New Year’s sweep
By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
The eighth-ranked Warriors were looking to rebound.
They had a sour taste in their mouths after hitting the break with a 38-32 loss to Oklahoma Christian Academy to close out the first semester.
That taste was quickly lost with a 58-22, blowout win over Oklahoma Bible Academy last Friday night at the Okarche Basketball Gymnasium.
Three players scored in double digits for the Warriors and overall eight players contributed offensively. Junior Rachel McDowell led the way with 17 points, including a pair of makes from three-point range. Junior Marlo Hunt chipped in 14 points with three triples and senior Kassidy Rother scored 11 points with a pair of makes from long range.
Freshman Karsyn Vallerand, senior Jade Owens and freshman Adyson Arms each scored four points while junior Reagan Robinson and freshman Savannah Mingus each scored two points.
The Warriors jumped out to a early lead and never looked back, outscoring OBA 17-6 in the first eight minutes behind eight points from Hunt and three apiece from McDowell and Rother.
If 17 wasn’t enough, Okarche turned it on even more with a 22-8 run in the second quarter fueled by seven points from McDowell and five from Rother. The team entered halftime with a commanding 39-14 lead.
Hunt and Rother led a 9-8 run to extend the lead in the third quarter and freshman Ryen Wittrock chipped in a three-pointer along with four points from Arms as the Warriors closed out the game with a 10-3 run in the final eight minutes.
McDowell led the way Friday, but coach Jennings pointed out last week how her team is balanced when it comes to leading scorers on any given night.
“It’s huge,” she said. “We have Rachel out sick one night and we know that while that hurts, we aren’t relying on one player. Good teams have different players step up and we’ve been fortunate to have that.”
The Warriors are currently sitting at No. 8 in the standings, but for Jennings and her team, the focus remains on the court.
“We understand regardless of how the rankings end up, we have to go play each night,” she said. “No questions. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, we must show up and outwork them.”
Okarche now heads to the 2019 Three Rivers Tournament with an opening-round match up against Seeworth today at 10:30 a.m.
The Warriors are looking to avenge a tournament finals loss to Cashion in last years conference get together.
The Warriors return to regular season action Jan. 18 at Thomas and return to home to host Hennessey Jan. 22.
