Sports

ANADARKO – After a 33-point blowout win in the opening game, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team suffered narrow back-to-back losses in the 2021 Anadarko Warrior Classic.

The losses dropped El Reno, ranked 12th in Class 5A, to 5-5 on the season.

El Reno defeated Chickasha 85-52 in the quarterfinals, but dropped a 60-53 game to Class 5A’s 15th-ranked Lawton MacArthur in the semifinals.

The Indians then lost an 86-81 double overtime contest to Anadarko (No.16/4A) in the third-place game.

Sporting new singlets for the start of 2022, El Reno High School’s wrestling team showed little adverse effects from a 16-day layoff for the holidays, winning the first seven weights against Weatherford in a battle of top 15 teams.

El Reno used the quick start to cement a 51-21 win over the Eagles, ranked No.15 in Class 4A. The win was the fourth straight for the Indians, ranked No.2 in Class 5A, to improve to 4-2 on the year.

Calumet High School’s girls basketball team kicked off the new year by extending its current win streak to two games last week with a 68-43 decision over Geary in Washita Valley Conference action.

The unranked Chieftains improved to 7-6 on the season and 4-1 in the WVC standings.

Calumet scored in double digits in all four periods, including a game-high 21 points in the second frame. The team closed with a 49 percent shooting percentage after hitting 4-of-14 attempts from the perimeter for 29 percent.

Knocking down 35 baskets from the field, Okarche High School’s boys basketball team logged its third-highest winning margin of the season last week in a 90-49 victory over Cordell.

The 41-point non-conference win sends the Warriors, ranked No.18 in Class A, into this weekend’s Three Rivers Conference Championships with a 10-4 overall record.

Okarche was 25-of-36 from 2-point range against Cordell for 69 percent, but then added a 10-of-26 (39 percent) effort from the 3-point arc. The Warriors closed the game shooting 56 percent (35-of-62) from the floor.

Redlands Community College men’s basketball team started the second half of its season last week with an 80-75 road win over Texas-based Frank Phillips College.

The non-conference win was the fourth in the past six games for the Cougars, who improved to 10-7 on the season. Redlands remained tied for second in the NJCAA Region 2 standings at 2-1 heading into Thursday night’s league game at Connors State.

Opening the season with more questions than answers as to what type of ball team Rodney Haydon would field for the 2021-22 season, the veteran skipper could not be more pleased with his Indians start.

El Reno kicks off the second part of the regular season Thursday in the Anadarko Classic with a 4-2 record, a three-game win streak and a No.12 ranking in the Class 5A poll before the holiday break.

A famous quote from the basketball movie Hoosiers is: Five players on the floor functioning as one single unit: team, team, team - no one more important than the other.

It's a phrase that El Reno High School's girls basketball team has been living out over the first six games of the 2021-22 season.

While the All-State teams will not be decided until January, El Reno High School's football program should have several players in contention for Oklahoma's highest prep honor after a strong showing in recent voting for All-District.

El Reno had five seniors named to the All-District 5A-1 team, all first-team picks, following a season in which the Indians had to forfeit a pair of non-district games due to COVID-19.

EDMOND – After a run through the junior college ranks, including surgeries and rehab stints for both a wrist and knee injury, El Reno native Callen Haydon says he finally feels at ease with his basketball career.

“I’m comfortable and I feel like I’m at home. I’m in a happy place right now and my body feels good and Ivm confident in my game,” said Haydon.

That’s good news for the University of Central Oklahoma men’s basketball team as Haydon, in his second year here, has started the first 11 games of the season at point guard.

El Reno High School sent 11 wrestlers to the 2021 Kansas City Stampede, with nine posting one victory or more and the Indians earning one placer in the stout field.

There were 54 schools and more than 425 wrestlers representing several states including Oklahoma, Iowa, Alabama, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana and Minnesota.