DALE — Denton Forsythe is playing with something to prove this season. 

A junior at Dale, he won titles in his first two years with the Pirates as his older brother Dayton led the program and solidified himself as one of the best players in the state. 

But with Dayton graduating and now playing at OU, there were questions about Dale. 

Would the Pirates maintain their high level of play? 

Would they fade a bit? 

Did they have enough star power?  

Dale had a chance this week to see where it stood among the state’s best.

In the end, the Pirates erased any doubts that may have thrown their way. 

Class 2A top-ranked Dale defeated Class 3A No. 1 Millwood 64-57 inside its home gymnasium Friday.

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Forsythe had a big night as he led Dale with 22 points, while Jett Higdon had 13 and Tray Chambers added 12. Amari Barrett led Millwood (7-5) with 18. 

“We played extremely hard and extremely well,” Dale coach Jeff Edmonson said. “MIllwood is one of the top teams in the state. That’s a big-time win, so I’m really proud of our boys.” 

Dale had won 57 straight home games into the matchup, and the gym was packed Friday. 

“We knew this place was gonna be rocking,” Forsythe said. “We got to give thanks to all of our fans. We knew Millwood was gonna come, because we beat them last year, we knew they were gonna come with energy and effort. I’m just proud of these guys, the way they played and competed.” 

Dale didn’t have the greatest start and trailed 15-9 after Millwood’s Isaiah Wilks hit a jumper at the end of the first quarter. 

But with Forsythe leading the charge, Dale fought back, trailed 29-25 at halftime and dominated after the break. 

“He played with a lot of heart,” Edmonson said of Forsythe. “They all do. Everybody made big plays. Every single one of them on both ends of the floor.” 

Forsythe views this as one of the best wins of his career. 

The Pirates are now 17-2. Their lone losses were in December at the Tournament of Champions, where they fell to Class 4A top-ranked Weatherford 59-58 and to Class 4A third-ranked Crossings Christian 62-49. 

“We got a bunch of momentum going forward,” Forsythe said. “I’m proud of these guys. And the way we just celebrated in that locker room shows you how much these guys care about each other.” 

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Dale girls rout Millwood

The Class 2A top-ranked Dale girls squad blew past Millwood 66-37, improving to 18-1 on the season. 

Danika Pendley led Dale with 19 points, while Teague Muncy had 15 and Ava Bell added 11 against the Falcons (5-6). 

“We did a good job getting the ball inside,” Dale coach Eric Smith said. “They have a hard time guarding us inside. We’re pretty big and long and strong. And then defensively, it was good for the most part all night long.” 

The season is going well for Dale, the state runner-up last year. 

The Pirates’ only loss was to Class 3A top-ranked Washington at Dale’s home tournament in December, but they avenged that when they defeated Washington later in the month at the Bertha Frank Teague Mid-America Classic in Ada. 

“It’s been a good season — 2A is as hard and as tough as I’ve ever seen it in a while,” Smith said. “Pocola is really good, Hartshorne is really good, Okemah is really good. I mean, there’s 10 or 12 teams that I think could make the state tournament, so It’s been a challenge for us.”

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Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

The short handed Dallas Mavericks (23-19) bested the short handed Oklahoma City Thunder (34-7) 106-98 in an intense matchup Friday night in Dallas. Kyrie Irving led all Mavericks with 25 points, five assists, and five rebounds, while Jalen Williams put up 19 points for the Thunder in a losing effort. Dallas got a much needed win, ending a three-game losing streak, while Oklahoma City suffered just their second loss in their last 21 games.

Dallas continued to be without starters Luka Doncic and Dereck Lively, but the big injury news was in Oklahoma. MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a late scratch with a sore wrist, missing his first game of the season and joining Isiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren in street clothes. The stars may have been missing, but it was still an intense matchup between two Western Conference contenders.

This was a game of runs, starting with Dallas taking a 10-0 lead off hot shooting from Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington. That was followed by the Thunder going on a 26-12 run to take a 26-22 lead into the second quarter. The Mavs countered with a huge 19-0 run at the end of the first half to go up by 20 points. If the second quarter was one of the best of the Mavericks season, the third quarter was one of the worst. Oklahoma City outscored Dallas 33-14 in the third, setting up a consequential fourth quarter.

It was a neck and neck fourth quarter until Spencer Dinwiddie hit two clutch threes, extending the lead to 101-93. Notable Thunder killer PJ Washington had a huge dunk to put the exclamation point on a great Mavericks win.

Here are our main thoughts from the game:

Role players stepped up

With Doncic’s return still being weeks away, Dallas has a huge offensive role to fill. When they play tough teams like the Thunder, the Mavericks need Kyrie Irving to play like an All-Star and get production from multiple role players. Tonight, they got both. Irving had 25 points and was joined in double figures by Washington, Dinwiddie, and Naji Marshall. Even more impressively, they combined to shoot 12/26 from three for an efficient 46%. They need each and every one of those points in a game that was a slugfest.

It’s impossible to replace what Doncic brings to this team, but the Mavericks need to find a way to win games without him in a competitive Western Conference. If they can get points from three or four role players, Dallas can beat anyone as evidenced by tonight.

