After an exciting weekend of regional basketball playoffs, we are left with 16 area teams in Class A and B as Area tournaments begin this Thursday and run through Saturday.
Five of those 16 are just one game away from their respective State tournament as the quintet of the Ft. Cobb, Cyril and Duke boys as well as the Cyril and Duke girls all play in Area title games.
Win and you’re in. Simple as that.
Even if those playing in championship games come up short Friday night, they will have a second chance when meeting one of the other four teams that emerge out of the loser’s bracket.
Life for the remaining 11 is not quite as simple. Winning three games in three days with their backs against the wall is a tall task, but some may prove capable of going the distance.
A select few — cough, cough Sterling and Chattanooga boys along with the Indiahoma girls — won three games in a row last weekend to stave off elimination so by now, they know the drill.
Those lucky 11 who will have the honor of defying the odds include the Velma-Alma, Sterling, Indiahoma, Big Pasture and Chattanooga boys along with the Ft. Cobb, Central High, Tipton, Mt. View-Gotebo, Indiahoma and Granite girls.
While we’ll get you set with a Class A and B Area tourney primer (as well as a look at 2A, 3A and 4A) later this week, let’s get caught up to speed on some of these contenders who played far from home over the weekend — and have daunting trips in the week ahead.
Cyril’s long haul paying dividends
Last year marked the first time both Cyril basketball teams made the State tournament in the same season.
One year later, the Pirates have a chance to add to that legacy and make it two years in a row as both the Cyril girls and boys play in Class A Area title games in Ada on Friday night.
“It’s really exciting. Everyone in the town is excited and proud of these kids,” Cyril girls and boys coach Shane McLemore said. “We just gotta make sure we win one more now.”
The No. 5 Cyril boys (22-4) draw No. 4 Rattan (24-3) while the No. 11 Lady Pirates (19-5) square off with No. 20 Kiowa (17-10).
Rattan, which boasts an impressive win over 2A No. 6 Talihina, is a tiny team that will have problems containing Pirate post Dayken Rackley, standing at 6-6.
With elusive guards, that also means Rackley will have to guard the perimeter and spend less time rim protecting.
“Matchup problems go both ways and I think it’s gonna cause a mismatch for both teams,” McLemore said. “But the boys have stepped up defensively lately and are playing with a lot of energy.”
Cyril secured a pair of blowouts last weekend, 64-33 over Velma-Alma and 86-52 over Stonewall to win the regional championship.
Before shutting down Stonewall in a 33-22 regional championship victory, the Lady Pirates snuck out a 45-41 victory over No. 9 Hydro-Eakly thanks to sinking five 3-pointers in five straight trips to open up the second half.
The Lady Pirates, renowned for their scrappy defense, next meet their doppelgänger in Kiowa.
“Kiowa has great tradition,” McLemore said. “They’re fast and a good defensive team, but not real good at scoring so I think it’s a really good matchup. Both teams pressure hard so it’s gonna be fast-paced.”
Scouting has both pros and cons this deep into the playoffs. You know as few tactics and tendencies about the opponent as they know about you.
“Then again, everybody knows us around here,” McLemore said. “You go out east and they don’t know you real well. So there are advantages and disadvantages.”
Cyril’s long hauls out east — to Velma-Alma, then Konawa (2.5 hours) and now Ada (2 hours) — are also a new challenge, but they are paying dividends just one win apiece from return trips to State.
“I didn’t know how the road trip would go,” McLemore said. “We’ve never really had to travel that far. It didn’t bother us this weekend so hopefully it doesn’t this coming week either.”
Taking care of business on Friday could go a long way to Cyril’s title hopes after the boys lost in the State quarterfinals and the girls went down in the semis last year. By winning Area IV, Cyril would be guaranteed a top-4 seed and likely get a better opening draw depending on how other Area I, II and III shake out.
Oh, not to mention the Cyril girls don’t want to play Saturday when No. 6 New Lima or No. 8 Smithville will likely be waiting for them.
“It’s very important,” McLemore said. “It’s hard if you lose that game Friday mentally and physically to make that bus drive again and come back and be prepared.”
Mustangs halfway home to fourth straight title
Another championship game, another plaque for the Ft. Cobb-Broxton boys.
The No. 2 Ft. Cobb boys (25-3) clobbered No. 19 Union City, 67-41 Saturday night, booked a spot in the Area title game Friday in Weatherford against No. 9 Arapaho-Butler (22-6) and are now one win away from yet another trip to basketball’s final weekend.
When you’ve won three State championships in a row and are a heavy favorite to win a fourth this year and further cement dynasty status, regional plaques can be a bit of a yawn.
“We don’t have the celebration after the game like other teams do. I guess that’s what you want—expecting the kids to win that game,” Ft. Cobb coach Scott Hines said. “I tried to remind them it’s not easy. There are a lot of teams that go years and years without winning a regional or area championship.”
With the pedigree comes expectations.
“We’ve done it a lot around here and have kind of turned into OU football fans now,” Hines said with a chuckle. “It’s just kind of expected. We have great turnouts and great fan support, but it takes a little bit more to impress them now than it used to.”
Winning a fourth consecutive State championship will surely impress the dedicated fan base.
Kellen Hines, Kesston Mowdy and Tyson Eastwood all scored in double-figures Saturday and have the Mustangs are firing on all cylinders after a pair of comfortable tune-ups.
“It was real-balanced,” Hines said. “Everybody moved the ball around. We’re playing really unselfish right now. It seems like we’re making the extra pass and making ourselves tough to guard offensively.”
Next comes Arapaho-Butler, a team that crushed No. 6 Okarche in the regional final and one Hines has connections with.
Hines coached Arapaho-Butler coach Jeff Carlisle in high school. Now the protégé gets to meet his mentor for a trip to State.
