Sports

Sophie Vandendriessche knocked down four 3-pointers en route to a team-high 18 points as Okarche High School’s girls basketball team defeated Thomas Fay-Custer 50-45.

The win came in the semifinals of the Class A, Area 1, Region C Winners Bracket and moved the Warriors into the finals against Woodland. Okarche, ranked eighth in the state, is now 14-5 on the season.

The win carried with it an automatic berth in the area round of the postseason for Okarche, now two wins away from a repeat trip to the state tourney.

Calumet High School’s boys basketball team, ranked fifth in the state, cut its magic number to make the Class A state tournament down to two victories over the weekend with a 67-44 win over Wellston.

The Chieftains moved to 15-0 on the season with the win in the semifinals of the Area 1, Region C Winners Bracket. Calumet was slated to play Thomas Fay-Custer for the regional title.

Jacob Mayfield’s team automatically earned a spot in the area around with the victory.

El Reno High School’s girls basketball team did what it needed to do to claim the 2021 Suburban Conference title, beating Noble 78-44 to remain undefeated in league play.

However, winter weather and COVID-19 issues have canceled games with Guthrie and Carl Albert, leaving head coach Jennifer Douglas puzzled on who will be crowned champ.

“Have no idea,” said Douglas.

El Reno’s win over Noble lifted the Indians to 5-1 in conference games and 4-0 in those which count toward the league title. Both Carl Albert and Piedmont have a loss each in the title chase.

Concluding a brutal road schedule on a positive note, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team defeated Noble 73-54 to get back to even ground for the season.

El Reno’s 19-point win over the Bears lifted Rodney Haydon’s team to 8-8 on the season and 7-7 in games played away from Jenks Simmons Field House.

Ten of those games on the road slate were against ranked teams.

The win over Noble also lifted El Reno to 3-3 in the Suburban Conference standings and 2-2 in games which count toward the league title.

CALUMET – Shooting 42 percent from the 3-point arc, Calumet High School’s boys basketball team scored 20 or more points in each of the first three periods to win the Class A, Area 1, District 8 Championship.

The Chieftains, ranked fifth in Class A, improved to 14-0 on the season with the 81-64 victory over Oklahoma Bible Academy.

Calumet moves into the regional round and will play Wellston in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket C.

CALUMET – Following a six-point first period, Calumet High School’s girls basketball team found its scoring groove midway in the second period and kept it going for the final 16 minutes.

Calumet outscored Oklahoma Bible Academy 45-28 over the final 20 minutes to win the Class A, Area I, District 8 Championship.

The 56-49 victory over the Trojans lifted Calumet, ranked 15th in the state, to 10-5 on the season. The Chieftains move to the regional round to face Woodland in the Winners C Bracket semifinals.

El Reno High School seniors Kolton Hunt, Raelyn Kouba and Dorian Plumley recently signed national letters of intent to play college sports.

Hunt signed to play football at Northeastern State University, while Kouba will play softball at Northern Oklahoma College in Enid. Plumley signed to play football at the University of Oklahoma.

While it won’t be following the traditional East/West split, El Reno High School will host two home games for the upcoming Class 5A playoffs.

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association released playoff brackets for the three largest classifications last week, with El Reno being named one of eight regional host sites for the girls – but on the East side of the 5A bracket.

“I was given the option to go East and I said yes,” said El Reno head coach Jennifer Douglas.

No matter the level of college action, every basketball team has to work through early-season hiccups and bonding time between veteran players and incoming freshmen.

Traditionally, those hurdles are cleared long before the month of February, but then there is nothing traditional about the 2021 basketball season for teams under the National Junior College Athletic Association banner.

“It’s totally different, that’s for sure,” said Redlands Community College women’s coach Jay Niehues.

While it’s taken three years to install the atmosphere he envisioned for his program, Redlands Community College men’s basketball coach Jose Molina likes what he’s seeing so far both on and off the basketball court.

The Cougars have dodged most of COVID-19 pitfalls through the first three weeks of the season to get in eight games ahead of recent cancellations due to weather issues.