Class A girls basketball preview
BY MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Thursday, February 28, 2013
2/28/13 at 5:58 AM
When: Thursday-Saturday
Where: First round at Southern Nazarene; semifinals and finals at State Fair Arena, Oklahoma City
Tickets: $5
Last year's champion/Team to beat
Frontier (23-6): Defeated Okarche (26-3) in last year's final to capture its third gold ball. Both teams return with two members from the 2012 all-tournament team. But keep an eye on Cheyenne/Reydon (23-6). The Bears upset Okarche in the area tournament.
Teams to watch
Sterling (27-2): Is the ninth school Rick Wilson has coached to the state tournament. Wilson has guided seven teams to state titles and trails only the legendary Bertha Frank Teague, who coached Byng's girls to eight gold balls.
Kiowa (23-7): Makes its 13th tourney appearance, but the Cowgirls have never gotten past the semifinals. Sophomore guard Addy Clift averages 21 points per game. ...
Okarche (26-3): Junior forward Morgan Vogt leads team with 19.4 points per game. The Warriors start three Grellner cousins - juniors Madi and Rae and sophomore Kenadey.
Players to watch
Marissa Goodman, Frontier: The junior forward averages 22.6 points and nine rebounds. She was MVP of last year's state tournament after scoring 24 points in the final.
Kate Sander, Cheyenne/Reydon: The 6-foot-2 sophomore had more than four blocked shots per game while averaging nine points and 6.2 rebounds. The balanced Bears have six players averaging between 9.4 and 6.7 points per game.
Jade Jones, Pond Creek/Hunter: Jones averaged 22 points and seven assists, leading the Panthers (25-4) to their first state appearance in 20 years.
Associated Images:
Okarche's Randi Hufnagel works past Frontier's Jalissa Gum during the championship game of the girl's Class A state basketball tournament at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City last year. Both teams return to the Class A state tournament this week. SARAH PHIPPS/The Oklahoman file
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