A good returning nucleus of runners for the Waurika girls’ cross country squad has head coach Joe Masoner optimistic about another successful season.
The Waurika boys and girls cross country squads will open the season Saturday at the Duncan Invitational.
Last season the Lady Eagles finished sixth in the Class 2A state meet and were third in the regional hosted by Waurika.
As a team the Lady Eagles never finished lower than fifth during the regular season.
The Lady Eagles are the defending team champs at the Healdton meet and had runner up finishes at Velma-Alma, Walters and Geronimo a year ago.
Coach Masoner welcomes five of the runners that were part of the 2020 squad to the 2021 edition of the Lady Eagle cross country squad.
One of those five will not be able to run this year, but the other four returnees – Tallin Mora, Aubree Showalter, Jaci Gholson and Liberti Simmons – will be counted on to carry the squad during the season.
Mora, a senior for the Lady Eagles, was one of the ringleaders a year ago with six top-ten finishes during the season. She was fourth at the regional and finished 23rd at the state meet.
Showalter, a sophomore, had a top-10 finish at the Healdton meet for the Lady Eagles.
“Those four will be learned on hard to set the pace for us,” said Masoner about the 2021 edition of the Lady Eagles.
The fifth runner for the Lady Eagles will likely be Jaden Adams who is running cross country for the first time this fall.
Masoner will be counting on a pair of freshmen to help push the top five runners.
Sadie Smith and Destiny Foster, who have plenty of experience at the junior high level, will be competing for the varsity in their freshman season.
Coach Masoner has some lofty hopes for the team that graduated six members of the 2020 team.
“I feel we should be one of the top teams in the state by the end of the season,” said Masoner about his expectations for the coming year.
With a mixture of youth and experience, those expectations are certainly reachable for the Lady Eagles this year.
For the first time in a while the Waurika boys will not be able to have enough runners to be entered in the team competition.
Waurika had four seniors on last year’s squad and three other members of the 2020 team chose not to run cross country this fall.
Trent Arellano, a junior, and Alex Gomez, a sophomore, are the only two Eagles out for cross country they year.
“Alex has been working hard all summer,” said Masoner. “Both of them will have a chance to qualify as individual for the state meet.”
Despite being a freshman last year, Gomez had one top-10 finish at the Healdton meet. He was 30th in regional competition for Waurika.
Arellano has been running cross country the past two seasons for Waurika.
Geronimo came away with the Southern Eight Conference tournament title with a 1-0 victory over Grandfield last Saturday.
The tournament games were held last Thursday at Waurika because of rain at Grandfield. The tourney concluded on Saturday at the original host site, Grandfield.
The Lady Blue Jays went 3-0 in the tournament to earn the championship trophy.
Frederick finished third in the tournament after winning two games in the consolation bracket, but dropping a 9-2 decision to Grandfield to give the Lady Bearcats the spot in the championship tilt.
It was a tough tournament for Waurika and Ryan.
In the first day of the tournament last Thursday, Ryan dropped two games to be eliminated.
The Cowgirls fell to Grandfield, 10-0, in the first round and then lost to Big Pasture in a consolation bracket game, 10-4.
Waurika picked up a narrow 4-3 win over Big Pasture in the first round last Thursday, but fell to Grandfield, 7-1, in the second game in Thursday’s play.
The Lady Eagles were eliminated on Thursday night with a 17-1 loss to Frederick.
Here’s a recap of the games involving Ryan and Waurika:
Frederick 17,
Waurika 1
In the final game of the schedule last Thursday, the Lady Bombers used a big second inning to eliminate the Lady Eagles.
Frederick picked up three runs in the top of the third inning and could have had more as the first seven batters reached base.
The Lady Bombers added nine runs in the top of the second inning by sending 13 batters to the plate. Three doubles, three walks and three singles contributed to the big inning.
In the top of the third, Frederick added five more runs as the first five batters reached base and eventually scored.
Waurika got its only run in the bottom of the third inning.
Liberti Simmons singled to center and then scored on Gracie Walling’s RBI-single. Those were the only two hits of the three-inning contest for the Lady Eagles.
Grandfield 7,
Waurika 1
In a second-round contest, the game was scoreless through the first three innings, but Grandfield erupted or three runs in the top of the fourth and four more runs in the top of the fifth for the win.
The Lady Eagles tried to rally in the bottom of the fifth inning, but could only score one run and left the bases loaded.
Simmons had a lead-off double and scored when Grace Hill got a run-scoring single to center.
Waurika 4,
Big Pasture 3
It was a good start to the tourney for the Lady Eagles as they picked up the narrow win over Big Pasture in the first round of the tournament.
