Sports

In a fitting conclusion to her record-setting night, El Reno High School’s Ashlyn Evans-Thompson sealed her team's win over Class 4A’s sixth-ranked Kingfisher with success at one of her self-proclaimed weaknesses.

The senior hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds left as the Indians defeated the Yellowjackets 38-34 in the first of four games before the reporting deadline for playoff pairings.

El Reno, ranked second in the state among West-side schools in Class 5A, improved to 12-3 on the season.

Despite 89 games and more than 1,200 career points under her belt, Ashlyn Evans-Thompson had a freshman case of the butterflies going into the game with Kingfisher.

“I was really nervous,” said Evans-Thompson.

Who could blame her?

Sitting on the home side of Jenks Simmons Field House was her family, friends and fans all focused on watching the task at hand – setting El Reno’s career scoring mark for 5-on-5 girls basketball.

A pair of freshmen came up with two upperclassmen clutch plays in crunch time as El Reno High School’s boys basketball team pulled off an upset that could affect two classifications for the upcoming playoff pairings.

El Reno, now 8-7 on the year and ranked eighth in Class 5A among West-side schools, defeated Class 4A’s top-ranked Kingfisher 45-43 in non-conference play.

After losing to Guthrie in the 2022 Suburban Conference Championships earlier this month, El Reno High School’s wrestling team felt it had a score to settle.

Mission accomplished.

El Reno, which slipped to sixth in the latest Class 5A Dual Team rankings, defeated the fifth-ranked Bluejays 39-33 to move to 7-4 on the season.

The Indians never trailed in the road dual as Niko Gonzalez (106) scored a 1-0 decision over Kaedin Herendeen and Terry Guzman (113) got six forfeit points.

For a third time this season, Calumet High School’s girls basketball team suffered back-to-back losses following a 52-47 setback to cross-county rival Southwest Covenant.

The loss dropped Calumet to 13-9 on the season.

The Chieftains led 31-18 at the break but were outscored 34-16 over the final two periods by the Patriots. Calumet ended the game shooting 43 percent from the floor after making 14-of-24 shots from inside the arc (58 percent), but hitting just 5-of-20 3-point attempts.

While taking just five free-throw attempts is never a good sign, Okarche High School’s boys basketball team didn’t need to score single points in its game with Crescent.

That’s because the Warriors were knocking down shots away from the charity stripe in a 62-40 victory over the Tigers.

Okarche, ranked 17th in Class A, improved to 16-6 on the season after hitting 51.7 percent (15-of-29) of its two-point attempts.

The Warriors were 10-of-27 from behind the 3-point arc for 37 percent and added two free throws.

A bid for a third straight trip to the Class 5A dual state championships hit a pothole last week as El Reno High School’s wrestling team dropped a narrow 39-35 outing to Elgin in the finals of the 2022 District 3 Championships.

The fifth-ranked Owls (8-0) grabbed one of the eight passes to state, while second-ranked El Reno slipped to 6-4 on the season. The Indians defeated Southeast (72-12) and Woodward (83-0) to reach the district finals.

El Reno High School’s girls basketball team made its second straight tournament finals but fell short of another title with a 47-32 loss to Class 6A’s eighth-ranked Mustang in the 2022 Shawnee Invitational. The Indians, ranked fourth in Class 5A, slipped to 11-3 on the season with the loss but completed their tournament schedule with no worse than a fifth-place finish.

El Reno reached the title game in Shawnee with a 76-33 win over Ardmore in the first round, followed by a 53-51 victory over Class 5A’s second-ranked Sapulpa.

For the second time this month, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team has dropped two games in tournament play after losing a 69-60 rematch game with Shawnee.

The loss to the Wolves, ranked 17th in Class 5A, came in the consolation finals of the 2022 Shawnee Invitational. El Reno, ranked 14th in the same poll, slipped to 7-7 on the season with the 1-2 tournament showing.

In the first of two meetings over seven days, Calumet High School’s boys basketball team dropped a 64-60 game to Class A’s top-ranked Hydro-Eakly in the finals of the 2022 West Central Tournament.

Calumet, ranked sixth in the same poll, slipped to 16-5 on the season with the loss to the Bobcats. The Chieftains opened the title run with wins over Thomas/Fay-Custer (64-47) and Burns Flatt/Dill City (46-45).

Matt Snyder was the team’s top scorer for the three games with 55 points, while collecting 24 rebounds, 14 assists, five blocks and three steals.