A 52-point blowout win in the Class A state tournament was not expected when Okarche tipped off against Sentinel at the Jim Norick State Fair Arena Friday night. But that is just what happened.
The full-court pressure Okarche routinely throws at their opponents was too much for Sentinel in a 91-39 victory that sends Okarche to the state championship game at 5 p.m. Saturday against defending champs Caddo.
Okarche appears to be peaking at the right time with a chance for the second state championship in the district’s history. The last Okarche basketball title was 1979.
On that 1979 championship team were two longtime Okarche residents who died in 2020 of COVID-19, Nick and Ron Annuschat.
This year, Okarche was on fire in the Friday night semifinal game, with Wyatt Pinkerton draining three-pointer after three-pointer and adding 18 points. Jett Mueggenborg had 28 points, and Easton Roby 14. By the fourth quarter Colin Hendrickson, Brett Carnott, Sam Kroener and other backups were in the game, resting the starters as Sentinel ran out of gas on their season.
Caddo beat Seiling 54-35 Friday to move into the Saturday championship game.
Okarche Coach Aaron West said his team was all business when they arrived.
“Our guys came out ready to play. They were focused. We wanted to push the place. We wanted to attack downhill and share the basketball and they did a good job of doing that.
Caddo is 22-6 and ranked #5 in Class A.
“They are the defending state champs. We got our work cut out for us,” West said.
Read more in the Okarche Warrior.
