Repeat Sweeping Performance

It was deja vu for the Okarche basketball teams.

The Warriors and Lady Warriors swept the championship titles at the Coyle Invitational on Saturday night and did so in convincing fashion for the entirety of the tournament.

The Okarche girls downed Watonga 64-33 in the championship game.

A year after winning all three tournament games by an average of 44 points, the Lady Warriors “only” beat their foes by 32.3 points in the three games.

Their closest contest was Friday’s 49-27 win over Southwest Covenant in the semifinals.

Jadyn Rother continued her monster second semester as she scored 20 points in the Friday victory. Eighteen of those came in the first half.

She was the lone Lady Warrior in double figures in that game, but that wasn’t the case in the championship.

In fact, Rother was just one of four Okarche players to hit double digits.

Scout Payne nearly got there in the first quarter as her eight points helped Okarche to an 11-6 advantage.

The Lady Warriors extended their lead to 13 points by halftime, then put the game away in the third.

Ruby VanDenDriessche scored 10 points and Payne six more as Okarche went on a 20-8 run.

From there, Okarche sealed the championship at the free throw line, making 13 of 14 foul shots in the fourth quarter.

Katie Parham made all six of hers and was 9 of 10 for the game. She finished with 12 points.

VanDenDriessche went 5 of 6 in the fourth and ended her night with a game-high 20 points.

Payne finished with 14 points while Rother scored 10.

After going through a stretch of losing four of five games, Okarche has responded by winning six of its last seven. The Lady Warriors are now 11-7.

Mueggenborg propels high-powered Warriors The Okarche boys put on an offensive show all three days as they averaged 85.7 points a game in winning by nearly 23 points a contest.

It culminated with Saturday’s 91-70 victory over Southwest Covenant, the 17th-ranked team in Class A, in the title showdown.

The Patriots were able to keep it within striking distance after falling behind 30-17 in the first quarter.

The lead for Okarche was still “just” 15 points through three quarters, but Okarche continued to keep adding to its total.

Jett Mueggenborg had a monster game - and tournament.

The sophomore scored 31 points and had seven assists against the Patriots.

However, it was Okarche’s ability to score at all five positions that brought home the trophy.

All five starters scored in double figures.

Easton Roby scored 17 points.

Hunter Mueggenborg was 4 of 8 from 3-point range as part of his 16 points while also adding eight assists.

Caden Schieber scored 12 and had nine rebounds while Wyatt Pinkerton drained three treys as part of his 11 points.

“We want five guys in double digits…that’s our goal,” coach Aaron West said. “If we do that, we’re hard to stop.”

He also pointed to the team’s unselfish play. Okarche had 22 assists on 35 made field goals.

“We want to make that extra pass and share the wealth,” West said.

In Okarche’s 86-33 win against Oklahoma Christian Academy in the semifinals, three different Warriors scored more than 20 points, a first for a Westcoached team.

Roby led all scorers with 27 points.

Jett Mueggenborg scored 22 and had 11 rebounds and Hunter Mueggenborg notched 21 points.

The Warriors trailed 22-21 after a quarter, but outscored OCA by at least five points in each of the next three.

The defense forced 30 turnovers, which turned into 27 points.

The Warriors scored 38 points off turnovers the next night in winning their 10th straight and improving to 15-2.

“We played well tonight,” West said. “We were focused and hungry. If we continue to play together, it’s fun to watch.”