Player of the Week Tulsa World - Brock Morton

Holland Hall's 6'5" senior, combo guard Brock Morton added to his growing list of achievements this week when he was named the Tulsa World Player of the Week. It came on the heels of the Dutch's Friday night / Saturday afternoon S.P.C. conference double-header with Fort Worth's All Saints Episcopal and then Arlington Oakridge. Morton notched 39 points against All Saints incuding 18 of 20 free throws.

The Dutch raised their record to 19-2 on the season, and 7-0 in the SPC conference. But Arlington Oakridge gave them all they could handle. The Texas squad employed a slowdown game, often forcing Holland Hall to play defense for over 40 seconds per possession. They held an 18-12 advantage at halftime. But the Dutch came out with a newfound energy in the 3rd quarter as Morton drained a 3 pt shot from the corner and then zipped into a passing lane for a steal and the Dutch were on their way back. They tied the game going into the 4th quarter, and Morton and Kwami Sexton keyed the comeback victory. Morton scored 11 points in both the 3rd and 4th quarter and the ultra athletic Sexton dazzled the crowd on both ends of the court. Click here to see the Box Score.

Click here to see the Tulsa World Player of the Week.


VYPE ELITE 8 - December 2008 Issue . Eastern Oklahoma
Morton joined 7 other top basketball players to pose for the VYPE Magazine cover in December.
The picture of Brock Morton on the tricycle was included in VYPE magazine's December feature where Brock, Bryson Pope- Jenks Trojans [University of Tulsa commit] , Cameron Downing - Memorial Chargers & Tyler Ridgeway of Foyil were named as the four boys on the ELITE 8 issue of Vype High School Sports Magazinethe magazine.

SPC CONFERENCE SHOWDOWN
The Dutch jumped out to a 15-0 lead on Trinity Valley on January 17th, 2009 at the Dutch gym. Trinity entered the game with a 17-6 record in Texas, and Holland Hall hit them hard. But Trinity was not ready to head back to Texas with their head held down, and actually fought back to tie the game at 51-51. But Morton again came through in the clutch for the Dutch, and nailed 4 straight free throws to seal the victory and keep Holland Hall undefeated in conference play.

1/14/2009
Morton seals it for No. 4 Dutch

12/20/2008
Holland Hall 61 - Cascia Hall 60
The mighty Cascia Hall Commando's came into the Holland Hall's gymnasium a prohibive favorite. The Tulsa World focused in on the girls game, but did give some paragraphs to the boys battle too. Good thing they did, as the Cascia girls won easily, while the boys game went down to the last seconds as Holland Hall knocked off the highly ranked Commandos 61-60, led by Brock Morton's 28 points. Bailey Miles drilled three straight trifecta's in the 3rd quarter to spark the Dutch.

Battle of the Hall's ~ Cascia Falls 61-60 to Dutch

SCOREBOARD
In an electrified atmosphere at the Holland Hall gym, the Dutch knocked off the arch-rival, 2nd ranked Cascia Hall Commando's 61-60.

The Dutch were led by 6'5" senior Brock Morton's 28 points and 12 rebounds,, which were just the obvious components he utilized to dismantle the larger, more experienced and favored Cascia Hall.  Young Dutch players Bailey Miles, sophomore transfer from Bishop Kelley High School, and sophomore Ethan Elbert, who started for Mounds High School last year, were red hot from beyond the 3 point line to support Morton, who took his battles into the mid range area.

Bill Russell didn't score a lot of points for the Boston Celtics. However, he was unquestionably THE leader of the Celtic dynasty,,,, with his incredible goal tending style of defense. Standing 6'9", he was about 6" taller than Holland Hall's William Tisdale. But Tisdale gave Coach Brad Shelley reason to smile with his superb defensive abilities he displayed against the Commando's. Tisdale, whose uncle Waymon was the best basketball player EVER to put on an Oklahoma Sooner jersey, had at least four blocked shots during the middle two quarters to frustrate Cascia Hall and keep them from establishing an inside presence. Although slightly built, compared to his muscular father, former BTW Hornet William, Sr., Tisdale's explosive and QUICK jumping ability enabled him to alter Cascia's shots, and lead the way for the Dutch victory.

