High school basketball: Tony Aska Jr. leads Coyle to Class B state tournament

“If someone goes by us, we got a guy with a 6-6 wingspan protecting the rim,” Sumrall said.

Offensively, Coyle likes to get up and down the floor, and Aska is very much a part of the fast break.

“Some post kids, all they can do is stand on the block,” Sumrall said. “He can do more than that. He is pretty versatile and a great athlete, which allows him to play anywhere.

“He runs the floor really well. We get him flying down the floor in transition and he finishes really well.”

Coyle is not just a one-man show, however. The Bluejackets have four players scoring in double figures.

“We got a lot of weapons,” Sumrall said.

Coyle also has been strengthened by Aska's cousin, Eric Harris, who moved to Oklahoma from Chicago during the summer and is the Bluejackets' sixth man.

“I don't think we ever shot a ball together before he moved down here,” Aska said. “Once he did, we clicked like we were born to play together.”

Last year, Aska went to the State Fair Arena for the first time other than a rodeo when he attended the Class 2A state basketball tournament to watch his friend Chance LeBlanc of Preston.

Aska had a courtside view of the game then, but he said, “It wasn't as good of a seat as it's going to be Thursday.”