Girls basketball: Sara Rogers’ funeral set for Saturday at Harrah gymnasium
Harrah girls basketball player Sara Rogers died Tuesday after a car accident.
Funeral services for Sara Rogers, the 16-year old Harrah basketball player who died after a car accident earlier this week, will be Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Harrah High School gymnasium.
Those attending the ceremony are being asked to wear Harrah or Duke clothing, because those were Rogers’ favorite teams.
Rogers was pulling out of Harrah’s Sonic Drive-In when she was hit by another car at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. She was taken by helicopter to OU Medical Center, where she died of her injuries.
Boys soccer: Norman North ranked No. 6 by ESPN
Norman North’s boys soccer team is ranked second in Class 6A by Oklahoma coaches, but the Timberwolves are at No. 6 in ESPN’s Fab 50 Boys’ Soccer Spring Rankings.
The team coaches have at No. 1 in the state, Tulsa Union, is at No. 15 in ESPN’s rankings.
Norman North had an impressive showing last week at the Palmetto Cup, a national soccer tournament in South Carolina, but couldn’t compete for the tournament championship because the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association only allowed it to play three games in the tourney.
One of North’s three wins in the Palmetto Cup was a 1-0 victory over Irmo (Columbia, S.C.), which entered the tournament ranked No. 1 by ESPN.
Norman North is 10-0 on the season entering tonight’s home game against Bishop McGuinness.
Senior Brandon Little Axe leads North with 16 goals this season.
Casady’s Chandler Helms win Foot Locker award
Casady athlete Chandler Helms was one of 20 nationwide receipients of $20,000 as part of the first annual Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program.
Foot Locker Foundation and DoSomething.org partnered to honor students who demonstrate academic excellence and show their strength of character and devotion to their sports and communities.
Helms plays field hockey, soccer and runs track. She founded Knitting for Troops, a project where she uses scarf proceeds to create care packages for Oklahoma soldiers stationed overseas.
Boys soccer: Edmond Memorial fighting on through rough season
EDMOND — Edmond Memorial’s boys soccer team has had a rough season so far.
Twenty minutes into its first game, senior leader Bryan Sanchez tore both of his ACLs.
“It was pretty tough on him,” said coach Jeff Lovett. “It was tough on the entire team. He was a senior, the captain and he had a great year for us last year.”
Sanchez’s injury was especially tough on him because his brother, junior Blake Sanchez, is the Bulldogs’ starting goalie.
“They were excited about playing together this year,” Lovett said.
Lovett said senior Jared Glenn has stepped up and provided leadership for the team. Glenn leads the team in goals.
Memorial is 2-4 this season entering Tuesday’s game at unbeaten U.S. Grant, but one loss was in a shootout, one was in overtime and another was by one goal in regulation.
Football: Prague coach Kyle Fridrich resigns; assistant Dan Maly promoted
PRAGUE — Coach Kyle Fridrich has resigned as head football coach at Prague after just one season, and assistant head coach Dan Maly has been promoted, superintendent Rick Martin said.
Prague was 7-4 in its only season under the 27-year old Fridrich, who was defensive coordinator at Tulsa Union under his cousin, Kirk, before taking the Prague job.
Fridrich was a standout player for the Red Devils, graduating in 2003. His departure is for personal reasons, Martin said.
Maly has been an assistant at Prague for three seasons. Before that, he was a head coach at Chisholm and Keota.
“He’s done a great job for us, and we felt like he provided the most consistency,” Martin said. “He’s very capable.”
Girls soccer: Deer Creek, fresh off tough tournament, hosts Carl Albert on Tuesday
Allison Worsham, right, is one of four Deer Creek soccer seniors who have signed to play in college. OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVE PHOTO
EDMOND — Deer Creek’s girls’ soccer team learned a lot about itself in a humbling out-of-state tournament appearance last weekend.
The Antlers, who host Carl Albert on Tuesday, lost all three of their games at the Heart of America Classic in Kansas City, Mo., but senior Madison Smith said the games were good for her team.
“I thought we did good for the most part against the teams we played,” Smith said.
The tournament features several of the top girls’ soccer teams in middle America. For Deer Creek, it was a chance to play tougher competition.
The Antlers entered the tournament having won each of its last three games 10-0.
“(We learned) the levels of experience on the team,” Smith said. “There’s some pretty wide gaps; we have some freshmen trying to step into important roles.”
