The Jacket Journal

Despite hard work from point guards Mark Florie and Sydney Wyatt, Choctaw High School girls and boys basketball teams have yet to pull off many victories this season.

The girls’ team added another loss to their record in a game Friday against tenth ranked Putnam City Original.  Although freshman point guard Wyatt has been the high scorer every game this season, it has yet to benefit the overall outcome of the games. PCO had an eight point lead at half and kept the lead most of the game. With a couple of possessions in the fourth quarter of Choctaw scoring and holding PCO offense, the score was tied, 43 with two minutes to go. Choctaw’s defense slipped up and PCO went on a roll to get up 6 points. In the last seconds of the game the girls scrapped for fouls to slow the clock, but it didn’t help. The final score was 47-54.

The boys’, game on the other hand, wasn’t such a close call when faced against third ranked PCO pirates. With the first 6 points being dunks by the PCO forwards, this contributed to the 20 point lead at half which proved that this was going to be a long game for Choctaw. PCO kept the steady 20pt lead most of the game, but in the fourth quarter Choctaw fought back as best they could to end the game with only a 13 point loss, 75-89. The game wasn’t such a terrible thing for starting senior point guard, Mark Florie who hit his career high points in the game that night, reaching 37.

The CHS girls’ basketball team now has a 4-7 win loss record, and is ranked twentieth in the state. There isn’t much difference when it comes to the boys’ team, who are now 6-5 and ranked fifteenth in the state. The next game for the teams will be a tournament held in Moore. Play begins on January 21^st and runs through the 23^rd. The tournament will host Choctaw, all three Moore district schools, Broken Arrow, Lawton, Lawton Ike, Muskogee, and Sand Springs. First round games will start this Thursday, with the girls playing unranked Broken Arrow at 4p.m. “A lot more scoring on offense and tighter defense will be key in Thursday’s game in order for us to advance into the winners’ bracket for Friday’s game, said starting senior point guard, Janelle Wright.”

The boys’ team will play at 5:30 p.m. against Harvest Life. With this first game being against a team they won’t know much about and isn’t a public school, the play will be highly anticipated. When asked for a comment on the upcoming tournament, Head Coach Armstrong summed it up in one word, “Championship.” “I expect to play for the championship,” he continued, “and win the championship this weekend. It will be our third this season.” High hopes are in place for both teams during the tournament. The girls’ team is going to be working their hardest for wins and the boys will be trying to keep their good name in championship game play.