Neither team scored in the first two innings, but in the top of the fourth inning the Lady Eagles picked up all the runs they would need to get the win.
Rylee Torrez got the offense rolling in the top of the third inning when she reached base on a dropped third strike.
Aubree Showalter picked up a single to right and Simmons had an RBI-single that scored Torrez.
Riley Howell had an RBI-single to right that scored Showalter and that was followed by consecutive singles by Walling and Alana Lewis.
Howell and Walling both scored by stealing home to give Waurika a 4-0 advantage.
The Lady Rangers answered in the bottom of the third with the big blow being a two-run double.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Lady Rangers threatened again.
After a run had scored and Big Pasture had runners on second and third an attempted steal of home to try to tie the score failed and the next batter grounded out to preserve the win for the Lady Eagles.
Howell picked up the win for the Lady Eagles in the circle. She had four strikeouts. Simmons came on in the fifth inning to pick up a save.
Big Pasture 10,
Ryan 4
The Cowgirls held an early 3-0 lead but could not hold on issuing eight free passes to Big Pasture batters in a consolation bracket contest.
In the top half of the opening inning, Lirin Tucker, Libby Carter and Jasmine Villerreal all reached base and came around to score to put the Cowgirls on top, 3-0.
The lead did not last long, however, as Big Pasture struck for five runs in the bottom of the inning and never trailed the rest of the way.
The Lady Rangers added to the lead in the bottom of the second inning with a pair of scores to increase the lead to 7-3.
The Cowgirls were able to get another run in the top of the third inning when Tucker led off the inning by reaching base and eventually scoring to narrow the game to 7-4.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Lady Rangers added three more runs to earn the victory that was halted after three innings because of the time limit.
Grandfield 10,
Ryan 0
In the first-round encounter with the Lady Bearcats, the Cowgirls could not get anything going at the plate as only two batters reached base.
Grandfield’s first six batters walked and four runs scoring in the inning.
The Lady Bearcats added two runs in the second inning and four runs in the third inning to secure the win after three innings because of the run rule.
High school football is just a little over a week away and the Waurika and Ryan football squads have been busy engaging in preseason workouts in preparation for the season openers on September 3.
The final scrimmage of the preseason for Ryan will be tonight at Bob Givens Sports Complex.
The Cowboys play host to Sasakwa.
Fans are asked to bring donations of body wash, towels and water to support the Cowboys for the season.
Waurika will travel to Thackerville tonight for their final scrimmage of the season.
On Saturday, the Waurika booster club will host a Meet the Eagles event at 6 p.m. at Cy Sloan Stadium.
The Cowboys traveled over to Wilson last Friday for a scrimmage with the Eagles and Ryan coach Tony Tomberlin had mixed feelings about the Cowboys’ performance.
“We didn’t look too bad,” Tomberlin said about the workout against Wilson. “We have got a lot of work to do.”
“We are just very inconsistent,” Tomberlin added. “We had glimpses of good, but still have a long way to go.”
Waurika traveled to Alex last Friday and engaged with the host school, Snyder and Maysville.
The Eagles went up against Alex and Maysville, but went against Snyder for only about 10 plays since they will meet later in the regular season.
The football squad at Waurika is also looking for donations of towels, soap, laundry detergent, bottled water and Gatorade.
Both teams were in action last week.
The Eagles dominated play against Maysville scoring on eight of the 15 offensive plays ran. Waurika was almost as dominate against the host team.
The season begins for Ryan on September 3 when the Cowboys host Bray-Doyle. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Waurika opens the season on the road against old rival Grandfield on September 3. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Come out for an evening of family fun! Meet your Waurika Eagles for football, cross country, cheerleading, and softball. The brand new Eagle’s Nest spirit store will be open! We will also feature player introductions, autographs, photos with players, and walking tacos.
It is not surprising to know that Jefferson County has produced some of the best track athletes in state history.
Given Waurika’s successes in the 1930’s when it was dubbed the “Track Capitol of Oklahoma”, you would assume the schools in this south central Oklahoma county would be among the best in track.
The state track meet began to be held in 1944 – just after some of the years of domination by the Waurika track team.
And, Waurika was the first Jefferson County school to crown a state champion.
But, the highest finish by a team from Jefferson County belongs to Addington – a state runner up finish in 1946 at the state track meet held at the University of Oklahoma.
The next highest finish by teams from Jefferson County is fourth and that has been done five times by three different teams.
The Waurika boys’ team has three fourth place finishes – all but one of them was a tie for fourth.
