The slate is clean.
While regular season records mean something for district tournament pairings and seeding, every basketball squad in Oklahoma starts the post-season with a 0-0 mark.
That is good news for the roundball squads at Waurika and Ryan as all four teams enter the playoffs with losing records.
Play begins tomorrow night (Friday) in the Class A District Tournament for both Waurika and Ryan.
Both Waurika teams will travel to Ft. Cobb-Broxton to face Ringling, while both Ryan teams will journey to Central High to face Bray-Doyle.
The girls’ tilts will open the tournament at 6:30 p.m. at both sites.
Awaiting the winner of the Waurika-Ringling games will be Ft. Cobb, while Central High will take on the winner of the Ryan and Bray-Doyle matchups.
The championship games will be played Saturday with the girls’ games tipping at 6:30 p.m.
Waurika and Ringling drew a tough assignment for the district tourney.
The only regular season meeting between the two Jefferson County schools was canceled because of the flu.
However, the boys’ team that survives that contest will have to face a legitimate state title contender.
Ft. Cobb-Broxton is 22-3 on the year and the only three losses have been to ranked teams in Class B, Class 2A and Class 5A. The Mustangs have won nine straight contests.
The Mustangs, ranked second in Class A, won the Caddo County Tournament and garnered runner up honors in tournaments at Chattanooga and Anadarko.
Ft. Cobb-Broxton will be well-rested as the Mustangs last played last Saturday against Walters giving them a week to prepare for the winner of Waurika and Ringling.
The Blue Devil boys come into the tournament with an 8-10 mark. They have been inconsistent much of the season, but should be competitive against the Eagles.
Coach Joe Masoner’s Waurika boys have also struggled to find wins in 2018. The Eagles were 4-13 heading into last Tuesday’s game with Grandfield.
Waurika has had three games canceled because of the flu and have only played once since January 23 before last Tuesday.
The Eagles have had turnover troubles most of the season averaging almost 20 miscues a game.
Cache Arellano has been the ringleader for the Eagles averaging over nine points a game and pulling down an average of eight rebounds a game.
Ft. Cobb-Broxton handed Waurika an 81-28 loss in the first round of the Chattanooga Tournament.
The girls’ bracket of the district tourney at Ft. Cobb will be much the same as the boys’ bracket.
The Lady Mustangs will be the overwhelming favorite as they come in ranked 15th in Class A and won the Chattanooga Tournament and were the runner up at the tough Caddo County fray.
Ft. Cobb-Broxton is 15-10 on the year, but only 5-5 in its last 10 games.
Ringling’s girls will come into the tournament with a 9-6 record and have one tournament title to their credit – the St. Jo, Texas Invitational.
The Waurika girls have struggled all year under first-year coach Kalee Baxter and hold a 5-11 record not including Tuesday’s result with Grandfield.
The Lady Eagles have been led most of the season by Madison Roberson. Roberson has averaged 15 points a game and averages about 15 boards a game.
In the district tournament at Central High, none of the boys’ squads will enter the tournament with a winning record – and it isn’t close.
Ryan, with a mark of 5-16, was granted the top seed, but Bray-Doyle chose to match up with the Cowboys in the first round of the tournament.
Central High’s boys started the season 0-10, but earned the consolation title at the Black Diamond Tournament at Rush Springs at the beginning of 2018. The Bronchos are 4-16 on the year.
Bray-Doyle has had a tough year as well as the Cowboys and Bronchos.
The Donkeys will bring a 3-14 record into the tournament.
The Cowboys own a win over the Donkeys just before Christmas, but Bray-Doyle has been playing a bit better as of late.
Coach Judd Matthes’ squad has struggled to score during most of the season.
While a number of Cowboys can contribute points on a given night, Ryan lacks the go-to player that is a consistent scorer.
Skyler Parkhill has been the top point-getter for the Cowboys overall.
Central High drew the top seed in the girls’ bracket and came into the tournament with a 15-8 mark that does not include last Tuesday’s game with Sterling.
The Lady Bronchos won the Minco Invitational and were runner up at the Black Diamond Tournament.
Bray-Doyle’s girls own a two-point win over Ryan in a regular season meeting before Christmas and have a 12-8 mark not including last Tuesday’s contest with Oklahoma School for the Deaf.
The Lady Donkeys won the Maysville Shootout in December, but are only 4-7 since January 1 – not including the game with OSD.
The Cowgirls, under first-year coach Steve Spangler, have compiled a 7-14 record for the season.
It has been a struggle on the offensive end for the Cowgirls most of the season, but Lily York has been the top point-getter for the season especially in the recent part of the schedule.
The Cowgirls will start four sophomores and only one senior. The roster has been limited most of the season due to lack of participation and injuries.
Both the district champion and the district runner up will advance to next week’s regional tournament.
On January 11th, the First Baptist Church of Waurika Pre-school class visited the Library. After reading ‘Hide and Snake’, the children did activities including ‘ice-fishing’ and a ring-toss. Next, we toured the Depot museum. The kids had a lot of fun pressing keys on the typewriters. Thanks to Sharon Morgan and Jan Farris for visiting us. We always enjoy field trips!
