Sports

EDMOND – The shot he wasn't supposed to take ended up the clutch basket which sent El Reno High School's boys basketball team back to the Class 5A state tournament.

Senior Diante Palmer banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer as El Reno defeated cross-county rival Piedmont 47-46 to win the Class 5A West Area 2 Consolation Championships.

“We had a play to run to get the ball to Carter (Roman Nose) so he could shoot the 3-pointer. I ended up with the ball in my hands and I went ahead and took the shot,” said Palmer.

MUSTANG – Two multi-minute scoring droughts and a double-digit turnover mark, all in the second half, turned what looked to be a major upset in the Class 5A playoffs into the first postseason loss for El Reno High School's boys basketball team.

Facing No.2 Del City in the 5A West Area 2 Championships, El Reno squandered a 17-point halftime lead en route to a 53-45 loss to advance the Eagles to next week's state tourney.

OKLAHOMA CITY – It took 29 minutes for Calumet guard Kyler Thiessen to make his only 3-pointer in Friday's semifinals of the 2023 Class B Boys Oklahoma State High School Basketball Championships.

Yet it was just the right shot at the right time for the fourth-ranked Chieftains.

Thiessen ripped his shot from the top of the key with three minutes to play to give Calumet a two-point lead as the Chieftains went on to defeat No.6 Kinta 39-34.

MUSTANG – Seventy six.

That's the number of days El Reno High School's girls basketball team has been waiting for another crack at second-ranked Piedmont after a four-point loss in December.

“When we lost to them at the beginning of the year I wanted this rematch and I knew it would come down to playoffs. We have been prepping every since,” said El Reno head coach Jennifer Douglas.

Prep work she kept under wraps and away from the eyes of Piedmont head coach Eric Carr.

Competitive is the word being stressed on the diamond as El Reno High School’s baseball team arguably faces one of the toughest district and season schedules in Class 5A.

Over the course of 23 head-to-head games, three tournaments and a festival, the Indians are set to face eight state tournament teams, three defending state champions and three runner-up programs.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sporting the longest winning streak in the classification heading into the 2023 Class B Boys Oklahoma State High School Basketball Championships, Calumet added yet another victory to that total Thursday.

The Chieftains, ranked fourth in the state, improved to 27-1 on the season with a 62-54 quarterfinal win over No.12 Sentinel. Calumet takes a 25-game win streak into the semifinals against the winner of the Kinta/Buffalo Valley quarterfinal.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Okarche had just one 3-pointer for the game but that 19.7-foot shot could not have come at a better time.

Jalie Rother netted her third shot of the night from the perimeter with 3:32 left in the fourth period to spur the Warriors to a 60-55 win over No.6 Cyril in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Class A Girls Oklahoma State High School Basketball Championships.

“It was a huge basket and a lift for the team when we needed it,” said Okarche head coach Haley Mitchell.

El Reno High School will be sending four lifters to Monday’s Oklahoma Girls Powerlifting Coaches Association 2023 State Championships being held in Durant.

Lifting out of the North Regional in Miami, Jewell Graham took third place in her division, while Raley Wicker-Hartley placed second to grab state passes.

Maria Espinoza and Claudia Garcia earned at-large bids to state.

Wicker-Hartley (heavyweight) posted a total of 885 pounds with a 385-pound squat, a 360-pound dead lift and a 140-pound bench.

OKLAHOMA CITY – A second period scoring drought proved too large of a hurdle to overcome as the Okarche boys suffered a 75-60 loss to No.2 Rattan in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Class A Oklahoma State High School Basketball Championships.

The setback ended the fifth-ranked Warriors’ 13-game win streak and ends Okarche’s season with a 26-3 record. It was the first loss of the year for OHS to a Class A school in 12 games.

Despite losing seven of its last eight outings, Redlands Community College women’s basketball team qualified for the NJCAA Region 2 Championships as the No.8 seed.

The Cougars took an 11-18 overall record and a 4-11 Region 2 mark into their regular-season finale at Seminole State.

Redlands was coming off a 59-57 road loss at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, just days after snapping a six-game losing skid with a 73-60 win over Western Oklahoma State College.