Ryan’s boys’ squad finished in a fourth-place tie in 1973, while the Waurika girls nabbed a fourth-place finish in the 2000 state track meet.
Both the boys and girls teams from Ryan, Ringling and Waurika have scored in the state track meet.
Addington and Sugden both scored in two times each before those schools were closed. Mountain Home also scored in the 1947 state track meet.
Hastings, Irving, Union Valley, Claypool and Terral did not score in the history of those schools at the state meet.
A quick glance of the regional meets show that Terral scored a single point in the 1951 regional, while Claypool scored points in 1955.
Of course, Mountain Home, Sugden and Addington scored in regional meets in the early years of the state track meets.
Hastings, Irving, Union Valley and Claypool all closed in the 1950’s, while Terral’s high school consolidated with Ryan after the 1985 season.
Five different squads have recorded fifth-place finishes – Waurika boys (twice), Ringling boys and Waurika girls (twice).
Addington had a sixth-place finish in the 1945 meet, while Ringling’s girls and Ryan’s boys tied for sixth place in 1973 and 1976, respectively.
Waurika’s girls also had a sixth-place finish in 1992.
Seventeen other schools have had finishes between seventh and 10th – Sudgen (1948), Waurika girls (1999, 1974, 1991), Waurika boys (1947, 2021, 1998, 2005, 2017, 2018 and 1951), Ryan boys (1961), Ryan girls (1990), Ringling boys (1984, 1963 and 1983) and Ringling girls (1986).
The best finish by Ryan’s girls came in the 1990 season when the Cowgirls finished in a tie for ninth place.
Ringling’s best boys’ team finish came in the 1971 state meet when the Blue Devils recorded 21 points.
The best finish by the Lady Blue Devils was a tie for sixth place in the 1973 state meet – the second state meet ever held for high school girls.
The Waurika boys’ track squad has the most top ten finishes with 12.
The girls teams from Waurika have seven top 10 finishes since the first state meet was held in 1972.
The best finish in this century was recorded by the Waurika girls when they finished fourth at the state meet held at Putnam City High School. The Lady Eagles garnered 50 points in the meet.
The most recent best finish was this past spring when the Waurika boys finished eighth at the Class A State Track Meet held at Cherokee. The Eagles’ posted the seventh best finish ever this past spring.
There have been some droughts along the way by the boys and girls teams from Ryan, Ringling and Waurika where those teams did not score in the state meet.
The Cowboys went from 1944 to 1954 without having an athlete place at the state meet. The Cowgirls went from 1992 to 2011 without a competitor placing in the state meet.
Ringling has gone the longest without scoring in a state track meet. The Blue Devils did not score in a state track meet from 1985 to 2019 – but it can be assumed that no track teams were fielded in many of those years.
The Lady Blue Devils went 23 years without scoring – from 1995 to 2018 – but again there were probably several seasons where they did not have a team.
Waurika’s boys went from 1952 to 1964 without an athlete placing in the state track meet, while the Waurika girls went from 1975 to 1984 without scoring.
NEXT WEEK: A look at some individual performances by Jefferson County athletes at the State Track Meet.
READY TO BOARD - Ryan’s Jasmine Villerreal (left) and Alicen Williams (center) are pictured with former Ryan athlete Whittany Spangler of Moss getting ready to board a plane to Costa Rica to spend 10 days at a sports leadership camp. (Photo provided)
Two Ryan student athletes recently returned from a sports leadership camp experience in Costa Rica.
Jasmine Villerreal and Alicen Williams, both students at Ryan High School, spent 10 days at the camp that is a sports leadership experience for high school female athletes.
Former Ryan athlete, Whittany Spangler, was also part of the select group of athletes chosen to participate in this elite camp.
The leadership camp is operated by Beyond Sports and was founded by two former college athletes that were inspired by the power of cross-cultural understanding through sports and wanted to create opportunities for student athletes to travel abroad and create meaningful connections and unique experiences through their sport.
Since 2010 the camp has hosted over 3,000 athletes and the facility is located within walking distance to a beach.
The Girls Leadership Academy for Service and Sport (GLASS) is the event Villerreal and Williams attended. A team of current college athletes served as mentors for the group of girls on a campus that has been developed in Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica.
Each session of the camp consists of 18 or less students and each attendee fills out an application that includes personal information, the sports they participate in and essay questions.
Based on the applications, the girls are chosen to participate at their expense in the camp. Financial assistance is available for participants.
Williams and Spangler were slated to attend last summer but the camp was canceled because of COVID-19 and this year, Villerreal decided to try and join her friends for the experience.
“I really wanted to try something new and learn more about leadership and service while being in another country,” Williams said about this unique opportunity.
Villerreal was also excited to attend this camp because of its location out of the United States.
“Stepping out of my comfort zone and traveling out of the country by myself was a big factor for me wanting to go,” Villerreal noted. “Meeting a bunch of new girls from all over was also a factor for me.”
Both girls were elated to find out they were accepted to the camp that has only a few sessions each summer.
“I was really nervous but super excited,” noted Villerreal. “I actually started packing the day I found out because I was so excited.”
Williams echoed Villerreal’s comment about finding out she had been accepted. “I was super excited to get the opportunity to go have fun and learn so much with other amazing girls.”
Each day’s activities began with a workout and then time with their appointed mentor. After breakfast the group went on an excursion.
After lunch and a short amount of free time, the girls had another workout and then conducted sports clinics in the community giving them opportunities to interact with the culture.
Following dinner, the girls engaged in a leadership development workshop each evening.
Williams and Villerreal did not have any trouble sharing the benefits from the experience.
“The camp showed me different aspects of my life I never could have seen by myself,” Villerreal explained. “Trying to be a leader is hard especially having that mindset that you have to be perfect. People tend to lose sight of who they really are when trying to be that perfect.”
“For me the greatest benefit of the week was getting to learn more leadership skills that help with serving others,” said Williams.
No doubt the camp enhanced the opportunities that await the pair of Cowgirls in the upcoming sports seasons.
READY TO BOARD – Ryan’s Jasmine Villerreal (left) and Alicen Williams (center) are pictured with former Ryan athlete Whittany Spangler of Moss getting ready to board a plane to Costa Rica to spend 10 days at a sports leadership camp. (Photo provided)
Villerreal is a four-sport athlete at Ryan participating in fast-pitch softball, cross country, basketball and track.
“I carried a lot of weight on my shoulders due to lack of confidence this past year,” Villerreal said. “I realized you can’t do everything by yourself and people are going to have opinions.”
“I want to come into the year more confident and having fun,” Villerreal added. “Having fun and doing whatever you enjoy doing can change your whole perspective.”
Williams, who will be a senior for the Cowgirl cross country, basketball and track teams this coming school year came away with focus in regard to the upcoming seasons.
“I think it will help me to be a better leader for our team as well as being a good teammate,” Williams commented.
Both girls obviously took away memories from the experience that will last a lifetime.
“My greatest memory was getting to help out with the CEPIA kids,” Williams said, “I loved getting to play soccer and kickball with them and it was also so cool to see the culture down there and how others live.”
CEPIA is a non-profit organization that promotes culture and educational opportunities for the kids in Costa Rica.
Villerreal mentioned the opportunity to work with the kids but she also talked about relationships built and the opportunities to serve.
“Getting to meet everyone and becoming loser and seeing how fast e built those connections in just 10 days was amazing,” Villerreal said. “Doing services such as dog walking, environmental clean ups and helping with the kids was a great memory.”
Williams urged anyone to try to attend the camp.
“For any girl who would like to experience it, I would definitely say to go for it because I loved it such much and learned so many thing while making connections,” Williams said.
From al the comments of Williams and Villerreal, it is evident that the mission statement of GLASS – empowering the next generation of female leadership through sports, service and global engagement – was accomplished and will make a difference in their experiences in the upcoming sports seasons.
….Alicen Williams the only placer for Cowgirl track squad at Waurika and V-A
Grayson Tomberlin picked up his first gold medal this season in the shot put to lead a small contingent of Cowboy tracksters to a fifth place finish at Waurika’s Red River Invitational last Saturday.
The Cowboys totaled 41 points – which tied with Rush Springs for fifth place. Waurika won the meet with 122 points and Frederick was second with 100 points.
Alicen Williams was the only Cowgirl to place in an event at the Waurika meet and her totals gave Ryan eight points, which tied for 12th place in the team race with Grandfield.
A small contingent of Ryan thinclads journeyed to Velma-Alma to compete in a large field at the Velma-Alma Comet Invitational on Tuesday.
The Cowboys accumulated 10 points, which tied Ryan for 18th place in the team standings among the 29 schools that scored during the day at Velma-Alma.
Williams was also the only scorer for the Cowgirls at the V-A meet and her performance gave the Cowgirls six points, which tied them for 22ndamong the 28 teams that scored.
Ryan’s track squads will head to the Class A Regional Track Meet at Alex on Friday. The meet will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the top three finishers in each event will qualify for the Class A State Track Meet in Cherokee on May 8.
