Following convincing wins in area action last weekend, both of Dale High School’s basketball teams are headed back this week to the state tournament which opens today (Thursday).
The tournament is being played at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City.
The Dale girls open the tournament at 9 a.m. today with a contest against Silo. Coach Eric Smith’s team, which has a 23-5 record on the season, is ranked third in Class 2A. This will be the third
This will be the third matchup between the two teams this year. “We have played Silo two times already winning both games. The first one we won 52-42 and the second one 57-39. We also played them three times last year,” Smith said, noting, “They beat us in the semifinals of the state tournament 49-48.”
The veteran head coach believes, “They have the best player in Class 2A in my opinion, the Ellison girl.”
Smith has been at Dale since the 2018-2019 season and this is the fourth consecutive year the team has qualified for the state tournament. Even though the team made it in 2020, COVID-19 prevented the team from playing.
In 2019, his team was state runner-up, in 2021 the girls made it to the semi-finals. This will be the third year for them to play in the tournament.
This year marks the 10th consecutive year that Smith will take a team to the state tournament. He went three years as Alva’s head coach, also three at Frontier before coming to Dale.
The Dale Pirates will play at 7:30 p.m. this evening when they take on Hooker. Coach Jeff Edmonson’s squad is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A and sports a 26-2 record headed into state competition.
Looking at tonight’s matchup with Hooker, Edmonson said, “Hooker is good. They have a 6-8 kid who is really good.”
The longtime Dale coach will be making his fifth actual appearance at the state tournament though his teams have qualified six times. His teams made the tournament in 2010 and 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and this year.
But in 2020, COVID-19 prevented them from playing.
Edmonson has been the head coach at Dale 15 years and a head coach for 20 years. He spent five years as Meeker’s head coach and went to the state tournament in 2001 and 2004 while there.
In their area contest played at Chickasha, the Dale girls whipped Latta 64-39, with three players in double figures.
Faith Wright led their scoring with 17 points. Makenzie Gill added 13 and Brook Rutland had a dozen. It was the fourth time this season the two teams had met, with each team winning
It was the fourth time this season the two teams had met, with each team winning twice.
The Pirates defeated Latta 57-41. Sophomore Dayton Forsythe poured in 32 points and was the leading scorer in the contest.
Deken Jones and Troy Chambers each added seven point for the Pirates.
Edmonson’s team defeated Latta three times this season.