At the top, though, Deer Creek has lots of talent and experience. Smith has signed to play college soccer at Oklahoma, and fellow seniors Roman Edwards (Tulsa), Allison Worsham (Oklahoma City) and Maddie Windham (Oklahoma Baptist) will also play at the next level.
The Antlers were the Class 5A runner-up a year ago, and now their focus is squarely on finishing the job in 2012.
“I think all of the seniors have that desire,” Smith said. “I think last year we lacked that, and sometimes that’s how you lose championships — you have talent but not that desire. But now we have that extra hard work on top of everything. We’re coming together pretty good.”
Tuesday, the Antlers will face Carl Albert, which started the season slow but has won four straight games.
“I’m competitive and I want to win terribly bad,” Smith said of Tuesday’s game.
Girls basketball: Douglass’ Te’era Williams gets release from Grambling State
Douglass basketball standout Te'era Williams, left, and her mother, Lenora Love, right. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Douglass’ Te’era Williams got a release from her Grambling State letter of intent after all.
Grambling State athletic director Percy Caldwell reversed the previous denial and informed Williams and her mother, Lenora Love, in an email Friday morning.
Last week, the Douglass basketball standout was denied the release she requested after coach Donnita Rogers was fired in March.
Williams signed with Grambling State in November. After her release was denied, Williams began visiting junior colleges. She wouldn’t have needed a release to play at the junior-college level.
But if she wanted to begin her NCAA Division I hoops career at any other school besides Grambling State in the fall, she needed the release she was granted Friday.
Now, Williams is left hoping that a Division I school still has a scholarship available for her. She said last month she was interested in Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Wichita State.
Williams was The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Player of the Year after averaging 27.3 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals per game as a senior, when she led Douglass to its first state tournament appearance in 20 years.
Girls basketball: Millwood’s Quira Demery signs with Tennessee Tech
Millwood's Quira Demery, right, will play college basketball at Tennessee Tech,. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Millwood senior basketball standout Quira Demery signed with Tennessee Tech, which plays NCAA Division I basketball in the Ohio Valley Conference, on Thursday.
Demery led Millwood to the Class 3A state championship as a senior, averaging15.9 points per game through the season.
In the state tournament, Demery averaged 16.7 points, including a 21-point, 11-rebound performance in the Falcons’ title-game win over Prague.
Demery’s performance helped Millwood snap a three-year streak of runner-up finishes.
Girls soccer: Two-time defending champion Edmond North coming together
Edmond North soccer player Britani Soesbee is injured. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Edmond North’s girls soccer team, which has won two straight Class 6A state titles, has won four straight matches to open district play entering Tuesday’s contest at Yukon.
North is playing without senior midfielder Britani Soesbee, a USAO signee who is injured and will be out another couple weeks, Flanders said.
Thursday, the Huskies will head to Kansas City, Mo., to play in the Heart of America Classic, which will feature several top teams from eight different states.
“It will be a great bonding experience,” said Edmond North coach Theresa Flanders. “It comes at the right time — in the middle of district, right as we’re trying to start peaking. It’s a great time for coaches and players to come together.”
Edmond North opens Thursday at 6:45 against Ray-Pec (Peculiar, Mo).
The Huskies are one of six Oklahoma teams competing in the Classic, along with Norman North, Deer Creek, Jenks, Tulsa Bishop Kelley and Tulsa Union.
Deer Creek opens Thursday at 4:45 p.m. against Lee’s Summit (Mo.), while Norman North begins Friday at 3:45 p.m. against Lee’s Summit West.
Football recruiting: Deer Creek quarterback Joel Blumenthal invited to Arkansas State
Deer Creek quarterback Joel Blumenthal was invited to visit Arkansas State. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Deer Creek quarterback Joel Blumenthal was invited to visit Arkansas State and watch the Red Wolves’ spring game Saturday, but he’ll have to miss the visit because he’s taking the ACT that day. He said he hopes to reschedule soon.
Blumenthal visited Tulsa with linebacker teammates and fellow juniors Austin Loomis and Kooper Ruminer last Saturday.
Arkansas State, which is entering its first season under coach Gus Malzahn, didn’t have any Oklahomans on last year’s roster, but there has been an increased effort to recruit the state. Heritage Hall defensive lineman Quintaz Struble signed with Arkansas State in February.
Blumenthal (6-foot-2, 175 pounds), who as a junior threw for 20 touchdowns and rushed for six, doesn’t have any offers yet but his interest is picking up.
