Annual John Nobles Invitational in Moore tips off Thursday for various statewide basketball squads

Normally at this time of the year, Midwest City Carl Albert would be hosting its post-holiday tournament with the Titan Classic. 

This season, the Titans decided to just be participants and are heading a few miles south to the annual John Nobles Invitational in Moore.

Carl Albert is one of several teams currently in the SBLive Top 25 boys and girls rankings that will be appearing in the John Nobles on Thursday through Saturday at Moore High.

“John Nobles is in its 49th year and as history continues, the field of teams this year will not disappoint,” Moore Athletic Director Courtney Walker said. “The girls' field has three of the top teams in 5A/6A - Choctaw, Owasso and Midwest City all leading their districts. The boys' field has three state tournament teams from 2023 in Moore, Millwood and Carl Albert.”

The boys' bracket features Moore, Carl Albert, Ardmore, Westmoore, Putnam City and Destiny Christian.

However, Ada (4A) and defending 3A champion Millwood could be the most entertaining contest of the opening round. Ada’s only two losses this season came against a pair of 6A teams, while the Falcons are coming off a tough one-point loss to rival Douglass.

Both teams have aspirations to not only win the John Nobles but be the last team standing at the end of the season. It’s the high-intensity games against quality opponents that will prepare them for it.

“I told the boys that championships are won in March. You take this game for whatever it is, you learn from it and you move on,” Millwood coach Dorrian Williams said after losing to Douglass on Saturday. “We got a lot of things we can learn from and get better at.

"That's the encouraging part, but it's up to us to actually take it and get better and do the things that we need to do so we will be able to compete in March.”

The tournament championship is set for 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Moore High.

On the girls' side, the field is just as stacked. Joining host Moore are Bixby, Choctaw, Millwood, Midwest City and Owasso.

However, due to the new district realignment, tournament officials decided to go with only six teams this year.

“With 5A/6A basketball transitioning to districts this year, many teams had to reduce to two tournaments to be able to get their rival games in,” Walker said. “John Nobles took a hit with it being the last tournament weekend. We already have the tournament filled for next year.”

Despite that, the John Nobles is still set up to have a championship game on Saturday. The two remaining undefeated teams will play at 7 p.m. for the title.

The opening round includes Choctaw facing Millwood, Bixby taking on Midwest City and Moore starts the afternoon off against Owasso at 1 p.m.

Friday will see Moore vs Bixby, Choctaw vs Midwest City and Millwood vs Owasso.

Being able to have an actual title game was something Walker wanted to make sure took place.

“In everything we do, we want to celebrate students,” Walker said. “We felt it was important to keep a championship game to do just that, celebrate their success and their talent.” 

-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK