Sports

Riding a mix of interior and perimeter baskets, Union City High School’s boys basketball team opened up the 2022-23 season with a 55-42 home win over Verden.

Union City scored 17 baskets from 2-point range and tossed in six made 3-pointers en route to the 13-point win. The Tigers struggled at the free-throw line with a 3-of-9 effort (33.3 percent).

Colson Combs logged six 2-point baskets to make up his team-high 12 points. J.D. Riley swished a 3-pointer to highlight his 10 points, while Laven Zeier knocked down two 3-pointers en route to his 10 points.

Momentum is the cornerstone of El Reno High School’s game plan this week.

The Indians make the long journey to the southwest corner of the state to close out the regular season against Altus.

El Reno locked up a playoff berth for a fifth straight season with last week’s 29-7 win over Duncan, which eliminated the Demons from postseason contention.

The win was the third in a row for El Reno and the fourth in the last five games.

Five weeks ago the thought of making the playoffs seemed far-fetched at best after El Reno High School’s football team opened up District 5A-1 play with a 41-point loss.

Not any more.

El Reno got two rushing touchdowns from quarterback Elijah Fisher and one each from running backs Malachi Nicholson and Latin Everheart as the Indians battled through a steady rain to defeat the Duncan Demons 29-7.

The win was the fourth in the past five games for El Reno and secured the Indians a spot in the Class 5A playoffs for a fifth straight year.

El Reno High School’s softball team was competitive in each of its 14 league games during the 2022 season and it left a lasting impression on member coaches.

Nine El Reno players were named to the 2022 All-District 5A-2 team selected last week, one of those being elevated to a superlative award. Senior Kira Taber was named the Co-Defensive Player of the Year.

Taber was joined by first team selections Micah Woods (first base), Chenoa White (third base) and Iliana Ashford at shortstop.

MUSTANG – El Reno High School’s cross country season came to an end at the Class 5A West Regional recently as eight runners missed out on qualifying for passes to state.

Running at Wildhorse Park, El Reno had three entries in the girls 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) race, with Piedmont winning the team title after taking five of the top 10 individual finishes.

Cielo Caso Estrada was El Reno’s top finisher in 71st place after posting an average kilometer time of five minutes and 12.66 seconds. She completed the course with an overall time of 26:03.

El Reno High School has developed a run-first ground attack which has racked up over 1,600 yards on the ground through eight games.

Despite stronger play over the second half of the 2022 season, Redlands Community College’s soccer team fell one victory shy of making the field for the NJCAA Region 2 Championships.

Redlands dropped its final two matches of the regular season, traveling to Missouri for a 3-1 setback against Crowder College to split the season series with the Roughriders.

“We outshot them, just couldn’t find the back of the net,” said Redlands head coach Beau Richmond.

The District 5A-1 playoff picture was shook up somewhat last week by El Reno High School’s stunning 32-29 upset of Lawton MacArthur as three teams are now tied for the final two postseason berths – and another close behind.

El Reno moved into a three-way tie with Noble and MacArthur for third place in the district standings behind Midwest City (5-0) and Elgin (4-1). All three third-place teams are tied at 3-2.

El Reno High School’s Cielo Caso Estrada runs into a turn during the final kilometer of the 2022 Class 5A West Regional Cross Country Championship held at Wildhorse Park in Mustang.

See Saturday’s paper for a complete roundup.

A wild finish for the second straight week resulted in another key win for El Reno High School's football team in the chase for a postseason berth.

El Reno scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:21 left in the fourth period, then turned to its defense for a fourth-down stop to preserve a 32-29 win over Lawton MacArthur.

The victory lifted El Reno to 3-5 on the season, but more importantly, 3-2 in the District 5A-1 standings.