By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
Hoops season is in full swing in Okarche and both the Warriors and Lady Warriors are off to a fine start.
There were plenty of questions coming into the season. Would the Okarche boys be able to withstand losing so many seniors and make another run to the Class A state tournament?
Would the Lady Warriors bounce back from missing state a year ago and make a run this season?
With just three games checked off the schedule so far, those questions still have yet to be answered. But both teams have definitely shown promise this season. For one, both teams are in the win column and should mark off a pair of victories after facing Harding Fine Arts Academy Tuesday. The only losses have been chalked up to Calumet, whose boys won 30 games last year while their girls finished as the Class B state runner-up. And the boys lost to Lomega, one of the top teams in Class B as well.
Both teams also have shown toughness on the defensive end.
The girls held Class 2A Preston to 32 points in the season-opener and followed by holding Class B Lomega to 43. They even held Calumet to 53 points in their first loss of the season.
The boys held Preston to 61 points in the opener and in losses still held Lomega and Calumet under 60 points.
Each team has a a good mix of senior leadership and underclassman as well.
The Lady Warriors roll out four seniors, including Marlo Hunt, Rachel McDowell, Raegan Robinson and Kelsee Brown as well as one junior, four sophomores and four freshmen. The boys feature five seniors, including Keleb Harris, Kody King, Koby Mingus, Luis Uscanga and Matthew Carney as well as three juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen.
The Warriors have a chance to reel off a nice win streak over the next few weeks, facing four straight opponents that finished the 2018-19 season with records under .500 before heading to Garber for the Garber tournament. The Lady Warriors face six teams that finished last season under .500 over their next nine games as well.
Okarche hosts Harding Fine Arts Tuesday before hosting Oklahoma Christian Academy next Friday to close out a three-home home stand. Games for each set are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (girls) and 8 p.m. (boys).