Rebounding woes continue

Despite the Mavericks holding the Thunder to just 38% shooting from the field, this game came to the wire. That’s mainly down to Dallas giving up 20 second chance points off offensive rebounds. With Oklahoma City only scoring 98 points, second chance points accounts for a staggering 20% of their total offense. Without Hartenstein and Holmgren, Oklahoma City isn’t even a good rebounding team, yet that’s how they were able to stay in the game on a cold shooting night.

This is a familiar problem for Dallas, who are the fourth worst team in the league in giving up offensive rebounds. The Mavericks are simply not a good rebounding team, and they’re significantly worse without Luka. This is one of the biggest weaknesses with this team and needs to be a point of emphasis for the rest of the season.

Two more Mavericks injuries

It wouldn’t be a Dallas Mavericks game this season if there wasn’t a worrisome injury to a key rotation piece, but tonight we had two. Jaden Hardy went down with a right ankle sprain after a collision with Isiah Joe in the second quarter and did not return to the game. Then in the third quarter, Dwight Powell slipped closing out on Jaylin Williams and couldn’t get up off the floor. Powell was escorted to the locker room and also did not return to the game.

These injuries could not come at a worse time for Dallas. Hardy was having one of the best stretches of his career, scoring over 20 points against the Lakers and Pelicans in recent games. Powell was becoming a bigger part of the rotation with Lively out. The Mavs will have to get creative with their center rotation – look for Maxi Kleber and even Washington to play more minutes at center.

It’s unclear as of this writing whether Hardy or Powell will miss time, but they would join Doncic, Lively, Kessler Edwards, Dante Exum, and Jazian Gortman on an already lengthy injury report. The basketball gods are certainly testing the theory that this is the deepest Mavericks team of the Luka era. Exum seems to be close to returning, but Dallas has a real shortage of playable bodies in the short term.

These teams do not like each other

Even without the star players, this game was intense, highly competitive, and often chippy. PJ Washington was somewhat predictably at the center of the charged moments. Washington and Lu Dort wrestled over possession until Dort fell to the ground. Washington stood over Dort for a moment, which led to Aaron Wiggins shoving Washington. It was a whole lot of nothing, but led to double techs. Later in the game, Washington fouled Jaylen Williams in a hard, mid-air foul, which was ruled a flagrant one. If Oklahoma City fans hated Washington during last season’s playoff series, they’ll really hate him after tonight.

In general, it was a hard fought defensive battle. Players were diving for loose balls, playing aggressive defense, and living and dying on every shot. The Dallas crowd was loud and engaged – it felt like a playoff atmosphere.

If tonight is any indication, a full strength Mavericks and Thunder matchup in the playoffs would be one of the more exciting possible series. Let’s hope we get to see it come May.

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Oklahoma State’s depth was a strength in nonconference play, but its lack of star power is beginning to cause problems.

Entering the 2024-25 season, Steve Lutz had many directions to go when it came to the starting lineup. With a roster built almost entirely through the transfer portal with veteran players from small schools and role players from power conference teams, OSU’s rotation was destined to be deep.

However, the lack of players sticking out throughout nonconference play has left the Cowboys in a tricky spot.

There is also a stark difference between the roster makeups of OSU’s basketball teams. While the Cowboys have had trouble finding their top players, the women’s team has clear-cut stars. Stailee Heard, Anna Gret Asi and Micah Gray have been the top players for the Cowgirls throughout the year, and Jacie Hoyt’s rotation reflects that. Joined by Alexia Smith, the Cowgirls have four players averaging at least 28 minutes in conference play, including 33.2 minutes a night from Heard.

To find consistent success, Lutz might need to take inspiration from his colleague who also patrols the sidelines in Gallagher-Iba Arena. While the women’s team has four players averaging 28 minutes per game, the men have zero who hit that mark.

Abou Ousmane and Arturo Dean lead the Cowboys in minutes per game in conference play at 26.8. They are two of six Cowboys to hit at least 20 minutes a night in conference play, joined by Khalil Brantley, Marchelus Avery, Bryce Thompson and Jamyron Keller. Meanwhile, OSU’s seventh-highest minutes-getter is Robert Jennings at 18.2, and he has started every game for the Cowboys in Big 12 play.

Although there are six players hitting the 20-minute-per-game mark plus a starter hitting 18 minutes, OSU has to cut its rotation and find its top players. While it is not always an easy task, there are three players who have stood out for the Cowboys and should probably be hitting or nearing 30 minutes per game.

Ousmane has been OSU’s only double-digit scorer in Big 12 play. Avery and Thompson have neared that mark and are typically solid scoring options. That leaves the other two spots around them to rotate through with guys who should still be clearly at the top of the rotation. With Dean, Keller, Brantley and Jennings making up the next four of the rotation, OSU lineups should have some consistency. 

Perhaps OSU’s top players aren’t good enough to play 30 minutes a night and find success, but the Cowboys haven’t found much success with a large rotation and need to figure something out before it’s too late.

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