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 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.
District previews: Classes 6A-C
If you missed your school’s district football preview, here’s all the links for every district.
District previews: Classes 6A-C
Class 6A
District 6A-1: Lawton’s Sunny Puletasi learns quickly
District 6A-2: D’Juan Brooks stepping up for Edmond Memorial
District 6A-3: Jenks still strong without Jarrett Lake
District 6A-4: Choctaw trying to build tradition
Class 5A
District 5A-1: Coach Tom Cobble says it’s a good time to be in El Reno
District 5A-2: Carl Albert QB J.T. Realmuto could see time on defense
District 5A-3: Tulsa Washington unanimous No. 1
District 5A-4: McAlester poised to rebound; East Central wants more
Class 4A
District 4A-1: McGuinness’ offensive line a concern
District 4A-2: Tecumseh is strong up front
District 4A-3: Home playoff game is Collinsville’s goal
District 4A-4: Broken Bow coach high on Eric Dockins
Class 3A
District 3A-1: Tuttle battling lack of experience
District 3A-2: Madill trio has coach Kerry Roberts looking for big things
District 3A-3: Jody Iams’ Eagles rely on Wing-T
District 3A-4: Metro Christian gains valuable asset in QB Beau Marsaln
Class 2A
District 2A-1: Marc Robinson still growing for Heritage Hall
District 2A-2: Little Axe ready for breakthrough?
District 2A-3: Washington’s Chance Pistole moving to fullback; Bridge Creek rebuilding its line
District 2A-4: Atoka QB commands attention
District 2A-5: Chandler counting on Brandon Cummings
District 2A-6: Toughness key for Valliant
District 2A-7: Verdigris has 15 experienced seniors
District 2A-8: Colcord hoping to build on strong finish
Class A
District A-1: Hennessey avoids logjam at quarterback
District A-2: OCS’ Jack Warren hasn’t forgotten loss
District A-2 notes: Trio vying for QB job at CHA
District A-3: District loaded with talented teams
District A-4: Bray-Doyle deals with adversity
District A-5: Tough three weeks for Stroud
District A-6: Talihina a cut above the rest
District A-7: Morrison ready to reload
District A-7 notes: Barnsdall seniors looking for wins
District A-8: Commerce looks to preserve streak
Class B
District B-1: Could district dominance repeat?
District B-2: Paoli defense is a strength
District B-3: Weightlifting competition inspires OCA
District B-4: Copan’s secret is out
Class C
Shattuck closing in on record win streak
District C-1: Finding running back key for Forgan
District C-2: Aaron Vondrak to lead Thackerville
District C-3: Seiling to turn QB Zach McDonald loose
District C-4: Maud’s Jarrid Resler works way back
West softball pitchers live up to billing…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Eerie feeling all day Saturday at the All-State fastpitch softball games at the University of Oklahoma Softball Complex.
The ridiculously humid atmosphere had me fearing for the worst. Fortunately, none of the girls succumbed to the heat. However, a couple of umpires did. Both had to leave the field because of heat-related struggles.
I was told both recovered after a lot of ice and fluids, so that was good news.
As for the games, I dare you to find a better pitching quartet than the Large West squad. Their scheduled pitchers were Kaci Quintero of Westmoore (my Big All-City Player of the Year, going to Seminole State), Katie Lynn of Moore (Southern Nazarene) and Choctaw’s Kalynn Schrock (Tulsa). Then just for fun, coach Steve Schwarz of Westmoore threw in Alex Jones of Enid (Kansas) into the mix.
Yeah, talk about domination. They showed what they were all about in shutting out the East squad.
Most interesting thing to note was East star Ashley Brokeshoulder of Shawnee still has not signed. She missed the game because of injury, but the injury has no impact on her recruiting.
Had a chance to speak with her father, Eddie Brokeshoulder, about everything. He said they are still weighing their options, and it’s definitely not because of a lack of offers. Enjoyed watching Brokeshoulder when I worked in Shawnee and was happy she was able to put it all together and help Shawnee reach the 5A championship last year.
In the middle school’s game, it was a Harrah thing. Ali Manship has long been one of the Boneman’s favorites, and she did it just about every way possible.
