The 56th edition of the Faith 7 Basketball Bowl was played last Saturday at the Noble Complex at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.
The Faith 7 Bowl is a cherished tradition in the Shawnee community. Each year, the proceeds raised help fund the Faith 7 Work Center, a local not-for-profit organization focused on providing job training and life skills to developmentally disabled individuals in the Shawnee area.
The event featured the top male and female high school basketball players from Texas and Oklahoma. Each state fielded its most talented high school basketball players to create an allstar team. The Oklahoma and Texas teams played against each other in a girls game and a boys game. Most players were graduated seniors planning to play basketball at the collegiate level in the fall.
The girls game displayed Division I talent on both teams, but ultimately Oklahoma put together a comfortable 88-68 win. The Oklahoma girls team featured a talented trio from Classen School of Advanced Studies: Jordan Harrison, Micah Gray and Darianna Littlepage-Bugg. All three will continue to play Division I basketball at Stephen F. Austin University, Oral Roberts University and Baylor University, respectively. Littlepage-Bugg put together an impressive stat line during the Faith 7 game with 16 points and 15 rebounds. She was named MVP of the Oklahoma team. Standouts from the Texas all-star team were MacKenzie Buss from Lake Dallas High School and Madison Cockrell from Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas. Cockrell will be attending The University of Texas at San Antonio to play basketball in the fall. She scored a game-high 19 points and was named MVP of the Texas team.
Similar to the girls game, the Oklahoma boys cruised to a 127-98 victory over their Texas counterparts. Bradyn Hubbard from Tulsa Memorial High School was named MVP and led the Oklahoma team with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Other Oklahoma standouts were Kevin Overton from Norman North High School and Aaron Potter from Booker T. Washington High School. On the Texas side, Ernest Young from Hirschi High School in Wichita Falls led the team with a gamehigh 30 points and was awarded Texas MVP. He will be continuing his basketball career at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma in the fall. Makhi Dorsey from Plano Senior High School also had a fantastic day with 26 points and 7 rebounds. He will be attending Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas to play basketball in the fall.
The fundraiser also included a 3-point and slam-dunk contest. Emma Kent of Levelland, Texas triumphed in the 3-point contest at halftime of the girls game. At halftime of the boys game, Robert Hall of Plano, Texas won the slam-dunk contest.
Although the basketball games were competitive at times, the event was lighthearted and raised money for a good cause. The proceeds from the event will enable clients at Faith 7 Work Center to participate in the Special Olympics at Oklahoma State University.
The Faith 7 Work and Activity Center is a non-profit 501c3 organization named after the NASA spacecraft that Gordon Cooper, a Shawnee native, piloted in 1963. It was started in 1956 when a group of parents wanted to provide more opportunities for their children with disabilities.
Faith 7 strives to provide social interaction, a sense of accomplishment by providing appropriate work tasks, and quality service to their clients. Faith 7 partners with Oklahoma City and Shawnee area corporations to provide work opportunities and new experiences for their clients. For more information or to donate, visit their website at f7wac.org.
