Lorene (Big Eagle) Rolette, Cheyenne-Kiowa, passed away on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at the age of 81. She was born to her parents, John Big Eagle and Sarah Ataumbi-Big Eagle in El Reno on Dec. 4, 1939, and given the name Singing Woman.
Sharon Griffin, 78, passed away Feb. 12, 2021. She was born in Pratt, Kan., to George Henry and Anna Marie DeVaney Seely. Sharon is one of six children, Georgia Ann Seely, Thad Seely, Stanley Joe Seely, Martha Marie Bass and Christie Jane Hubbard.
She was married to the love of her life, her husband, Jim Griffin, for 46 years.
Sharon had three children, Sherri Ann Arens, Judith Lea Reaves and James Terry Griffin.
El Reno High School’s wrestling team added four more state qualifiers from day two of the Class 5A West Regional, lifting the Indians total to nine – the most under head coach Tyrone Lewis.
Rylee Walborn (160), Thad Hicks (170), Mikey Devereaux (195) and heavyweight Ryan Sigler punched state tickets with fourth-place or better regional finishes.
Facing a relentless full-court pressure and a barrage of 3-point baskets from the Oklahoma City Storm, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team looked to have figured out a win in the regular-season finale.
Then the rug got pulled out from underneath the Indians.
The Storm went on a 7-0 run late in the fourth period to pull out a 78-73 win over the Indians. The loss dropped El Reno to 8-9 on the season going into the Class 5A regional round of the playoffs.
OKARCHE – For a second straight season, Calumet High School’s boys basketball team has reached the area round without a postseason loss, needing one win to reach the state tourney.
Calumet, ranked fifth in Class A, defeated Thomas Fay-Custer 62-46 to win the Area 1, Region C Championship. The Chieftains improved to 16-0 on the season and will play third-ranked Arapaho-Butler for the area title and a pass to state.
OKARCHE - Following in the footsteps of her legendary mom, Cherie Myers, Haley Mitchell has her Okarche High School girls basketball team one win away from a trip back to state.
Okarche, ranked eighth in Class A, defeated Woodland 45-34 to win the Area 1, Region C Championship. The win was the fifth in a row for the 15-5 Warriors, who now move to the area title game against third-ranked Seiling.
The area round will be played at the Stride Center in Enid.
Redlands Community College’s basketball teams have hit a few early snags in Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference play, dropping three out of four games.
Jay Niehues’ women's team posted the only win, defeating Northern Oklahoma College of Enid 66-61.
The victory came on the heels of a 75-65 loss to Seminole State College.
The split left the Cougars with a 5-1 overall record and a 2-1 mark in the OCAC standings.
Redlands is currently third in the women’s standings behind Eastern Oklahoma (3-0) and NOC Tonkawa (2-0).
In less than 24 months, El Reno has dealt with a killer tornado, torrential rains, a devastating ice storm and now a sub-zero arctic nightmare that left much of the city without water.
In his weekly El Reno Live program, Mayor Matt White called on residents to pray. He asked for patience and admonished those who he said were “water detectives” and spreading misinformation on social media.
Like the thousands of El Reno residents dealing with electrical and water outages during the recent winter storms, those in charge of overseeing prisoners on the county, state and federal level were also left out in the cold.
“We are in the same boat as other residents in El Reno. We have had to do the same things to get by, but we are making it work,” said Canadian County Sheriff Chris West.
The Canadian County Detention Center, which had 180 inmates during the storms, briefly lost power before on-site generators restored electricity.
Delayed twice by weather, the first portion of the Class 5A West Regional Wrestling Championships was completed over the weekend, with El Reno High School leading the team chase.
El Reno wracked up 102.5 points and qualified five wrestlers for the upcoming Oklahoma State High School Wrestling Championships.
The regional was split into two days, with brackets through 145 pounds completed on day one. Piedmont is second in the team race with 99 points, followed by Duncan (95), Guthrie (88) and Carl Albert (86).
