By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
With swarming backcourt pressure that gave fits to teams in Class A, the Okarche Warriors once again wore down a foe on the court. Saturday night it was for a gold ball.
For the second time in school history, Okarche hoisted the golden championship ball as they proved to be too much for the defending state champs Caddo to keep up with, and the Warriors claimed the state title with a 56-38 victory.
“It’s unreal,” Coach Aaron West said after the dogpile at midcourt, and the traditional lifting of that gold ball trophy with the basketball net over it. “It’s just unreal. I don’t know. They tried hard for a long, long time.”
Aaron West, son of former Okarche coach Ray West, gives the school its first state championship in basketball since the first one in 1979. Aaron West was a player in 1997 when the team fell short in the championship game. He also coached with his father, Ray West. Ray West died in 2019.
Okarche Coach Aaron West, and the Warriors are Class A state champs pic.twitter.com/xtZT2dmQe7
— R M (@arklahoman) March 3, 2024
Saturday, Jett Mueggenborg poured in 21 points. Hunter Mueggenborg had 13 and Easton Roby 13 points. The first team ended the game on the bench with backups finishing out the game as Caddo conceded and the coach pulled their starters as the fourth quarter seconds ticked away.
Close first half
Caddo was able to keep Okarche at bay during the first half with accurate three-point shooting. But Caddo’s D.J. Dill was held to six points in the first half and that was all he would get for the night. Okarche went into halftime with a 32-31 lead. Caddo’s outside shooting would cool off in the second half.
Okarche’s students dressed in anything gold for the state final game at the Jim Norick State Fair Arena.
Superintendent Josh Sumrall, who also hoisted the gold ball after the game with Okarche High School Principal G.W. Parham, talked before the tipoff about the experience in the final game.
Okarche beat Rattan and Sentinel to reach the final game.
“To get here takes a special group, and Coach West and the boys have done a great job,” Sumrall said. “Once you get here on Thursday anything can happen. We played two really good games and played two really good teams. To get here to be one of the last two teams in Class A is special. We hope we have another good day. We are proud of them either way. Whatever happens today we’re proud of them.”
The chants from the student section could be heard, “We got that ball!” after the game.
Things were expected to be loud back in Okarche Saturday night. Okarche police posted on Facebook, “How sweet it is. Tonight let’s get so loud that someone calls the police on us!” Honking was allowed about 10:15 p.m. when townsfolk welcomed the team back to Okarche, according to a later post.
Players posed for photographs with the coveted gold ball as family, friends and fans joined in a celebration. Joining the team on the bench after the game was a former head coach, Tom Arms, who coached from 1984 to 1994.
“I think we’ve got a guy looking up from above making sure we won that one. That was for Ray West. It was all for Ray West. I’m so happy I can’t hardly stand it!” Arms said.
Okarche finished the season with a 27-4 record.
Read more about the state championship team in the upcoming edition of The Okarche Warrior.