She had an RBI single, scored a run on a great slide at the plate and of course, on the mound.
Manship pitched the first three innings and was lights out. Then, former Washington coach Mike Lawless put Manship in to finish the job.
The West entered with an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the ninth. At 8-6 and two runners on, Manship was called to get the final out and did so.
Her teammate, Aaron Adams (headed to Oklahoma State), had a two-run single as well.
The small east was dominant in shutting out the west.
Coaches of the Year: Large Schools: Randall King, Broken Arrow. No shock as led Tigers to yet another state championship.
Middle Schools: Jerry Bates, Tuttle. This was supposed to be the down year for the Tuttle program. Tigers will be loaded next season in quest for three-peat.
Small Schools: Steve Pybas, Ringling. This is cheating, all he did was give the ball to Hope McLemore and let her do the rest (I kid, but Hope is special). Ringling also won a state championship.
I focused on Schrock for my story as I felt she kinda got left in the cold every now and then because of how good some of the other teams were. For my money, Schrock and Quintero’s battle in the state semifinals is still the best high school softball game I’ve seen.
This Saturday is the slowpitch version of everything. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and everything will run smooth.
Girls Tennis Preview (what to watch for)
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Biggest thing to watch for is the weather. Here’s to hoping we get everything in this weekend.
As much as I love tennis, it’s the first sport that has to be called off with even the smidgest amount of rain.
Ever played on a slippery court? You like having healthy legs? Don’t play on a slippery court unless you want to mess up your knees, or ankles or hamstrings. It’s brutal.
But with that said, what should you be watching for this weekend at the state tournament?
Class 6A
Biggest question: Can anyone pose a real threat to Jenks? I don’t think so. Admittedly, haven’t seen the Trojan girls this season. Just been looking at the numbers and remember how strong they were last year.
Edmond Memorial has the best chance while Edmond North is solid, too. If you combined the schools, they’d be dynamite.
But as is, see it being Jenks-EM-EN finish.
Player to watch: Rachel Mitcham, Edmond North. The No. 1 singles field is about as open as can be.
With Jennifer Buntz of Jenks, Mackenzie Zaloudek of Enid and Lindsay Choi of Edmond Memorial, it’ll be a real battle for the crown.
When Mitcham is on her game, she’s the best. She’ll have to bring it this weekend.
Class 5A
Biggest question: Will McGuinness sweep? I’m not trying to be a jerk, but that is the drama for me. Whitney Ritchie and Mia Lancaster are some of the best juniors in the country (not just state) and the No. 1 doubles team of Katelyn Connelly and Emily Conrad would be singles players just about anywhere else.
This is a loaded field, though. Andrea Lewis of Bishop Kelley, Melanie Barnes of Duncan, Meredith Burns of BK immediately come to mind as real threats who could pull off an upset or two.
The real battle will be for second b/w Duncan and Bishop Kelley. And based on what I’ve seen, I’m going to go for a minor upset and say Duncan places second with BK closely behind.
Player to watch: I’ma say Andrea Lewis of Bishop Kelley. She’s a two-time state champion. When she played Whitney Ritchie earlier this year, she lost 6-0, 6-0. There were extenuating circumstances, but still, think Lewis will have a lot of pride if the two meet in the championship.
Class 4A
Biggest question: Will Heritage Hall’s new line-up prove dividends? Dick Villalfor changed up his crew late in the game, moving No. 2 singles player Sarah Bowen to No. 1 doubles and moving No. 1 doubles player Carissa Villaflor to the No. 2 singles spot.
He said it will give him the best chance at state in both positions but definitely an interesting move. Tough to question someone who has won as many championships as Villaflor.
Heritage Hall and Cascia Hall were pretty dominant at their regionals and have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 throughout the season, and that order shouldn’t change here. Chargers come out on top.
Player to watch: Julie Labarthe, Heritage Hall. Was a little too young for Peta Maree Lancaster of McGuinness last year in the final. But I would have loved to have seen a Labarthe-Ritchie singles championship this year.
Oh well. Labarthe has been as good as advertised and is routinely posting at least one 6-0 set in just about every match she’s had lately.
Should be a fun weekend. See ya on the courts.
