Sports

Maple School will see plenty of basketball this weekend as the dependent school west of El Reno hosts the west area basketball playoffs for Divisions II and III in the Oklahoma Rural Education System Playoffs.

Superintendent Chuck Hood said Maple would play host to the games starting Jan. 28, and continuing Jan. 30 and Feb. 2 and 3.

Hood said 24 games will be played at the Maple gymnasium, with teams from Darlington, White Rock, Robin Hill, Maple, Oak Grove, Riverside, Banner, Middleberg, Friend and Pleasant Grove competing.

Okarche High School’s girls basketball team seems to be hitting a late-season stride as the Warriors have put together a double-digit win streak after beating Class A’s 18th-ranked Okeene 61-24 in the title game of the Coyle Invitational.

The 37-point win pushed Okarche’s current win streak to 10 games as the Warriors, ranked seventh in the same Class A poll, improved to 16-4 on the season.

Okarche, which has scored no less than 49 points in any game over the win streak, defeated Mulhall-Orlando (91-31) and Southwest Covenant School (73-38) to reach the Coyle finale.

Calumet High School’s boys basketball coach Jacob Mayfield now has a fistful of titles from the famed West Central Tournament after his Chieftains logged a 68-62 overtime win over Class B’s 13th-ranked Sentinel in the title game.

The win capped a 3-0 run through the field that included wins over Corn Bible Academy (80-34) and Canute (75-60). The sweep extended Calumet’s win streak to 17 games and bumped the Chieftains up a spot to fourth in the latest Class B poll. Calumet is now 19-1 on the season.

Jaiana Wiggins logged a double-double as Redlands Community College women’s basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a 68-62 road win over Western Oklahoma State College.

The Cougars improved to 10-11 on the season and 3-4 in the NJCAA Region 2 standings, which ties Redlands for sixth with Connors State College. RCC’s two-game losing streak was to Murray State (71-45) and Northern Oklahoma College of Tonkawa (63-51) – the league’s top two teams.

Redlands Community College men’s basketball team dropped two of three games in recent NJCAA Region 2 action, which left the Cougars tied for sixth place.

The losses were to Murray State College (68-47) and Western Oklahoma State College (89-74), with the win over Northern Oklahoma College of Tonkawa (79-68).

The Cougars dropped to 10-11 on the season and 2-5 in the regional standings, tied with Eastern Oklahoma State College.

The third time proved to be the charm as El Reno High School’s girls basketball team knocked off two ranked teams in Class 6A en route to the championship at the 2023 Shawnee Invitational.

El Reno, ranked fourth in Class 5A, improved to 12-3 on the season with the three-game sweep, extending its current win streak to five games. The Indians defeated Ardmore 63-26 in the first round, then rallied from 10 points down in the first half to defeat Class 6A’s 15th-ranked Mustang 45-39.

The day after snapping a three-game losing streak, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team posted what head coach Rodney Haydon called a “huge win” with a 71-56 decision over Class 6A’s fifth-ranked Choctaw.

The win came in the consolation finals of the 2023 Shawnee Invitational and avenged a one-point loss to the Yellowjackets in the finals of the Harrah tourney in December.

An oversight in the weight assessment process will cost El Reno High School’s wrestling team a trip to the Class 5A Dual State Championships set for next month in Enid.

“We are not going to dual state,” said El Reno Superintendent Matt Goucher.

El Reno, the top-ranked team in Class 5A, won the District 3 Championship outright with victories over Woodward, Southeast and second-ranked Elgin.

The eight district champions across Oklahoma earn a spot in the dual state quarterfinals.

After having a two-year run at the Class 5A Dual State Championships halted on its home mat last year at the hands of Elgin, El Reno High School’s wrestling team returned the favor.

The top-ranked Indians traveled down the H.E. Bailey Turnpike to secure the District 3 Championships with a 3-0 record following a 43-33 win over the second-ranked Owls.

The win lifted El Reno to 8-2 on the season and punched its ticket to dual state, set for Feb. 10-11 in Enid.

The Indians have won 11 dual state titles, the last coming in 2007.

Two days after beating Elgin to win the Class 5A, District 3 title and clinching a spot at dual state, El Reno High School’s wrestling team lost a close battle with the Owls at the 57th Annual Malcolm Wade Invitational.

The event, hosted by Carl Albert, featured 22 teams, with Elgin taking the team title with 223 points. El Reno was second with 218 points and Lawton MacArthur third with 215.5 points. Carl Albert (205) and Duncan (155) rounded out the top five.