On Tuesday, Tomberlin turned in another good performance in the shot put. His throw of 39-3 was good enough for third place at the V-A meet.
Tomberlin finished just ahead of his teammate, Caleb Perrin, in the shot put. Perrin had a throw of 38-9.5, which was good enough for fourth place.
Williams was the only placer among the Cowgirls that participated in the meet at V-A.
In the 3,200 meters, Williams finished fifth with a time of 14:05.75, which was her fourth best time in the event this year.
Williams was fourth in the 1,600 meters and her time of 6:21.82 gave her fourth place. It was her second best time this year and the 11th best performance by a Cowgirl in the 1,600 meters.
At Waurika last Saturday, Williams was third in the 3,200 meters with a time of 14:02.15.
In the 1,600 meters, Williams finished fifth with a time of 6:19.69 – which is her career best in the event and the eighth best time in school history by a Cowgirl thinclad.
Tomberlin joined Perrin in finishing one-two in the shot put to help aid the Cowboy cause.
Tomberlin had a throw of 40-7, while Perrin’s best mark in the shot put was 39-8.
The 3,200-meter relay team of Julian Rodriguez, Mason Adsit, Westin Jennings and Landen Alexander managed a runner up finish in the even with a time of 10:54.65.
Adsit was also fourth in the 3,200 meter run with a time of 13:16.25.
In the 200 meters, Alexander finished fifth with a time of 26.12.
Rodriguez managed to finish sixth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:54.40.
Ryan’s basketball squads played three games in three days last weekend to substitute for games lost in the canceled Black and Gold Invitational at Wilson.
The Cowgirls and Cowboys both dropped two of three contests, but for the Cowgirls the win was the first of the season.
In a quickly scheduled game on Tuesday night on Raymon West Court, the Ryan roundballers fell to Cyril.
Photo by Shelly Villarreal
Ryan hosted Elmore City-Pernell last Thursday and then hit the road to Wilson and Temple on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The Cowgirls are now 1-6 on the year, while the Cowboys stand at 4-3.
Ryan’s next action will be tomorrow night (Friday) when they will play host to Maysville on Raymon West Court before breaking for the Christmas holiday.
Cyril 60, Cowgirls 42
Despite their best offensive performance of the young season, the Cowgirls could not handle the 10th-ranked Lady Pirates.
Cyril got off to a 17-6 lead after the first quarter and eventually built a lead the Cowgirls could not overcome aided by seven treys in the game.
Photo by Shelley Villarreal
The Cowgirls had three girls in double figures. Alicen Williams led the Cowgirls in scoring with 14 points, while Jasmine Villarreal and Maci Cooper added 10 points apiece.
Cyril 70, Cowboys 38
The 15th-ranked Pirates surged to a 19-5 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
The Cowboys could not guard the three-point line as the Pirates had eight treys during the course of the contest.
Photo by Shelley Villarreal
Caleb Perrin scored 10 points for the Cowboys and was the only Ryan player in double figures.
Temple 35, Cowgirls 26
Temple outscored the Cowgirls, 11-4, in the first quarter, but Ryan managed to use a 10-3 scoring advantage in the second quarter to tie the game
In the second half, however, the Cowgirls could get little going on the offensive end and Temple outscored Ryan, 21-12 over the two quarters to snag the win.
Villarreal led the Cowgirls in scoring with 15 points, but had only six in the second half.
Cowboys 57, Temple 35
The Cowboys broke a two-game skid with their best offensive output of the young season against the Tigers.
Ryan raced to a 17-8 first quarter lead behind the shooting of Racen Williams and Perrin, who scored 15 of the Cowboys’ 17 points in the period.
Ryan maintained the lead at the half, 31-22.
In the third quarter, the Cowboys went on an 11-5 run to extend the lead to 42-27 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys put the game away in the final period with a 15-8 scoring advantage.
Three Cowboys scored in double figures – Perrin finished with 15 points, Williams added 14 and Landen Alexander added 12 points.
Cowgirls 31, Wilson 29
The Cowgirls picked up their first win of the year thanks to some clutch free throw conversions at the end of the game.
The Cowgirls led the Lady Eagles, 6-5, after the first quarter, but trailed at the half, 15-12.
The Cowgirls narrowed the Wilson advantage to 23-22 at the end of the third quarter and outscored the Lady Eagles 9-6 in the final quarter of the hotly contested game to get the victory.
Villarreal hit a pair of free throws and Cooper converted on another charity toss in the final seconds to secure the win for the Cowgirls.
