Sports

In one of its biggest victories in recent seasons, Redlands Community College men’s basketball team opened up Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 63-53 win over Northern Oklahoma College of Enid.

The win lifted the Cougars to 5-3 on the season following victories over OnPoint Hoops Academy (80-77), Next Level Prep (110-57), Southwestern Christian Academy (67-57) and Nation Wide Academy (113-63).

Making his high school debut as a freshman with 84 yards and a touchdown off 10 carries against Southeast, El Reno High School coaches had high hopes for Malachi Nicholson as a featured running back in 2021.

“He’s going to be a great running back, which is what we have known. It was not like we didn’t know what we were getting all along,” said El Reno head coach Chuck Atchison.

After averaging 8.4 yards per carry against the Spartans, Nicholson was gearing himself to be the bell cow in the Indians backfield during his sophomore season.

Despite losing two regular-season games due to COVID-19, El Reno High School’s football team made the playoffs for a fourth straight year.

The Indians offense averaged more than 254 yards per game over its nine contests with the help of several key players such as senior running back Mikey Devereaux and
junior quarterback Evan Roman Nose.

In what has turned into a rare losing streak, Calumet High School’s girls basketball team dropped its third game in a row last week with a 67-49 road setback to Lomega.

The non-conference loss dropped the Chieftains to 2-3 on the season.

Calumet was held to single-digit scoring in two of the four periods, which allowed the Raiders to outscore CHS by 15 combined points in those frames.

Lomega led 11-7 after one period, 32-20 at the break and 48-25 after three periods. Calumet cut into the final deficit by way of a 24-19 scoring edge in the fourth period.

Union City High School’s boys basketball coach Kolton Brown has his first win streak after his Tigers defeated Wanette 61-22 last week in non-conference play.

The win wrapped up a four-game road swing to start the 2021-22 season as the Tigers improved to 2-2 overall.

Union City went 1-1 in the two Washita Valley Conference games on the swing.

Brown’s team had this game wrapped up early as J.D. Riley and Braydon Armstrong scored six points each in the first period to spark a 20-1 run by the Tigers.

MIDWEST CITY – El Reno High School’s football season came to an end last week with a 42-7 loss to five-time defending state champion Carl Albert in the bi-district round of the Class 5A playoffs.

El Reno, making its fourth straight playoff appearance, finished the 2021 campaign with a 4-7 record, while the Titans advance to the state quarterfinals to take on Coweta.

While the Indians loss looks like a blowout, the numbers show a different story – one of missed opportunities and costly turnovers by El Reno. It was a theme which started early.

El Reno High School senior Ashlyn Evans-Thompson signed a national letter of intent last week to play college basketball for East Central University in Ada.

Evans-Thompson is a four-year starter for the Indians at guard and a three-time first-team All-Suburban Conference selection.

Kolton Brown earned his first win as Union City High School’s boys basketball coach last week as the Tigers defeated Binger-Oney 37-32 in the third of four road games to open the 2021-22 season.

The Tigers improved to 1-2 on the year.

Union City scored 12 baskets from inside the 3-point arc, while shooting 7-of-10 from the free-throw line in the low-scoring game for 70 percent.

After starting the season on a high note, Calumet High School’s girls basketball team has suffered back-to-back losses after last week’s 47-30 setback to Lookeba-Sickles.

Calumet drops to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in the Washita Valley Conference standings.

The Chieftains were held to single-digit scoring in all four periods by the Panthers defense and a horrific shooting night, though Calumet did score nine points in both the second and third periods.

A third-place finish in the league title chase was good enough to net four El Reno High School players spots on one of the three 2021 All-Suburban Conference Volleyball Teams.

Outside hitter and setter Bailey Denwalt led the quartet with a first-team selection, followed by defensive specialist Ariana Ortega on the second team. Emma Patswald and Avery Peffer picked up honorable mention status.

It was the third straight year for Denwalt to earn first-team All-Suburban honors, while the other three are first-time selections.