The last time the Wellston Lady Tigers made it to the basketball state tournament, Ronald Reagan was still president and girls were playing 6-on-6 basketball and wearing big hair.
No more. That will all change at 9 a.m. Wednesday when the WLTs take the floor at the OG&E Coliseum to play defending state champ Cyril in the opening round of the Class A girls state tournament.
They earned their berth by plowing through five rounds in the consolation bracket and knocking off Garber, 46-42, at Enid on Saturday.
“These girls have really focused,” said head coach had Hutchison. “I can tell they have elevated every bit of being more sharp and crisp, more disciplined with their looks.”
Now 29-2 and ranked 8th in the state, the Wellston girls won their first 21 games before falling to Merritt, ranked No. 4 in Class 2A, on Jan. 31. They won their next three before falling to Ripley, 36-33, in the first round of regional play.
With no margin for error left, they beat Okay and Afton to advance to area, then knocked off Alex and Thomas - Hutchison’s alma mater - to reach the area finals against Garber.
“We have a great core of girls,” Hutchison said. “Last year we had a great group of seniors and three were three-year starters and were a good group of examples.
“This group is young, with a high motor. They’re highly skilled, but the one thing that put us over the top is the young ones learning.”
The WLTs have just one senior - Alexis Fowble - and three juniors: Kiersten Long, Savanah Gaylord and Dacie Murray. The rest are freshmen and sophomores, many of whom start or see lots of minutes.
With a win over Cyril, Wellston would advance to the semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday at Yukon High School against the winner of Amber-Pocasset and Caddo.
The boys and girls teams from Chandler, McLoud and Dale and the North Rock Creek boys will play in area tournaments this week and try to move on to their state tournaments.
The Chandler boys and girls play Roland at the Mvskoke Dome in Okmulgee, with the girls playing in the consolation bracket at 6 p.m. Thursday and the boys at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
A win puts the boys into the Class 3A state tournament for the second year in a row.
The Lions won a hard-fought 74-68 verdict over Sequoyah-Tahlequah in the regional finals Saturday at Beggs.
The Lions trailed by as many as nine points in the second quarter, but dominated the third period and took a 53-49 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“This group has always been resilient,” said coach Shawn Blankenship. “Getting down has never scared us. We’ve come back a lot last year and this year.
“I think the key in third was that we got a little more connected on defense. We had effort in the first half, but it was sloppy effort.”
Sequoyah-Tahlequah scorched the nets for seven three-pointers in the first half, but the Lions held the Indians to three after halftime.
Jordan Denson and Zaedyn Hankins led the Lion offense in the second half with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
The win put Chandler into the area finals for the second year in a row.
The Chandler girls advanced with a win over Heavener on Saturday.
North Rock Creek’s boys will play Catoosa at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Kellyville. A win puts the Cougars into the state tournament.
McLoud heads to the Golden Dome at East Central University, where the boys will face Ardmore at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the consolation bracket and the girls will tackle Douglass at 6 p.m. Friday.
A win puts the girls into the state tournament.
Dale will head to Enid, where the girls play Fairview at 6 p.m. Friday at the Stride Center and the boys play Hooker at 7:30.
Both will advance to the Class 2A state tournament if they win.