MANNFORD — Five games into a new era of Purple Pirate basketball, Mannford is learning what it feels like to turn the page without tearing out pages from the past. Firstyear head coach Alex Moore has stepped into the role following the resignation of long-time program pillar Mike Banfield. Moore was assistant coach under Banfield since 2021 and he has inherited Pirate fan expectations and a locker room that is still trying out its new voice. Their season-starting 2–3 record tells part of the story — but inside Mannford’s gym on practice days, and on bus rides home, the real vibe is this team already knows how to compete, scrap, adjust, and surprise people who thought they knew exactly what a rebuilding year was supposed to look like.
The season began quietly, but not softly.
Close season opener
On Dec. 2 at Berryhill, 3A Mannford walked into a Class 4A gym and dragged the Chiefs down into the mud. It was a low-scoring, grind-it-out kind of night where every loose ball felt like a victory and every basket was earned. Logan Bynum led the Pirates with 15 points, while Max Moore and Ben Shasteen chipped in 7 apiece. Sophomore Landon Owens made his presence felt, pulling down nine rebounds — seven of them on the offensive glass.
Mannford was down by as many as four possessions through the third quarter and could have folded. Instead, the Pirates fought back, possession by possession, eventually grabbing a lead in the final minutes.
“We battled hard all night,” said Moore. “We trailed by 11 midway through the third quarter but slowly battled back and took a brief two-point lead late in the game, but ultimately, they made a few more plays than us down the stretch and that won them the game.”
Bristow was a better night
Two nights later, Mannford came home and set things right against their arch rivals, the Bristow Pirates.
Mannford took down Bristow, 55–49, behind a monster night from Bynum, who finished with a double-double 20 points and 12 rebounds. Moore added 10 points and three blocks, while Cooper Ausbern provided physical interior play that forced Bristow to collapse defensively.
“We played a clean game on offense for the most part,” Moore said. “We got a lot of inside touches with Logan Bynum, Max Moore, and Cooper Ausbern.”
Bristow refused to go quietly, drilling six three-pointers in the fourth quarter. But Mannford had already dealt out enough damage early to sustain the barrage, having held Bristow to just 10 total points combined in the second and third quarters.
“That allowed us to win the game,” Moore said.
Signs of stability at Nowata
The Nowata Tournament offered a measuring stick — and Mannford leaned into it.
In the opening round against Nowata, the Pirates delivered their most complete performance of the new season, winning 55– 42. Max Moore led with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Bynum followed closely with 13. Ausbern filled the stat sheet with 9 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Shasteen knocked down three threepointers, and Owens added 9 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
“We were up by one at halftime but we scored 23 in the third quarter to give us a good cushion going into the fourth,” Moore said. “It was a balanced offensive day for us. A good offensive performance.”
But the defining effort came on the defensive end.
“Landon Owens had an incredible defensive game,” Moore said. “Along with his four steals, he held Nowata’s secondbest scorer to 3 points and that made a huge difference in the game.”
Two nights later, Mannford found itself across from one of the best teams in Class 2A. Fairland, ranked seventh, didn’t look intimidating early. Mannford led 19–11 at halftime and controlled the tempo. But the second half turned into a whistle-filled chess match. Foul trouble piled up, rotations shortened, and Fairland began to find its rhythm.
“We battled foul trouble the entire second half,” Moore said. JJ Hindsman scored 8 of his 10 points after halftime to keep the Pirates within striking distance, while Shasteen added 9 and Ausbern pulled down nine rebounds. Still, Fairland closed stronger.
“Fairland is a pretty good team and they just made more plays than we did in the end,” Moore said.
The tournament ended Saturday afternoon in the third-place game against Oologah-Talala, another Class 4A opponent with a wide range of firepower. For three quarters, Mannford hung tight. Bynum poured in 25 points, Moore added 12, and Owens led the defensive effort with five steals. Then it all unraveled in the fourth quarter.
“The game was close through three quarters but it got away from us in the fourth,” Moore said. “Oologah is a solid team who has the ability to shoot it really well. We did not defend to the standard we have as a team and to Oologah’s credit, they made us pay for it.”
There were silver linings. Max Moore was named to the All-Tournament Team, a nod not just to scoring, but to the way he impacted games on both ends of the floor.
Mannford also walked away from the week with an idea of who they are and who they can become.
“We are currently 2–3 and just lost in the third-place game of the Nowata Tournament yesterday,” Moore said plainly. No excuses. No dramatics.
The early returns from Moore’s debut season show a team buying in. The Pirates have already played ranked teams, Class 4A programs, and close games that demanded poise. They’ve learned how thin the margin is between winning and learning — and they’ve done both.
The record will change. That’s inevitable. What matters now is that Mannford has already shown it won’t back down, won’t stop competing, and won’t wait around for anyone to hand it confidence.