Sports

Meeting for a third time this season, El Reno High School’s girls basketball team had a love-hate type of contest with Bishop McGuinness on Valentine’s Day – one that did not end in heartbreak.

El Reno used an 18-1 run in the fourth period to shake off the upset-minded Irish and secure a three-game season sweep of McGuinness with a 56-34 non-conference victory.

“We got up big and then we just kind of thought we were going to stay up on them and relaxed a little bit and let them come back on us,” said sophomore guard Reagan Bugaj.

El Reno High School’s powerlifting teams kicked off the 2023 season recently with a pair of top 12 finishes at the Bethel Invitational held at the Heart of Oklahoma Expo Center in Shawnee.

The El Reno boys had three placers who produced 47 points to place the Indians 11th overall out of 20 schools.

Malachi Nicholson (181) led the effort with a first-place finish with a total weight of 1,190 pounds.

He won the squat with a lift of 455 pounds as well as the dead lift with a 510-pound effort. He added a 225-pound bench press.

Redlands Community College women’s basketball team is struggling with a season-high four-game losing streak following an 89-61 setback to Connors State College.

The Cougars fall to 10-15 on the year with the loss and 3-8 and seventh place in the NJCAA Region 2 standings.

Sydney Brown was the top scorer for Redlands in the loss, hitting 9-of-17 shots en route to her 25 points. She added nine rebounds and three assists.

Brooklyn Haywood made 7-of-14 shots to close with a line of 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

A 30-point road loss to Connors State pushed Redlands Community College men’s basketball team a half game deeper into last place in the NJCAA Region 2 standings.

The Cougars 91-61 setback to the Cowboys left Redlands with a 10-15 overall record and a 2-9 league mark.

RCC trails Murray State and Eastern Oklahoma (4-8) by a game and a half.

Jared White was one of three players in double digits with 16 points, six boards and four assists. Jordan Kwende followed with 15 points, seven rebounds and an assist.

After a fast start to the 2023 season, Redlands Community College’s baseball team has dropped six straight games to teams on a higher division than the Cougars. Redlands was swept by Texas-based Vernon College, an NJCAA Region 5 Division I program, by scores of 12-2, 15-1, 4-3 and 10-2.

The Cougars dropped a home set to Rose State College, 17-6 and 21-6.

The Raiders are a Region 2 team, same as RCC, but play out of Division I. The Cougars, who play out of Division II, slipped to 3-7 for the year.

NORTHEAST

Grand: Elevation is normal, water temperature 42°F and clear.
Largemouth bass fair on Alabama rigs and spinnerbaits around brush structure, docks and shorelines. Catfish, blue fair on cut bait, shad and shrimp below the dam, docks and main lake. Crappie fair on hair jigs, jigs and spoons around brush structure and docks.

Members of the El Reno High School baseball team prepare plates full of pancakes and sausage during the program’s annual pancake breakfast fundraiser
over the weekend.

The event was held at the Jeff Mills STEM Center. Proceeds will go toward program expenses.

Pancakes and other items were donated by the El Reno McDonalds.

It’s been said practice makes perfect and El Reno High School’s girls basketball team has been shooting a bunch of free throws on non-game days.

“Coach Douglas (Jennifer) makes us shoot free throws every day,” said junior guard Nazhoni Sleeper.

Sleeper put that work to good use, hitting two clutch free throws with 22.1 seconds left to help secure El Reno’s 57-52 come-from-behind win over Carl Albert, ranked No.1 in the Class 5A West rankings.

El Reno High School’s Carter Roman Nose made a pair of game-changing plays in the final two and a half minutes which helped the Indians become the first Class 5A team to defeat Carl Albert this season.

The sophomore buried a 3-pointer from the left arc with 2:24 to play to put El Reno up by three points. He then came up with a steal with 3.1 seconds left that sealed the Indians 45-44 win over the Titans.

Double-digit scoring in all four periods helped Calumet High School’s boys basketball team extend its win streak to 21 straight games as the Chieftains defeated Carney 88-48 to win the Class B, Area 1, District 1 Championship.

Calumet, ranked fourth in the state, improved to 24-1 and will host 20th-ranked Lomega Thursday in the Region A Winners Bracket. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Chieftains 88 points came off 46 percent shooting as the team made 22-of-43 (51 percent) attempts from inside the arc. Calumet was 10-of-26 from the perimeter for 39 percent.