record.
Perhaps her coach, Malcolm Roberts, — also her father — hid it from her. He disputes that, though.
Either way, Roberts entered her senior season at Classen SAS with a small chance at the record. She did better than that.
Roberts broke the record and raised it before finishing with 3,429 career points. She also led the Comets to their first state tournament berth.
That all led Roberts to a spot on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team.
“I never thought in a million years I would accomplish something this big,” Roberts said. “For me to do that is just selfmotivating to do more and keep working harder for more accolades.”
Roberts, a 5-foot-11 guard, averaged 30.5 points per game. As a junior, she averaged 28.9. Her sophomore year was remarkable with 35.7 points after she averaged 28 her freshman year.
“She’s the best ballplayer I ever coached and I had some good ones,” Malcolm Roberts said.
Ironically, the player Taylor Roberts passed also learned late about the record she was about to set. Stephanie McGhee — now known by the last name Smith — said she never knew of the mark until her friend Heather Kephart set it.
“My whole life the thing I wanted to do was go to the Big House and win the state championship,” said McGhee, who scored 3,376 points at Pocola and Howe. “That was just something cool that happened along the way.
“I know I worked hard my whole life to get where I was. Sad to lose that record, but good for her. I’m happy for her.”
INFO
Height: 5-11 Position: Guard Class: Senior The story: The state’s premier scoring threat, Roberts put her name atop the record book with 3,429 career points. She averaged 30.5 points this season, but took more pride in leading the Comets to their first ever state tournament appearance. She is choosing to play between Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State and Texas State.
MADDISON COLLYER, HARRAH
Maddison Collyer loves the small-town life. It fits the diminutive but talented point guard.
And that doesn’t even always revolve around her hometown Harrah.
Collyer is the daughter of a small-town preacher. She’s spent plenty of time south of Harrah in the tiny community of Pink, at the Baptist church with her father, Mike.
“I feel like being in a small town, a small area and a small church we’re like a family,” Collyer said. “We know everybody at the church and you get a lot of good home-cooked meals … so that’s great.”
Collyer used leadership skills on the court this season learned from watching her father. As a result, Harrah won the Class 4A state title that had eluded the program since 1998.
Collyer is on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team.
“Kids follow her,” Harrah first-year coach Jeff Mahoney said. “She’s so contagious. The biggest thing is your leader always has to go the hardest. Otherwise, it’s hard being a leader.”
Collyer, at 5-foot-6, averaged 13.8 points and 4.4 assists while leading the Panthers to a 28-1 record.
An Oklahoma Christian signee, Collyer said she felt like she had to step up this season after watching Newcastle celebrate the year before.
“Since some of the leaders from last year graduated I needed to step up and be a leader this year and do what was best for the team that night,” Collyer said.
During the state tournament, Collyer struggled shooting the first two nights yet found ways to help her team advance. Then in the title game she scored 22 points and knocked off No. 1 Fort Gibson with a second-half rally she started.
“You can’t ever replace leaders, and we’ll miss that for sure,” Mahoney said.
INFO
Height: 5-6 Position: Guard Class: Senior The story: She’s not the biggest player, but she may be the toughest. Collyer made the Panthers go while averaging nearly 14 points and 4.4 assists. The Oklahoma Christian signee was often the best player on the court, which showed as she led Harrah to the Class 4A title.
KENI JO LIPPE, ADAIR
Keni Jo Lippe, as people say, has yet to meet a stranger.
She’s bubbly. She’ll talk to just about anyone and try to become a friend. Yet, each time Kevi Luper comes around that changes.
Lippe locks down. She’s suddenly shy.
“She’s just not a normal person to me,” Lippe said. “She’s like a celebrity. Like a Justin Bieber.”
For a small town northeast of Tulsa, Luper was that when she led Adair’s basketball team before starring at Oral Roberts.
Lippe noticed that as a fifth grader and wanted to be just like her. Turns out, Lippe might be better.
She eclipsed Luper’s school scoring record with 2,304 points — No. 20 all time — and led her team to the state tournament each year to earn a spot on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team, just like Luper.
“I always thought she was the greatest human to ever walk this earth,” Lippe said. “But her faith in God, too, and the person that she was off of the court, she was the player I wanted to be but also the kind of person and the kind of heart that I wanted to have, too.”
Lippe averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds while leading Adair to the Class 3A state semifinals. And she did it at 5-foot-10 while playing each position.
Her athleticism led her to sign with ORU, just like Luper.
But she hesitated at first because she was worried people would believe she was copying Luper too much. Then a sophomore, Lippe still felt ORU was the best fit.
“I got to a point where this is about me,” Lippe said. “But being able to say I’m going to the college that Kevi Luper went to is super cool. I’m not complaining about that at all. I think that’s awesome.”
INFO
Height: 5-10 Position: Forward Class: Senior The story: A talented athlete capable of playing any position on the floor, Lippe really showed her dominance with 22 points and 10 rebounds per game. An Oral Roberts signee, she led Adair to the Class 3A state semifinals and finished with 2,304 career points, which is No. 20 all-time and a school record.