Villarreal led the Cowgirls in scoring with 15 points.
Wilson 48, Cowboys 42
The Cowboys took an 18-7 lead in the first quarter, but the Eagles came alive and outscored the Cowboys, 40-24 the rest of the way to get the win.
Ryan clung to a 27-21 advantage at the half and led the game, 33-30, at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, however, the Cowboys committed some key turnovers and ran into some foul problems that aided the Wilson rally.
Photo by Shelley Villarreal
The Eagles converted 11 of 15 free throws in the quarter, while Ryan went to the line only five times and hit only two free throws.
Wilson outscored the Cowboys, 19-9, to pick up the come-from-behind victory.
Williams led the Cowboys in scoring with 13 points, while Alexander added 11 points.
EC-P 39, Cowgirls 20
In the home opener on Friday the Cowgirls hung with the Lady Badgers for the first part of the first quarter, but the inability to generate any offense turned out to be the demise of the Cowgirls.
Elmore City never trailed in the game, but after the Lady Badgers had opened a 7-2 lead, the Cowgirls had a brief spurt. Williams hit a three-point bucket to cut the margin to 7-5 before ECP added a free throw to extend the lead to 8-5.
Ryan’s Carter Combs connected on one of two free throws with 4:14 remaining leaving the Cowgirls trailing only 8-6.
Photo by Shelley Villarreal
But, the Lady Badgers finished out the quarter with an 11-2 run and Cowgirls never threatened the rest of the contest.
The Lady Badgers held a huge lead on the boards, 45-24, with many of those coming on the offensive end.
Williams led the Cowgirls in scoring with 14 points.
EC-P 71, Ryan 46
In the nightcap, the Badgers used a full-court press in the first quarter to help create 12 Ryan turnovers in the quarter and get out to a 12-0 lead with 2:54 left in the initial frame.
The Cowboys responded, however, and went on an 8-0 run to cut the gap to 12-8 with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
Westin Jennings hit a pair of free throws with 26 seconds remaining to draw the Cowboys back to within two at 14-12, but the Badgers connected on a three-pointer with 10 seconds left to hold a 17-12 at end of the quarter.
The Cowboys would never be closer as the Badgers opened the second quarter on a 12-3 run to hold a 29-15 lead with 3:48 left in the half.
In the final minute, the Cowboys got a layup from Williams and a pair of free throws from Alexander to cut the margin to 29-21 with 10 seconds showing.
The Badgers got a free throw with just three ticks left on the clock and went to the locker room with a 30-21 lead.
The third quarter was a disaster for the Cowboys. Ryan did not score until Jennings hit a long three-pointer with 58 seconds left in the period.
The Badgers used their size advantage to the fullest in the quarter outrebounding the Cowboys 16-7 and most of them were on the offensive end. This helped the Badgers go on a 29-5 scoring barrage to put the game away.
Elmore City finished with a 52-28 advantage in rebounding and had 12 players hit the scoring column.
Julian Rodriguez led the Cowboys in scoring with 12 points, while Williams added 11.
Cyril 60, Ryan 42
(Girls)
Cyril 17 14 17 12–60
Ryan 6 9 10 17–42
CYRIL: K. McLemore 4-4-13, Miller 4-0-10, Snider 3-1-10, L. McLemore 2-4-9, Row 1-5-7, S. Thompson 3-0-6, Williamson 1-2-4, Wilson 0-1-1. PF: 19. Three-pointers: Snider 3, Miller 2, K. McLemore, L. McLemore.
RYAN: Alicen Williams 3-6-14, Jasmine Villarreal 4-1-10, Maci Cooper 3-1-10, Carter Combs 1-2-4, Raylee White 1-0-2, Libby Carter 1-0-2. PF: 17. Three-pointers: Cooper 3, Williams 2, Villerreal.
RYAN: Jasmine Villerreal 4-5-15, Alicen Williams 2-1-5, Carter Combs 1-2-4, Libby Carter 2-0-4, Raylee White 1-0-2, Maci Cooper 0-1-1. PF: 13. Three-pointers: Villerreal 2.
Two unbeaten boys’ teams met up Tuesday night at Velma-Alma but it was the underdog Waurika Eagles that came out on top of the Comets.
Velma-Alma came into Tuesday’s contest with a 4-0 mark and fresh off the tourney title at the Comet Invitational. The Comets had climbed to fifth in the Class A rankings released earlier this week.
The Eagles were not phased, however, and after trailing 2-0 early in the game led throughout the remainder of the game in scoring an impressive 48-37 win.
