Prep hoops teams gear up for tournaments

With the new year comes the first week of the busy January high school basketball tournament schedule and while there are events across the region, a large group will be competing in three area events.

Apache is hosting its Slick Hills Invitational that runs from Wednesday through Saturday, the Midfirst Warrior Classic at Anadarko and the Rush Springs Black Diamond Classic both run Thursday through Saturday.

Teams competing with Apache in its own tournament include Walters, Hollis, Vanoss, Hobart, Hydro-Eakly, OKC Knights and Eisenhower JV on the girls side. The boys bracket has Washington JV instead of the Ike JV.

The Midfirst Warrior Classic includes two area programs, Eisenhower and the host Warriors. The Black Diamond Classic includes area programs Empire, Big Pasture and Sterling.

Lawton High and MacArthur will not be playing in tournaments this week but all four will be facing regular-season opponents for district games.

The other two big-school teams from Comanche County—Cache and Elgin—will be busy in tournaments this week with Elgin’s teams heading to competed in the tough Weatherford Invitational while Cache’s teams go to Lindsay for the Charles Heatly Classic. Duncan’s teams will also be competing in the Heatly Classic this week.

Elgin girls will face Tecumseh at 4 p.m. Thursday while the boys will battle Guthrie at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Duncan girls will face Pauls Valley at 12:40 p.m. Thursday in the Lindsay tourney and Cache girls battle Chickasha at 3:20 p.m. On the boys bracket, Duncan meets Sulphur at 11:20 a.m. Thursday and Cache boys challenge Pauls Valley at 2 p.m.

All of the tournaments this week are three-day events, starting Thursday and ending Saturday. Fans of the area schools competing in tournaments should be aware of the weather conditions as snow, sleet or freezing rain may disrupt schedules so be sure and check on the latest updates going forward.

Here are the first-round matchups in the tournaments involving area teams:

Slick Hills Invitational

At Apache Event Center

11 a.m.—Vanoss vs. Lawton Ike (Girls)

12:20 p.m.—Vanoss vs. Walters (Boys)

1:40 p.m.—Walters vs. Hydro-Eakly (Girls)

3 p.m.—Hydro-Eakly vs. Washington JV (Boys)

4:20 p.m.—Hobart vs. Hollis (Girls)

5:40 p.m.—OKC Knights vs. Hollis (Boys)

7 p.m.—Apache vs. OKC Knights (Girls)

8:20 p.m.—Hobart vs. Apache (Boys)

Midfirst Warrior Classic

At Anadarko High

Thursday’s games

10 a.m.—El Reno vs. Clinton (Girls)

11:20 a.m.—El Reno vs. Hoops for Christ (Boys)

12:40 p.m.—Classen SAS vs. Choctaw (Girls)

2 p.m.—Capitol Hill vs. Eisenhower (Boys)

3:20 p.m.—Guymon vs. Norman (Girls)

4:40 p.m.—Clinton vs. Clinton SAS (Boys)

6 p.m.—Anadarko vs. Eisenhower (Girls)

7:20 p.m.—Anadarko vs. Guymon (Boys)

42nd Black Diamond Classic

At Rush Springs High

Thursday’s games

11 a.m.—Binger-Oney vs. Sterling (Girls)

12:20 p.m.—Binger-Oney vs. Waurika (Boys)

1:40 p.m.—Waurika vs. Verden (Girls)

3 p.m.—Empire vs. Verden (Boys)

4:20 p.m.—Empire vs. Big Pasture (Girls)

5:40 p.m.—Healdton vs. Big Pasture (Boys)

7 p.m.—Rush Springs vs. Healdton (Girls)

8:20 p.m.—Rush Springs vs. Sterling (Boys)