Back to their winning ways

Okarche got back on the winning track at exactly the right time.

The Lady Warriors built a big early lead at home Saturday, then held on to beat Wellston 45-35.

The win came in a Class A district championship game and it also snapped Okarche’s two-game skid to close out the regular season.

The Lady Warriors, 17-9, will be in the winner’s bracket entering this week’s regional.

They’ll host Three Rivers Conference foe Oklahoma Bible Academy on Thursday.

Three different Lady Warriors made a 3-pointer in the first quarter as they bolted to a 14-4 lead on Wellston.

One of them was Jadyn Rother, who was just heating up.

Rother knocked down three more in the second quarter as Okarche extended its lead to 32-15.

Rother had 14 points by halftime, but slowed down considerably in the second half.

The Lady Warriors followed suit.

Wellston outscored the home team 11-3 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to single digits.

However, Scout Payne scored seven in the fourth to help Okarche keep pace and collect the district title plaque.

Payne scored 12 points for Okarche.

Rother led the team with 16. She also had a fourth-quarter field goal after being scoreless in the third.

Katy Creswell scored six, all on a pair of first-half treys.

OBA is ranked No. 7 in Class A and is 22-2. Included in those is a 34-30 victory over Okarche on Jan. 13.

After that loss, the Lady Warriors won eight straight games before having the streak snapped by Fairview near the end of the regular season.

No 4 Okarche rolls past Ringwood

One of Aaron West’s goals is to have all five starters score in double figures each game.

That goal was reached on Saturday.

Class A’s fourth-ranked Warriors had no trouble claiming a district championship as they thumped visiting Ringwood 96-39.

Wyatt Pinkerton led a 3-point barrage for the Warriors.

The senior guard nailed five treys and led all scorers with 21 points.

As a team, Okarche was 16 of 47 from long range.

Easton Roby made three of them and Ethan Kirby two more. Eight different Warriors made at least one trey on the night.

All five starters made at least one and - as West strives - they also reached double figures in scoring.

Jett Mueggenborg poured in 18, including making all seven free throw attempts and he also led the team with eight rebounds.

Roby scored 14 while Caden Schieber and Hunter Mueggenborg notched 10 apiece. The latter also dished out nine assists.

Okarche nearly forced as many turnovers (36) as it surrendered total points.

Ringwood’s miscues led to 45 points for the Warriors, who improved to 21-4.

The Warriors host Hominy (18-4) in a regional winner’s bracket game Thursday night.

The remainder of the regional will also be played in Okarche.