Semifinal sites set
Here’s the semifinal times/dates:
Class 6A
Jenks vs. Southmoore, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Putnam City Stadium
Tulsa Union vs. Broken Arrow, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, University of Tulsa
Class 5A
El Reno vs. Carl Albert, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Putnam City Stadium
Bixby vs. Guthrie, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Stillwater High School
Class 4A
Weatherford vs. Douglass, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Yukon
Star Spencer vs. Sallisaw, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sapulpa
Class 3A
Seq. Claremore vs. Cascia Hall, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Collinsville
Berryhill vs. Dewey, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Skiatook
Class B
Garber vs. Laverne, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Woodward
Ryan vs. Canton, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Norman
Class C
DC-Lamont vs. Timberlake, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Enid
Seiling vs. Forgan, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Woodward
OKRankings.com Girls Basketball Poll
The OKRankings.com Preseason Girls Basketball Coaches’ poll has been released. These are the rankings that eventually go toward deciding playoff pairings. So here they are (first-place votes in parentheses):
Class 6A
1. Midwest City (18)
2. Tulsa Union (1)
3. Norman
4. Edmond North
5. Edmond Memorial
6. Edmond Santa Fe
7. Lawton
8. Del City (2)
9. Norman North
10. Putnam City North
11. Jenks
12. Broken Arrow
13. Sapulpa
14. Owasso
15. Ponca City
16. Yukon
17. Enid
18. Southmoore
19. Bixby
20. Choctaw
OKRankings.com Boys Basketball poll
The OKRankings.com Preseason Boys Basketball Coaches’ poll has been released. These are the rankings that eventually go toward deciding playoff pairings. So here they are (first-place votes in parentheses):
Class 6A
1. Putnam City (8)
2. Putnam City West (7)
3. Muskogee (4)
4. Southmoore
5. Tulsa Union
6. Jenks
7. Edmond Santa Fe
8. Midwest City
9. Broken Arrow
10. Putnam City North
11. Owasso
12. Edmond Memorial
13. Lawton
14 Enid
15. Choctaw
15. Del City
17. Norman North
18. Edmond North
19. Lawton Eisenhower
20. Norman
Know of a player signing?
With signing day coming up Wednesday, The Oklahoman is once again compiling a list of players across the state who have signed to play college athletics at any level.
If you have a signing to report, e-mail it to Ryan Aber at raber@opubco.com ro post it on the comments section here (on the main high school blog at http://blog.newsok.com/highschoolsports )
What are the most impressive streaks in state HS sports?
With Shattuck about to break Morrison’s record of 90 consecutive wins, I’m wondering what are the other streaks in the state that are most impressive?
Here’s a few I’ve come up with. Let me know, either through a comment here or an e-mail (raber@opubco.com), if you have any others.
I’m sure there are plenty more I’ve missed but here are a few:
- Morrison and Shattuck’s 90-game winning streaks in football
- Tulsa Union’s and Jenks’ stranglehold on the 6A football title
-Asher and Owasso baseball dominance
-McGuinness girls cross country
-Bethel girls basketball state tournament streak
-Bartlesville boys swimming
-El Reno wrestling
-McGuinness girls tennis
-Cascia Hall boys tennis
Got a question for Ed Sheakley? Ask it here
I’m going to visit with Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association executive director Ed Sheakley early this week. Do you have a question for him? Leave it as a comment here or e-mail me at raber@opubco.com. I’ll pick a few to ask him and we’ll have his answers this week in The Oklahoman.
Class 4A state volleyball preview
My new favorite thing about volleyball?
No rainouts.
While everyone else is scrambling to find alternate fields and dry places to play their state and regional tournament games this week, volleyball moves ahead on schedule. Even though I had to put arm floaties on my chihuahua just to send him out into my backyard, 4A volleyball’s state tournament will go off without a hitch Friday at noon inside the dry climate of the Edmond Santa Fe High School gym.
Now, here’s a look at the teams that made it to the 4A state tournament
Match 1: Christian Heritage vs. Oklahoma Bible, noon
CHA (25-9): Like several teams in this tournament, CHA has a lot of seniors, most of whom play key roles at vital positions, like Abbey McNeill at libero. Coach Heath Kufahl will put her talents up against any libero in the state. Lindsey LittleJim is a big play — or a big block — waiting to happen in the middle. Skye Coffman is a strong outside hitter as well, and CHA has come closer to beating Heritage Hall than any other 4A team this season. They’ve won 15 straight.
OBA (27-11): Without a lot of 4A schools in the immediate area, OBA ends up playing a pretty tough schedule, and coach James Ward hopes that pays dividends this week. A team without an offensive superstar lives on its defense, which will be among the best in the field this weekend. Libero Rachael Walker anchors that defense and junior setter Whitney Maple has been starting since her freshman year. Remember that 15-game winning streak for CHA? Their last loss came to OBA on Sept. 15. So there should be a rivalry aspect to this game.
Match 2: Heritage Hall vs. Lincoln Christian, 1:30 p.m.
Heritage Hall (24-6): They’ve won four straight titles, and though they lost a lot of key players and their head coach, first-year coach Greg Dewey has the Lady Chargers right back where they’ve been as the 4A favorite. Brooke Bogert and Haydn Beatty are the big-play girls, but others like Coralee Toal are just as important to their success. Dewey has said all season that he feels the 4A field is evenly matched, so we’ll see if it plays out.
