Lawton High leads city boys teams into playoffs

Lawton High School has done what it needed to do this season to earn the right to host another Class 5A regional but after suffering a heart-breaking loss to Moore in the title game, this bunch of Wolverines appears eager to extend this playoff run much further.

LHS will battle Santa Fe South tonight at 6 p.m. in the first game of the regional and Elgin and Western Heights will mix it up in the 7:30 p.m. contest. The two winners return Friday at 7 p.m. to fight for the regional title. The champion would then need just one more win at the Area Tournament to advance to State.

So, how is this team better prepared for the playoffs than the club that lost to Moore?

“I think we are just much more mature,” LHS coach Chevis Smith said. “Last year we weren’t in enough tough situations to develop the mindset we needed. We played hard, our motors were good, however, we didn’t play situational basketball at times.

“This season it’s all about just taking care of us, doing what we can do ourselves. I’ve seen the best and worst this season but over the past 4 to 6 games we’ve really been doing the little things that I wanted to see out of this group. We are sticking to the game plan and we are being more patient on offense. I definitely feel we are peaking at the perfect time.”

The Wolverines are deeper than any team in the field with Smith confident in 10 players when they are needed. But the core group of seniors provide the leadership and much of the offensive and defensive load.

Pene Vasiagote, Tavaris Deans, Corey Barnes, Marcus Rucker, Tyrone Dean and Nakell Adams are the six seniors who will be playing for the final time at the Wolverines’ Gym.

“That group of seniors has really worked hard but we have a bunch of talented young kids,” Smith said. “Our freshmen went 12-1, the 8th-graders (at Central MS) were 14-1 and the 7th grade was the same so those three teams of younger kids only lost three games all season so we feel we have a good group ready to keep this going.”

The other 5A boys teams in the area—MacArthur, Duncan and Altus—are spread across three other regionals. Marco Gagliardi takes his MacArthur crew to Del City where the Highlanders face Classen SAS Thursday at 7:30 p.m. with the winner to face the winner of the 6 p.m. game between host Del City and Guymon.

Duncan boys head to Carl Albert where the Demons have been paired against the powerful Titans at 6 p.m. The other game in that regional matches John Marshall and Southeast. Altus also has a tough draw at El Reno, facing the hosts at 6 p.m. The other game in that regional matches Midwest City and Noble.

2A, A, B teams in Area

Southwest Oklahoma has several teams still fighting for berths in next week’s State Tournaments in Class 2A, A and B. Frederick boys in 2A, Sterling and Cyril boys in Class A and Chattanooga girls in Class B are all headed to Friday night Area Tournament title games where they can earn a ticket to State with a victory.

Frederick boys will meet Hartshorne at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chickasha High School, Sterling boys tangle with Oklahoma Christian Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cache, Cyril boys meet Rattan in a Class A Area at Noble, and Chatty girls battle Hammon Friday at 6 p.m. at Bridge Creek High School.

In addition there are other area teams chasing State berths but needing to win three straight games to advance to the Big House. Walters girls in 2A, Sterling, Empire, Cyril and Apache girls are all facing elimination games today in Class A and Mt. View-Gotebo and Geronimo girls are fighting to advance in Class B. Boys teams facing elimination Thursday are Central High and Velma-Alma in Class A and Fort Cobb-Broxton in Class B.

Full pairings with times and sites can be found in the scoreboard on Page 3B.