Photo by Kaci Reynolds
The Lady Eagles did not fare as well against the 12th-ranked Lady Comets as Waurika fell, 31-24, to the Oil Field Conference foe.
Before’s Tuesday’s clash at Velma-Alma, the Waurika teams played three games in three days last week.
The Waurika girls picked up wins over Indiahoma, Springer and Cement, while the Eagle boys had close encounters with Indiahoma, Springer and Cement.
All three games were part of the Chattanooga Festival, which was originally scheduled to be an invitational tournament, but the format was changed.
Photo by Kaci Reynolds
The Eagles are now 6-0 on the year, while the Lady Eagles stand at 4-2 heading into the final two games before Christmas break.
The two squads are back in action tonight when they will play host to Grandfield. Tip for the girls’ game is slated for 6:30 p.m. in the Waurika gym.
Tomorrow night (Friday), the Waurika boys and girls will travel to Big Pasture to take on the Rangers. The girls’ contest will begin at 6:30 p.m.
V-A 31, Lady Eagles 24
In the game with the Lady Comets, Waurika could never get on track offensively, despite putting forth great effort on the defensive end.
The Lady Eagles were also short-handed in the contest because of quarantine issues.
Waurika trailed, 9-5, after one quarter and the offense did not improve in the second quarter as the Lady Eagles could muster only a single point points to trail 15-6 at the break.
Photo by Kaci Reynolds
The Lady Eagles mounted a rally in the third quarter as they outscored the Lady Comets, 9-4, to trim the margin to 19-15 heading into the final quarter.
V-A scored the first five points of the quarter to open a nine-point advantage, but Waurika would come back to cut the lead to 28-24 until V-A scored the final three points to close out the game.
Aubree Showalter topped the Lady Eagles in scoring with eight points.
Eagle 48, V-A 37
Treyton Torrez poured in a season-high 30 points to help the Eagles score the upset over the Comets.
The Eagles wrestled the lead from the Comets early in the first quarter as Torrez netted 14 of his 29 tallies in the first period.
But the Eagles went cold in the second quarter and scored only four points as V-A cut the margin to 22-21 at the half.
Photo by Kaci Reynolds
The Comets managed to tie the game at 26 in the third quarter, but Waurika finished the period on an 8-2 run to hold a 34-28 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Late in the fourth quarter the Comets pulled to within three at 38-35, but Waurika finished off the upset victory with a 10-2 run despite missing seven free throws in the quarter.
Cache Dunn had 10 points for the Eagles, but no other Eagles were in double figures.
Lady Eagles 77, Cement 27
The Lady Eagles were effective from the outside with 10 three-pointers and five players scored in double figures in rolling to the third win in three nights.
Waurika jumped out to a 20-3 advantage after one quarter and finished the first half with an overwhelming 42-5 lead.
Photo by Kaci Reynolds
The Lady Eagles continued the onslaught by outscoring the Lady Bulldogs, 23-12, in the third quarter before the bench was cleared in the fourth quarter.
Tallin Mora led all scorers with 14 points and she hit four treys in the contest. Asia Smith and Liberti Simmons each hit for 13 points, while Cassidie Berry added 12 tallies and Aubree Showalter finished with 10.
Eagles 52, Cement 45
Trailing by seven heading into the final quarter, the Eagles put on a furious rally to come out on top.
Matt Arriola was on fire in the first quarter as he connected on four field goals, but the Eagles still trailed the Bulldogs, 15-13, at the end of the period.
Waurika trailed by one at the break after outscoring Cement, 7-6, in the second quarter that gave the Bulldogs a slip 21-20 advantage.
Cement exploded for 18 points in the third quarter, while the Eagles could only muster 12 points to trail, 39-32, heading into the final quarter.
Photo by Kaci Reynolds
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles were able to take advantage of foul trouble by the Bulldogs and converted on 11 of 14 from the charity stripe to help secure the win.
In the meantime, the Waurika defense buckled down and allowed Cement only two baskets and two free throws on the way to a 20-6 run to close out the game.
Torrez paced the Eagles in scoring with 22 points, while Dunn added 12 points. Arriola chipped in 10 points for the Eagles.
Lady Eagles 62, Springer 28
Waurika started well against the Lady Cardinals with a 22-10 advantage in the first quarter and the Lady Eagles added to the lead at halftime, 31-14.
Waurika put the game away with a 17-2 scoring spurt in the third quarter.
Smith led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 19 points, while Mora added 11 points and Berry contributed 10 points.
Eagles 53, Springer 51
It was a dramatic finish for the Eagles for the second straight night.
