Sports

Union City High School’s slow-pitch softball team moved closer to a .500 record for the spring following an 8-5 road win over Wayne.

The Tigers are now 4-5 on the spring with two wins over Ninnekah by scores of 28-4 and 23-4 and a 6-5 win over Timberlake in the Waukomis tournament.

Morgan Brothers has been the main offensive weapon with 13 base hits, with two triples and five home runs.

Four of those round-trippers came in a game against Ninnekah.

Redlands Community College’s basketball teams were on the opposite ends of the seeding spectrum going into the 2024 National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region 2 Postseason Championships.

The Redlands women won three of the final four regular-season games, including a sweep of both Northern Oklahoma College programs (Enid, Tonkawa) to take the No.2 seed.

Jay Niehues’ team closed with a 20-9 overall record and posted a 10-6 mark in the Region 2 regular-season standings.

The Cougars were second only to Connors State (14-2).

NORMAN – Three, two, one … GOLD.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, El Reno High School guard Nazhoni Sleeper let out a yell and bounced the ball high off the Lloyd Noble Center court.

The senior guard turned and was immediately swarmed by teammates celebrating El Reno’s 48-41 win over defending champion Sapulpa to win the 2024 Class 5A Oklahoma Girls State High School Basketball Championship.

Pauline Black-Harmon sat at the podium in the post-game press conference at Lloyd Noble Center with her cheek resting on the microphone as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

“It hasn’t hit me yet that that was my last game,” said Black-Harmon.

Her words were spoken through those happy tears which have been decades in the making. The last four years as a starter for El Reno on the state’s biggest stage, the Class 5A state tournament, all under head coach Jennifer Douglas.

NORMAN – A halftime pep talk woke up El Reno High School's defense over the final two periods as the Indians defeated Coweta 47-19 in the semifinals of the Class 5A Girls Oklahoma State High School Basketball Championships.

The 28-point victory, the second of the season over Coweta, moved El Reno to 27-0 on the season and into the championship game for the third time since 2019.

NORMAN – When it needed points to get going and baskets to maintain the lead in its closest game of the season, El Reno High School's girls basketball team went back to what it does best – attacking the paint.

El Reno senior post player Pauline Black-Harmon and junior Lilly Thomas combined for 37 points, 23 of those coming in the second half, as the Indians defeated Del City 54-48 in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Class 5A Girls Oklahoma State High School Basketball Championships.

El Reno High School’s baseball team was one of four teams to sweep District 5A-1 openers this week, taking two games from Shawnee to remain unbeaten on the season.

The Indians won their home opener over the Wolves by a 13-0 score, then completed the sweep a day later in Shawnee by a 12-4 margin. The series came on the heels of a 15-1 road win over Capitol Hill in the 2024 season opener.

El Reno went 24-of-82 (.293) from the plate for the three games, logging 40 runs and 24 runs batted in.

The Indians took advantage of 21 walks against 19 strikeouts.

Luke Lembke scored his first hat trick of the season as El Reno High School’s boys soccer team defeated Tuttle last week 7-2 at Memorial Stadium.

The win over the Tigers squad, a mix of male and female players, lifted El Reno to 1-1 on the season.

Tuttle, which has not had a soccer program in over five years, had only the one mixed squad.

Lembke got El Reno on the scoreboard first in the 31st minute of the first half when he took a rebound off a missed Alan Gonsalez shot and shot into the lower left corner of the net.

El Reno High School senior Raley Hartley earned a silver medal in the heavyweight division at the 2024 Oklahoma Girls Powerlifting Coaches Association’s state meet held in Durant.

Hartley posted a total weight of 940 pounds to finish 10 pounds behind Fairview’s Seleste Pilado for the gold.

It was an order reversal from the North Regional as Hartley beat Pilado by 5 pounds to take first.