By Blake Colston
Sports Writer
YHS girls basketball coach Roy Wyckoff still remembers the moment the trajectory of Gabby Tilley’s Yukon career began its sharp, upward curve.
Ironically, it began with back-to-back missed 3-point attempts during her freshman season in a game against Bristow. Yukon was able to grab two offensive rebounds to maintain possession and eventually got the ball back to Tilley for a third try, which she swished.
“I called timeout right after she hit that shot and everyone in the huddle was excited for her and told her to keep shooting,” Wyckoff recalled.
Tilley said she remembers that game and the encouragement from her team. She took their advice literally and never looked back. She scored 20 points in Yukon’s regular season finale that season, a 55-49 win over No. 14 Deer Creek, then put in 24 points against Norman North in Yukon’s first postseason win in several years.
“That’s when she established herself,” Wyckoff said.
Earlier this month, she was selected to the Oklahoma Girls Basketball Coaches Association All-State west roster, becoming the first YHS player – boy or girl – to earn the honor since Laila Suleiman was chosen in 2010.
“It really means a lot,” Tilley said. “I never dreamed I could do this.”
Tilley shot 52% from beyond the arc this season while averaging 15.9 points and 5.2 rebounds. In four years, she totaled 1,333 points.
She won’t be the only YHS representative at the OGBCA All-State game, scheduled for June 1 at Mustang High School. Wyckoff was picked by his peers to serve as head coach of the west squad.
“Gabby has been one of the more influential and impactful athletes to come through Yukon in quite a while and I’m super excited to see her play on that stage,” Wyckoff said. “It should be a fun game and that’ll be a great way to make one, final memory together. It’s definitely very cool that the other coaches have allowed me to coach in that game.”
Tilley, who has signed to play in college at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, is excited to play one more game for the coach she credits for much of her development.
“Whenever I came into high school, I had a good skill set, but coach pushed me to be better and that made the difference,” she said.
