It is that time of season and we have finally reached the State Tournament and congratulations, You have made it to the big house! Follow along as I preview the State Tournament matchups and hear from the coaches as they give their thoughts
#2 Riverside vs #6 Vanoss
Wednesday at 9:00am
Last Appearance: Riverside (Second consecutive) Vanoss (Seventh consecutive since 2018)
Riverside’s road to the gold ball
We are glad to be back at the Big House. This is the 2nd trip in school’s history for the girls. Last year being our first trip. Our road was a well earned road as we played a tough season schedule playing teams like Washington, Seiling, Community Christian and winning all those games. We are hoping to finish with a gold ball this season and we feel our chances are pretty good to do that. We are looking to build a program that makes repeat appearances to the state tournament so we are excited about our 2nd trip in a row said Riverside coach James Kelley. The Lady Braves began their road to the gold ball with an 89-42 win over Hinton in districts, Defeated Minco 89-44 and #17 Pawnee 55-36 in regionals and #10 Okemah 48-41 in area to advance to the state tournament. This is the Lady Braves first back to back state tournament appearance in school history, They made state for the first time last season.
Vanoss road to the big house
The Lady Wolves began their road to the big house with a 69-26 win over Coalgate in districts, Fell to Walters 32-29, Defeated Hobart 52-29 and Coalgate 60-17 in regionals, Defeated #18 Latta 32-28, Walters 30-20 and #12 Calera 31-29 in area to advance to the state tournament.
#9 Pocola vs #3 Merritt
Wednesday at 10:30am
Last Appearance: Pocola (2022) Merritt (2022)
Pocola’s road to the big house
As you may know we won the the state championship in 2022 I stepped down to work on passing a bill at the state capital concerning my wife and i only child our daughter Hannah’s death in 2017. It was a tough decision with four returning starters back from the championship but I had to be at the capital every week. We got a bill passed and a few days before school started our girls basketball coach resigned so I became the coach again we had one returning starter Allyssa Parker and I knew it would be a challenge to get to state. We struggled some early as expected but the kids worked extremely hard and we became better throughout the year. All kids stepped up and contributed in the area championship game to reach OKC. I am so proud of this group said Pocola coach Mark McKenzie. The Lady Indians started their road to the big house with a 75-29 win over Wilburton, Defeated #15 Wewoka 63-51 and #8 Warner 51-39 and defeated Wyandotte 63-40 to advance to the state tournament.
Merritt’s road to the big house
The kids was real excited and it took a lot of pressure off them and it made them feel a little bit of pressure after not making it, I think they put a lot of pressure on themselves and I think that’s gone now and we can just go play now said Merritt coach Jeff Daugherty. The Oilerettes began their road to the big house with a 61-18 win over Sayre in districts, Defeated Hooker 50-27 and #13 Cashion 68-36 in regionals, Fell to Tulsa KIPP 57-49 but bounced back big against #14 Hartshorne 77-52 to advance to state tournament.
#1 Dale vs #10 Okemah
Wednesday at 12:00pm
Last Appearance: Dale (Sixth consecutive since 2019) Okemah (1989)
Dale’s road to the big house
Road to big house being defending state champ and having a good returning class from last year expectations are high. The team has done a great job of handling and embracing it. Great regular season with only one loss. Playing a lot of ranked teams leading up to the playoffs has definitely helped us make the playoff push to the state tournament. We are super excited about making the six trip in a row to the big house. It’s hard and sometimes that can get over looked especially at Dale. I’m super proud of the girls. We are looking forward to the state tournament, it’s a special place and it’s going to be fun! said Dale coach Eric Smith. The Lady Pirates began their road to the big house with an 87-28 win over Mounds in districts, Defeated Healdton 76-20 and #18 Latta 55-41 and #12 Calera 48-22 to advance to the state tournament.
Okemah’s road to the big house
We have battled through a tough schedule which helped prepare us. We were so close last year but didn’t hit Freethrows that cost us. Girls knew they belonged in the top eight this year and dominated every playoff game except Riverside. We were in that game and had chances. Girls are really excited to be the first 5v5 team at Okemah to make State Tournament said Okemah coach Gary Kennemer. The Lady Panthers began their road to the big house with a 61-36 win over Christian Heritage in districts, Defeated #19 Kellyville 53-42 and #7 Preston 63-38 in regionals, Fell to #2 Riverside 48-41 but bounced back against #7 Preston 57-29 to advance to the state tournament.
#4 Howe vs Tulsa KIPP
Wednesday at 1:30pm
Last Appearance: Howe (Ninth consecutive since 2016) Tulsa KIPP (First in school history)
Howe’s road to the big house
We didn’t do a very good job in the regional job in the regional final against Wyandotte, They had a very good game plan, We really focused on our defensive game plan in area against Wewoka, Warner and Wyandotte and came out with three wins to get back to state. It’s not easy to beat three good teams in three days, I think our team is better because we had to do that, We had our backs against in the loss in the regionals and we can’t lose this week and just have to keep that mentality going into state said Howe coach Chris Brown. The Lady Lions began their road to the big house with a 69-16 win over Haworth in districts 69-16, Defeated Colcord 90-33, Fell to Wyandotte 42-36, Defeated #15 Wewoka 67-37, #8 Warner 40-26 and Wyandotte 47-35.
Tulsa KIPP’s road to the big house
The Tulsa KIPP Lady Bulldogs began their road to the big house with a 71-23 win over Caney Valley in districts, Defeated #5 Oktaha 62-56 and #14 Hartshorne 89-81 in regionals, Defeated #3 Merritt 57-49 in area to advance to the state tournament. This is their first state tournament appearance in school history in any sport.
The OKPreps Rundown 
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