Sports

Shooting a combined 56 percent over the three-game span of the Thunderbird Classic in Hobbs, N.M., Redlands Community College men’s basketball team moved to 4-1 on the year with back-to-back victories.

The Cougars opened the event with an 89-60 loss to No.13 New Mexico Junior College, but bounced back with a 120-50 win over the junior varsity squad from the University of Southwest.

Redlands pulled off its biggest win of the season with a 95-80 decision over No.11 Frank Phillips College out of Texas to close the event with a 2-1 mark.

Union City High School's basketball mascot watches the action from the sidelines as the Tigers kicked off the 2024-25 season last week.

Small schools in the state of Oklahoma not playing football were allowed to open their respective hoop seasons the first week of November.

El Reno High School senior Davin Shamblin recently signed a national letter of intent to play baseball just a few miles away from the Hub Reed Complex for Redlands Community College.

Shamblin becomes the second player in the past two seasons to stay home to play college baseball for the Cougars.

UNION CITY – Lily Russell scored five points in the final 21 seconds as Union City High School’s girls basketball team rallied to defeat Verden 50-45 and hand Leo Price a victory in his Tigers head coaching debut.

Despite leading for three and a half quarters, Union City found itself down 45-44 with 50.9 seconds left after two Verden free throws.

However, that deficit was short-lived as Morgan Brothers grabbed the offensive rebound off a miss by Breeana Goad on the next Tigers possession. The senior scored a put-back basket for a 46-45 lead.

UNION CITY – Camden Patterson’s first-ever win as a head coach will have to wait until another night as his Union City High School’s boys basketball team was held without a 3-pointer in a 59-29 season-opening loss to Verden.

The Tigers made 11 2-point baskets in the loss and went 7-of-13 from the charity stripe for 54 percent. Union City did not lead in the game, trailing 14-5 after one frame and 26-13 at the break.

Verden took a 43-21 advantage into the third period before outscoring the Tigers 16-8 over the final eight minutes to secure the 30-point blowout.

Due to early deadlines for Veterans Day, coverage of the Indians week 10 game with Western Heights will appear in Saturday's edition.

Redlands Community College had two runners qualify to compete in the NJCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships.

Freshmen Joseph Thompson of Anadarko and Oklahoma City’s Andres Iniguez secured their spots at the national meet with solid performances at last month’s regional qualifier. Both athletes met the national qualifying standard at 33 minutes, with Thompson running the 8-kilometer course (4.97-mile) with a time of 31:23, while Iniguez finished in 32:39.

EDMOND – One might expect a freshman with the fastest qualifying mark to get a case of the jitters when it came time to challenge all his chief rivals face to face for the first time.

Not to mention it was on the biggest stage of his young career – the OSSAA Class 5A State Cross Country Championships.

Yet El Reno High School’s Ethan Brooks met that challenge with a smile on his face and pushed those rivals stride for stride in a fast-paced 5-kilometer shootout.

Shooting a solid 37 percent from the 3-point arc, Redlands Community College women’s basketball team moved to 2-0 on the season with a lopsided 105-66 victory over the junior varsity team from Mid American Christian University.

The Cougars were 13-of-35 from the perimeter, led by Taryn Crawford with a 4-of-7 (57 percent) and Anni Heikkila at 3-of-5 (60 percent).

Mykyla Allen, Ellie Willard, Katelyn Harviston, Alaysia Burrough, Karlee Harviston and Alaura Pruitt added one 3-pointer each.