Sports

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From the sidelines: ‘God did’

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Nazhoni Sleeper is a young woman of God.

The senior is also the starting point guard for El Reno High School’s state championship girls basketball team and will have the privilege of playing the sport at the next level at Seminole State College.

However, Sleeper is quick to tell anyone who will listen that without putting God first, the second would have never happened.

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Championship parade and tour

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El Reno High School held a downtown parade last week to honor its girls basketball team which brought home the program’s first-ever state championship.

It was the first basketball title won by either the boys or girls programs in 71 years.

The 2024 Class 5A state champions also toured ERPS school sites as well as schools in the county such as Maple and Darlington.

The team was accompanied by the EHS cheerleaders and the pep band.

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EHS grinds out the time, blanks Tigers in league tilt

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Dominating the time of possession and touches in the middle part of the pitch, El Reno High School’s girls soccer team picked up its second straight win with a 6-2 decision over the Oklahoma City Storm.

El Reno moved to 2-1 on the season with the wire-to-wire victory over the home-schooled program. The win came on the heels of a 6-0 home decision over Guymon to open EHS’ District 5A-2 slate.

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Indians drop 5A-2 bid, hit with home shutout loss

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After logging seven goals in the win over Tuttle, El Reno High School’s boys soccer team’s offense has dried up as far as shots finding the net.

El Reno slipped to 1-3 on the season with a 4-0 home loss to the Oklahoma City Storm. All four goals came in the first half as Indians goalkeeper Aldo De La Torre blocked a second-half shutout. The sophomore had more than 10 saves on the night.

El Reno has gone two matches without scoring following a 5-0 setback to Guymon in the District 5A-2 opener for both schools.

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Indians rally falls short against Kingfisher; sweep Western Heights

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Kingfisher scored 13 runs in the first four innings, then held off a late rally by El Reno High School’s baseball team to hand the Indians their first loss of the 2024 spring season, 15-12.

El Reno slipped to 5-1 on the season with the non-district loss to the Yellowjackets.

The setback was part of a three-game home set over a 24-hour period as the Indians defeated Western Heights 17-2 and 25-6. The sweep of the Jets kept El Reno in first place in District 5A-1 standings at 4-0, tied with Carl Albert, Guthrie and Noble.

Calumet, Tigers get off to fast spring runs

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Calumet High School’s baseball team, Class B’s state runner-up in the fall, kicked off its spring schedule last week with a 16-6 win over Lomega.

The Chieftains are ranked second in the state in the first spring poll behind Fort Cobb-Broxton, which defeated CHS in the fall championship.

Calumet went 11-of-20 (.550) from the plate in the season opener with 16 runs batted in. The squad had two doubles by Derrick Krantzman and a third by Hunter Navanick. Brendon Voss and Kaleb Thiessen added a triple each.

Union City, Calumet slow-pitch softball teams split early bids

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Union City High School’s slow-pitch softball team moved closer to a .500 record for the spring following an 8-5 road win over Wayne.

The Tigers are now 4-5 on the spring with two wins over Ninnekah by scores of 28-4 and 23-4 and a 6-5 win over Timberlake in the Waukomis tournament.

Morgan Brothers has been the main offensive weapon with 13 base hits, with two triples and five home runs.

Four of those round-trippers came in a game against Ninnekah.

RCC cagers take different seeds into tournament

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Redlands Community College’s basketball teams were on the opposite ends of the seeding spectrum going into the 2024 National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region 2 Postseason Championships.

The Redlands women won three of the final four regular-season games, including a sweep of both Northern Oklahoma College programs (Enid, Tonkawa) to take the No.2 seed.

Jay Niehues’ team closed with a 20-9 overall record and posted a 10-6 mark in the Region 2 regular-season standings.

The Cougars were second only to Connors State (14-2).

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Golden girls

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NORMAN – Three, two, one … GOLD.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, El Reno High School guard Nazhoni Sleeper let out a yell and bounced the ball high off the Lloyd Noble Center court.

The senior guard turned and was immediately swarmed by teammates celebrating El Reno’s 48-41 win over defending champion Sapulpa to win the 2024 Class 5A Oklahoma Girls State High School Basketball Championship.

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From the sidelines: A title savored by the past, present and future players

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Pauline Black-Harmon sat at the podium in the post-game press conference at Lloyd Noble Center with her cheek resting on the microphone as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

“It hasn’t hit me yet that that was my last game,” said Black-Harmon.

Her words were spoken through those happy tears which have been decades in the making. The last four years as a starter for El Reno on the state’s biggest stage, the Class 5A state tournament, all under head coach Jennifer Douglas.