The day after snapping a three-game losing streak, El Reno High School’s boys basketball team posted what head coach Rodney Haydon called a “huge win” with a 71-56 decision over Class 6A’s fifth-ranked Choctaw.
The win came in the consolation finals of the 2023 Shawnee Invitational and avenged a one-point loss to the Yellowjackets in the finals of the Harrah tourney in December.
An oversight in the weight assessment process will cost El Reno High School’s wrestling team a trip to the Class 5A Dual State Championships set for next month in Enid.
“We are not going to dual state,” said El Reno Superintendent Matt Goucher.
El Reno, the top-ranked team in Class 5A, won the District 3 Championship outright with victories over Woodward, Southeast and second-ranked Elgin.
The eight district champions across Oklahoma earn a spot in the dual state quarterfinals.
After having a two-year run at the Class 5A Dual State Championships halted on its home mat last year at the hands of Elgin, El Reno High School’s wrestling team returned the favor.
The top-ranked Indians traveled down the H.E. Bailey Turnpike to secure the District 3 Championships with a 3-0 record following a 43-33 win over the second-ranked Owls.
The win lifted El Reno to 8-2 on the season and punched its ticket to dual state, set for Feb. 10-11 in Enid.
The Indians have won 11 dual state titles, the last coming in 2007.
Two days after beating Elgin to win the Class 5A, District 3 title and clinching a spot at dual state, El Reno High School’s wrestling team lost a close battle with the Owls at the 57th Annual Malcolm Wade Invitational.
The event, hosted by Carl Albert, featured 22 teams, with Elgin taking the team title with 223 points. El Reno was second with 218 points and Lawton MacArthur third with 215.5 points. Carl Albert (205) and Duncan (155) rounded out the top five.
With both the interior and transition offense working smoothly, El Reno High School’s girls basketball team remain in the Suburban Conference title talk with a 57-45 win over No.15 Guthrie.
El Reno, ranked fourth in the same Class 5A poll, moved to 9-3 on the year with the 12-point win over the Bluejays. The Indians are 3-1 in the league standings and in second place behind Piedmont.
Alex Elizondo’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sailed long as El Reno High School’s boys basketball team dropped its second straight Suburban Conference game 67-64 to No.14 Guthrie.
El Reno, now 9-3 on the season, slipped three spots to No.7 in the same Class 5A poll heading into the Shawnee Invitational.
The Indians are now 2-2 in the league standings.
Hunter Mueggenborg hit three of four late free-throw attempts and Easton Roby added one free throw as Okarche High School’s boys basketball team avenged one of its earlier losses with a 63-60 home win over Hennessey. The Warriors, ranked sixth in Class A, improved to 15-2 on the season.
Okarche was coming off a 90-41 win over Thomas/Fay-Custer and battled through more than a dozen ties and lead changes in the first half with Hennessey before outscoring the Eagles 30-27 over the final two periods.
It took four overtimes before Union City High School’s girls basketball team defeated Geary 71-69 in Washita Valley Conference action to improve to 9-7 on the season.
The Tigers, now 2-4 in the WVC standings, were coming off a 58-39 non-conference loss to Burns Flatt-Dill City.
In that loss, Bree Goad scored a team-high 12 points, followed by Emily Griggs with 11. Mackinzie DeLong scored five points, while Megan Goad and Oceanna Schranz added four points each.
Warriors on win streak
Forward Jaiana Wiggins made a basket with 40 seconds to play as Redlands Community College women’s basketball team jumped back into the thick of the NJCAA Region 2 title chase with a 56-55 win over Connors State.
“We were down by one and Jaiana came up with the big basket and then we got a couple of good stops on the other end that allowed things to go our way,” said Redlands head coach Jay Niehues.
The Cougars improved to 9-9 on the season and 2-2 in the region standings with the rally against the Cowboys, who hit 14 3-pointers in the loss.
Though the seedings race for the NJCAA Region 2 Championship is still in its early stages, Redlands Community College men’s basketball team has its work cut out.
The Cougars went into Monday night’s game at Murray State College sitting in the bottom half of the Region 2 regular-season standings with a 1-3 record after dropping an 86-63 home game to Connors State College.
Redlands slipped to 9-9 on the season with that loss and will have 12 straight league games to close out the regular season, six of those at home.