“We know each other pretty well and what we like to do so there won’t be any surprises,” Hines said. “Their kids are competitive and a reflection of him and will play tough.”
Should Arapaho upset the Mustangs, the speech leading up to the game should keep Ft. Cobb level-headed to book its State ticket.
“We always have a talk during the week about preparing to play two games,” Hines said. “Prepare yourself mentally to play that second night if you have to. Don’t get caught off guard when you’re not ready to come back and play Saturday. If you don’t that’s a good thing.”
2001 was the lone time Ft. Cobb — which has made State 13 of 14 times being in this position — lost twice in Area.
After winning the Class A State championship in 2000, the Mustangs returned four starters and appeared poised to repeat. But Ft. Cobb was one of three star-stacked teams in the same Area tournament.
Only two could make it out alive. Ft. Cobb ended up the odd man left out.
The two teams that knocked out defending champ Ft. Cobb wound up playing for the state championship.
Erik-Sweetwater beat Ft. Cobb on a Friday for the Area title. On Saturday, Ft. Cobb led the entire game until the end when missed free throws allowed Central High to slip past.
Jacob Mayfield, who now coaches defending Class B State champion No. 4 Calumet, was the best player on the Erik-Sweetwater team that went 31-0 and won it all.
Back then, The Oklahoman was in charge of basketball team rankings, not the coaches like it is today. Central High, who had recently obtained an unstoppable 6-5 exchange student from Europe, wasn’t ranked in the top-8 and was going to wind up in the same Area.
“He was a stud,” Hines recalled. “I tried to tell the guy Central Marlow is sitting down there really good and nobody knew about how good they were with this new player.”
Hines knew about Central’s beast. To save all three teams a headache in Area, Hines tried to warn the voters. It didn’t quite work.
“I wanted to go tell The Oklahoman guy, ‘Thanks a lot buddy,’” Hines said with a laugh. “We had the three best teams in the State playing in the same Area that year. It’s one of those deals that just happens but man was it frustrating.”
Luckily for Fort Cobb and Hines’ sanity, a European exchange student in the form of the next Kristaps Porzingis isn’t walking through the door of Area III for a rude surprise this weekend. (At least we hope not.)
The No. 15 Ft. Cobb girls (17-11) meanwhile, were blown out by No. 3 Vici, 40-18, in the regional championship and now get an intriguing draw with Tipton (22-3) on Thursday while a potential rematch with Central High (18-9) could be in store Friday in Weatherford.
Mercer’s Comet chapter ends; boys advance
The most recent addition to the 2,000 point club, Velma-Alma senior Lyndei Mercer, has watched her high school hoops career come to a close.
After becoming the 40th girl in Oklahoma and the first in Stephens County to reach the milestone, Mercer and the Lady Comets (18-10) lost to No. 6 New Lima, 54-46, in the regional consolation championship.
In districts, the Comets led in the fourth quarter and gave No. 9 Hydro-Eakly a good scare behind Mercer’s 29 points. They fell just short which meant three straight wins were necessary to advance to Area.
In her final home game, Mercer scored 22 and VA breezed by Achille, 58-40, before edging Maud, 53-48, in overtime on Friday.
Down by two points with four seconds left in regulation, Destinee Wofford made two free throws despite being iced by a timeout before the second. VA then controlled OT to advance.
“That’s huge for a freshman to make those free throws in crunch time,” Comets coach Kenny Bare said.
But a woeful first half shooting performance — with only three made field goals — put VA into a whole too deep to climb out of against New Lima.
Mercer scored 26 in her farewell send off and the Comets lost despite cutting it to two points, 44-42, with 90 seconds left.
“It’s been my privilege to be her coach,” Bare said. “Players like Lyndei Mercer don’t come around very often. She’s gonna be dearly missed.”
After the team dinner post-practice last Wednesday before regionals began, Bare was picking up stuff. Before he left the gym, Mercer had already returned for her nightly shooting routine.
That, my friends, is how great players become legends.
“That’s just who she is,” Bare said. “It’s been a privilege to watch Lyndei grow as a person and as a player. I hope she gets everything she deserves in the future.”
Meanwhile, the Velma-Alma boys (20-6) survived a roller-coaster weekend and booked a spot to the Area IV Tournament in Ada where they will meet No. 10 Kiowa on Thursday.
After getting walloped by Cyril, the Comets claimed a 53-49 victory over Stringtown, which sank 10 3-pointers and only made seven two’s.
Did someone say Splash Brothers?
“Only one of them was from the 3-point line,” Bare said. “The rest were from 22 all the way out to 30 feet. I’m not kidding. They even banked a couple in and didn’t call glass. The whole 15-minute warmup they were just launching from 22 to 26 feet. I thought, ‘These guys are crazy.’”
As if that wasn’t enough of a matchup nightmare, the Comets were dealt 2,000 point scorer Micah Lena and No. 12 New Lima on Saturday. Velma-Alma won, 72-70, but it was a nail-biter if ever there was one.
The 6-6 Lena, averaging nearly 40 points per game, was held to just 23 and missed the tying shot at the buzzer.
Down two, New Lima launched a home run pass to Lena, who out-leapt four Comets, turned around and finger-rolled the shot off the side of the backboard after getting too deep off the catch.
Crisis averted.
Seconds before the climax, Comet senior Brodie Williams hit the go-ahead 12-foot baseline jumper with 1.9 seconds left for the win.
After not making Area last year, the Comets are just three wins from State. Though they are hoping this weekend is a bit less dramatic.
“Every time you win a close game down the stretch, you build off that,” Bare said. “The boys got it in their memory bank that we’ve done it and can do it. This is exciting and it’s fun to see the joy in the kids’ faces with all that comes with winning and advancing to the next week.”
solson@swoknews.com