Lincoln Christian (22-9): These girls are in their first state tournament with three sophomores starting and they’re opening against the four-time defending state champs. But coach Whitney Warren doesn’t sound timid about the matchup, and it didn’t come across as false bravado. Her team has good size, led by Haley Byrd. Chelsie Holt in the middle and Maddie Starr at outside hitter will make some plays, too. They have good leadership on the court and play as a team.
Match 3: Victory Christian vs. Clinton, 3 p.m.
Victory Christian (28-6): Strong hitters who played a strong schedule. Could be a dangerous combination. VC has a strong pair of middles in Caroline Arnould and Stephani Feeley, a great blocking tandem. Setter Natalie Donohue makes the offense go with her unmatched passing skills. Six players on the team have played in the state tournament before.
Clinton (24-9): Like Victory Christian, Clinton has several players with state tournament experience. Alyssa Wilson, a senior outside hitter, is the total package. At 6-foot-1 with good leaping ability, she’s built for the sport, and she hits it as hard as anyone you’ll see at the tournament the next two days. But victories will come via team chemistry, which has been a key to success all year, says coach Jackie Sternberger.
Match 4: Cascia Hall vs. Cache, 4:30 p.m.
Cascia Hall (15-16): Solid all the way around, but especially in the middle with senior Kate Brandon and sophomore Aryn Dixon, both of whom started on last year’s runner-up squad. Aside from their physical talent, they’re on-court leaders as well. And Nikkie Price, another senior, runs the show at setter for a group that relies heavily on team unity. Cascia is another team that has played a tough schedule, which is evident in the overall record, and will be ready for whatever the state tournament has to offer.
Cache (28-3): This is a team with a lot of athletic ability, and good hitters at nearly every position. Coach Stephanie Dilks says a different player is stepping up to lead the team in kills each game. Senior outside hitter Lauren Winham is a leader on the floor who makes the plays when her team needs her. And though Cache relies a lot on its six seniors, a pair of sophomores play crucial roles in setter Madison Ward and middle hitter Talia Stanley. Ward is a glue girl, doing whatever is needed to hold the team together, and Stanley is the team’s big hitter who works hard at the net on defense.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Volleyball: Status quo atop the rankings
No big drama in the No. 1 spots in volleyball rankings this week, as all three top-ranked teams held their spots in this week’s polls on OKRankings.com, but there was some excitement in the spots that follow.
By virtue of its home victory over Union, Edmond Memorial leapfrogged the Lady Redskins for No. 2 in Class 6A, sitting behind cross-town rival Santa Fe — each with a win over Union early this season. Santa Fe topped Memorial at the Union Invitational, and they’ll meet again a week from today.
We mentioned in today’s paper, there’s a big Class 5A showdown in Tulsa, when unbeaten Bishop Kelley hosts Bishop McGuinness tonight. But McGuinness dropped a spot to fourth in the rankings, thanks to surging Tulsa Washington, which now holds a 13-0 record. But the Lady Hornets will get tested in the next 10 days, with three straight matches against 6A teams ranked in the top 12, including No. 8 Stillwater and No. 7 Bartlesville.
Heritage Hall is still holding the top spot in Class 4A at 6-2, with Clinton in second. Cache hopped up to No. 3 with a 12-1 record as previous No. 3, Cascia Hall fell to 7-7 on the year and No. 5 in the rankings.
There are a few other big games tonight, including Edmond Memorial at Putnam City, Broken Arrow at Stillwater, and in 5A, McAlester at Southeast.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Wrapping up 4A…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Halfway through our look back at the state championships. This one will be abbreviated as I did not see one 4A boys game, so I’m not going to comment on it.
All I’ll say is I was shocked that McGuinness with Daniel Orton could not defend its title. Must really say something about how talented that Star Spencer team is when they put it all together.
But I did see a lot of the 4A girls.
Boys champion: Star Spencer, 67-61 vs. McGuinness
Girls champion: Vinita, 51-45 vs. Cache
One last time to watch Cache’s Taylor Thompson. What an absolute treat she’s been. She can just pull up from 25 feet and nail it. Or she can take you off the dribble and score. Not to mention, her defense.
But the Vinita team was clearly the best in the tournament. As Justin Harper pointed out to me while there, the Hornets beat No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. Couldn’t beat No. 3 because that’s what they were.
Three girls really stood out for Vinita: Dana Downing, Tosha Tyler and Caitlyn Spurgeon.
Spurgeon is/was just a freshman, so it was kinda amazing to watch not only her poise but her big-time clutch performances in both the semifinals and the championship.
Thompson scored 20 points but didn’t score one in the fourth quarter. The lingering image for me from this year’s tournament is Thompson crouching down in tears with the Vinita team celebrating about 10-12 feet away from her.
Wow.
In fact, the whole Cache team really took that loss hard. Every team is disappointed about not winning it all, but some of those Cache girls were almost beyond devastated.
Anyway, congrats to Vinita and Thompson, hey, be keepin’ tabs on ya at Fresno State.
And finally, if you haven’t had a chance to catch Brandon Chatmon’s “Mic’d Up” with McGuinness coach Tondrell Durham, here is your chance. Special thanks goes to McGuinness for allowing Brandon to do this. It means a lot to us.