Cascia jumped out to an early advantage behind the scoring of senior Will Bryant and his junior brother Luke Bryant ["dribbling siblings"] but the Dutch fought back and when Morton connected on two free throws after the first half clock had expired, the score stood Southside [Holland] Hall 32 and Mid-Town [Cascia] Hall 29.

When Morton's no look pass found Miles in the corner, and Miles connected for his 3rd consecutive trey, the Dutch were looking at a surprising 10 point advantage at 41-31. But all-state football receiver/cornerback, and former DUTCH student Price Pinkerton, led Cascia back into the game with his best offensive explosion of the season.

Cascia finally knotted the score midway 4th quarter, and from there, the lead bounced back and forth as Pinkerton and Morton kept exchanging blows. Each scored 10 points in the final quarter, with Morton's pullup 12 foot jumper with 35 seconds remaining proving to be the game winning shot.

However, the game was far from decided at that point. Elbert had the defensive assignment to shut down Pinkerton as the clock wound down, and made a superb defensive slide to prohibit the red hot Pinkerton from penetrating. Pinkerton pulled up for a 15 footer which came up short, but Cascia's Sam Clancy, who quarterbacked the Commando's to their second consecutive football state championship just 13 days earlier, tied up Miles on the rebound and gave Cascia another chance. [Speaking of championships, do you realize that Cascia Hall would have to win the State Football crown for the next FIVE YEARS in a row to equal what I believe is the most amazing record EVER in sports...... the John Wooden led UCLA Bruins and their SEVEN, yes 7, consecutive NCAA National Basketball Championships....truly unbelieveable!]

Another Cascia miss and Pinkerton was called for a foul on Elbert with just four seconds remaining. One of the referees signaled the one and one situation, before timeout was called by Cascia Hall Head Coach Brian Rahilly. He and his assistant, Tulsa University Athletic Hall of Fame member Tracey Moore,  apparently did not notice the scoreboard [see pic above] which clearly showed that it was Cascia Hall's 4th team foul, thus, the Dutch would receive the ball out of bounds. There was obvious confusion as the 3 officials seemed to be a little confused themselves.

When the timeout ended, Cascia's players came out and proceeded to march down the court to line up for the free throw on the Dutch end; meanwhile, right in front of the Cascia Hall bench, before realizing what was happening, the referee handed the ball to the Dutch player, who passed inbound to an uncontested Morton before the last 4 seconds ticked off and the only thing that mattered was the picture above. 61-60 Dutch. Four team fouls. Game Over. Immediately as the horn sounded, the Holland Hall student body swarmed the floor to celebrate the upset victory over Tulsa's "other" Hall.

Alan Santos, the only senior besides Morton to see action, made several slick assist for the Dutch who also recieved strong production from Jake Freudenrich and William Tisdale, both who blocked shots and came up with key rebounds. Their inside presence was invaluable.

Morton snared 10 rebounds, dished 4 assists and totalled 3 steals. He was 2 for 4 from 3 point range. His knack of always playing his hardest, was never more on display than it was on this Friday night at the Dutch gym. A lot of heart and desire along with some phenomenal 3 pt shooting by Miles and Elbert were just enough to keep the Dutch unbeaten for the year. Morton was recently named by VYPE High School Sports Magazine as one of the ELITE 4 Boys in Green Country this year. If he keeps playing like he did against Cascia Hall, more honors are sure to come.

Coach Brad Shelley, in his first year at the Dutch helm, can now claim an undefeated record in his first "Year" at Holland Hall, as the Dutch raised their record to 7-0 and don't play again until the Oklahoma City Heritage Hall tournament on January 1rst, 2nd and 3rd.

Holland Hall travels to #1 Ranked Metro Christian on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009. Their next home game is a rematch against NOAH at 8 pm on January 9th.

The Dutch open their Southwest Preparatory Conference schedule on January 16th, at home against Dallas Greenhill.

A rematch against Mid-Town [Cascia] Hall is scheduled for January 27th at 8 pm at the Commando gym.