Fort Gibson Boys, Girls Hoops Remain Unbeaten

What do you get when you combine the boys and girls basketball teams at Fort Gibson High?

You get 48 wins and zero losses.

"Kinda got on a roll, and haven't slowed down since,” stated girls basketball coach Jerry Walker.

Boys coach Gary Hendrix added, "We've been very fortunate."

Both the boys and girls are 24-0, ranked No. 1 in the state and coming off big district wins.

"Being the number one team, everybody comes in and wants to beat you,” said forward Ali Christie. “Everyone wants to beat the number one team."

Guard Jace Shepherd stated, "We have all those starters back, we made it to the finals, [and] we have a chip on our shoulder. Everyone's coming out to get us every single night. We always get everybody's best shot."

Fort Gibson is a close-knit community; both coaches graduated from there, and now, both teams share in each other’s' success.

"We're really proud of them,” said Shepherd. “We talk about it, like when we go to church and stuff, how amazing it would be to carry home two gold balls."

Not only are Coach Walker and Coach Hendrix Fort Gibson lifers, there's an even deeper connection that runs from one coach's office to the other.

"Coach Hendrix and I both graduated from here,” said Walker. “He played for my dad.”

Hendrix added, "His dad was my high school coach and a great coach and a great person, and my college coach was his college coach.”

So, in a town known for basketball tradition, these roots run deep.