February 2023

Meeting for a third time this season, El Reno High School’s girls basketball team had a love-hate type of contest with Bishop McGuinness on Valentine’s Day – one that did not end in heartbreak.

El Reno used an 18-1 run in the fourth period to shake off the upset-minded Irish and secure a three-game season sweep of McGuinness with a 56-34 non-conference victory.

“We got up big and then we just kind of thought we were going to stay up on them and relaxed a little bit and let them come back on us,” said sophomore guard Reagan Bugaj.

El Reno High School’s powerlifting teams kicked off the 2023 season recently with a pair of top 12 finishes at the Bethel Invitational held at the Heart of Oklahoma Expo Center in Shawnee.

The El Reno boys had three placers who produced 47 points to place the Indians 11th overall out of 20 schools.

Malachi Nicholson (181) led the effort with a first-place finish with a total weight of 1,190 pounds.

He won the squat with a lift of 455 pounds as well as the dead lift with a 510-pound effort. He added a 225-pound bench press.

Redlands Community College women’s basketball team is struggling with a season-high four-game losing streak following an 89-61 setback to Connors State College.

The Cougars fall to 10-15 on the year with the loss and 3-8 and seventh place in the NJCAA Region 2 standings.

Sydney Brown was the top scorer for Redlands in the loss, hitting 9-of-17 shots en route to her 25 points. She added nine rebounds and three assists.

Brooklyn Haywood made 7-of-14 shots to close with a line of 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

A 30-point road loss to Connors State pushed Redlands Community College men’s basketball team a half game deeper into last place in the NJCAA Region 2 standings.

The Cougars 91-61 setback to the Cowboys left Redlands with a 10-15 overall record and a 2-9 league mark.

RCC trails Murray State and Eastern Oklahoma (4-8) by a game and a half.

Jared White was one of three players in double digits with 16 points, six boards and four assists. Jordan Kwende followed with 15 points, seven rebounds and an assist.

After a fast start to the 2023 season, Redlands Community College’s baseball team has dropped six straight games to teams on a higher division than the Cougars. Redlands was swept by Texas-based Vernon College, an NJCAA Region 5 Division I program, by scores of 12-2, 15-1, 4-3 and 10-2.

The Cougars dropped a home set to Rose State College, 17-6 and 21-6.

The Raiders are a Region 2 team, same as RCC, but play out of Division I. The Cougars, who play out of Division II, slipped to 3-7 for the year.

NORTHEAST

Grand: Elevation is normal, water temperature 42°F and clear.
Largemouth bass fair on Alabama rigs and spinnerbaits around brush structure, docks and shorelines. Catfish, blue fair on cut bait, shad and shrimp below the dam, docks and main lake. Crappie fair on hair jigs, jigs and spoons around brush structure and docks.

All three incumbents filed Jan. 23 – the first day of a weeklong filing period – to retain their seats on the Canadian County Fair Board.

When the filing period closed Jan. 27, these three men were the only candidates to file at the Canadian County Clerk’s Office:

► District 1 - Phil Carson of Yukon

► District 2 - Brent Hunt of El Reno

► District 3 - Michael Beard of Calumet

The Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine will be dedicated Feb. 17.

The shrine, while located in Oklahoma City, is a part of the heart and soul of Okarche, the birthplace of Stanley Rother, the Catholic priest who gave his life while serving in Guatemala, and is said to be on the path to sainthood.

The dedication will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 17 at the new shrine, 700 S.E. 89th Street (between Shields Boulevard and Interstate 35).

A 10-member team of inventors who are all enrolled at Canadian Valley Technology Center spend Mondays after school inside the school’s Makerspace classroom.

This innovative space on the north side of CV Tech’s El Reno Campus inspires thought and fosters creativity and imagination among students.

Currently, the CV Tech Inventor Team is developing a working prototype of a first-of-its-kind backpack alarm intended to alert students when important items are missing.

American Indian students in Oklahoma public schools could not be prohibited from wearing tribal regalia under legislation that has won committee approval in the Oklahoma Senate.

“I was shocked that this was even an issue,” said state Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt.

Senate Bill 429 would allow students to “wear tribal regalia on school property or at any school function, whether it is held at a public or private location.”