The Cardinals got off to a 17-12 first quarter lead and the Eagles were able only to trim the lead to 28-24 at intermission.
In the third quarter, the Eagles narrowed the gap again by outscoring the Cardinals, 16-14, to trail, 42-40, heading to the final quarter of play.
With the game tied at 51-51, Waurika had the last possession.
Torrez dribbled the ball out front and made a move into the middle of the lane where he connected on a short jumper as time expired to hand Waurika the win.
Torrez poured in 27 points for the Eagles, while Dunn added 13 points.
Lady Eagles 77, Indiahoma 31
Waurika started the festival with an outstanding offensive output.
The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 21-7 lead over the Lady Warriors in the first quarter and increased the margin by outscoring Indiahoma, 14-3, to hold a 35-10 led at the break.
Photo by Kaci Reynolds
Waurika put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring Indiahoma, 24-9, to move in front, 59-19, heading into the final frame.
Berry led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 14 points. Showalter added 11 points, while Roberson, Smith and Mora all scored 10 points each to give the Lady Eagles five players in double figures on the night.
Eagles 39, Indiahoma 38
The game began with some cold shooting as the Eagles managed only a 5-4 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Warriors outscored the Eagles, 14-9, to hold an 18-14 lead at the half.
Indiahoma added to the lead in the third quarter and had a 32-26 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The game went back and forth in the final eight minutes, but Kevin Garcia tipped in a missed shot and Torrez added a pair of free throws to give Waurika the lead at 39-38.
The final seconds were a flurry of fouls by the Warriors to try and get the back, but the Eagles prevailed.
Torrez was the top scorer for the Eagles with 18 points.
V-A 31, Waurika 24
(Girls)
Waurika 5 1 9 9—24
Velma-Alma 9 6 4 12—31
WAURIKA: Aubree Showalter 3-0-8, Faith Roberson 2-1-5, Lexie Streeter 1-2-4, Asia Smith 1-1-4, Tallin Mora 1-0-3. PF: 13. Three-pointers: Showalter 2, Smith, Mora.
V-A: Kimbough 5-2-13, Wofford 3-2-8, Ille 2-0-4, McGuire 1-0-3, Smith 1-0-2, McClain 0-1-1. PF: 13. Three-pointers: Kimbrough, McGuire.
Waurika 48, V-A 35
(Boys)
Waurika 18 4 13 13–48
Velma-Alma 10 11 7 9–37
WAURIKA: Treyton Torrez 8-11-30, Cache Dunn 4-2-10, Kevin Garcia 2-0-4, Matt Arriola 0-2-2, Bowden Forsyth1-0-2. PF: 9. Three-pointers: Torrez 3.
WAURIKA: Tallin Mora 5-0-14, Asia Smith 5-1-13, Liberti Simmons 3-6-13, Cassidie Berry 6-0-12, Aubree Showalter 4-0-10, Faith Roberson 3-0-7, Lexie Streeter 2-0-4, Grace Hill 1-0-2, Lewis 1-0-2, Alana Lewis. PF: 17. Three-pointers: Mora 4, Smith 2, Showalter 2, Roberson, Simmons.
Waurika 62, Springer 28
(Girls)
Waurika 22 9 17 14—62
Springer 10 4 2 12—28
WAURIKA: Asia Smith 9-0-19, Tallin Mora 5-0-11, Cassidie Berry 5-1-11, Liberti Simmons 2-2-6, Aubree Showalter 3-0-6, Grace Walling 2-0-4, Lexie Streeter 2-0-5. PF: 11. Three-pointers: Smith, Mora, Streeter.
SPRINGER: Kaylee Johnson 7-0-14, Mimi White 3-0-8, Jalyn Dewberry 2-0-4, Kalli St. Claire 1-0-2. PF: 7. Three-pointers: White 2.
Waurika 77, Indiahoma 31
(Girls)
Indiahoma 7 3 9 12—31
Waurika 21 14 24 18—77
INDIAHOMA: Katelyn Kimble 6-3-15, Kyla Wilson 2-0-5, Cozad 1-0-3, Carlie Salinas 1-0-3, O’Brien 1-0-3, Harmony Hall 1-0-2. PF: 10. Three-pointers: Salinas, Wilson, Cozad.
WAURIKA: Cassidie Berry 6-2-14, Aubree Showalter 5-1-11, Faith Roberson 4-1-10, Asia Smith 5-0-10, Tallin Mora 4-2-10, Lexie Streeter 3-2-8, Liberti Simmons 4-0-8, Gracie Walling 3-0-6. PF: 12. Three-pointers: Roberson.
