Class A and B State Pairings Announced

Coaches gathered at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds to wait for the Class A and B championship pairings.

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 6:08 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Feb 27, 2011 11:53 PM CDT

Jessica Coody
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Class A and B State Tournament pairings were released Sunday afternoon at the Oklahoma State Fair Arena and the small school tournament action will tip off Thursday afternoon.

Class A Boys -- At Choctaw
Fort Cobb vs. Okarche, 2 p.m.
Stuart vs. Weleetka, 3:30 p.m.
Hydro-Eakly vs. Caddo, 7 p.m.
Cheyenne vs. Merrett, 8:30 p.m.

Class A Girls -- At Midwest City
New Lima vs. Frontier, 2 p.m.
Cyril vs. Seiling, 3:30
Calumet vs. Caney, 7 p.m.
Beaver vs. Chattanooga, 8:30

Class B Boys -- At Southern Nazarene
Medford vs. Paden, 2 p.m.
Red Oak vs. Burlington, 3:30 p.m.
Duke vs. Graham, 7 p.m.
Forgan vs. Lookeba-Sickles, 8:30 p.m.

Class B Girls -- State Fair Arena
Timberlake vs. Corn Bible, 2:00 p.m.
Erick vs. Deer Creek-Lamont, 3:30 p.m.
Hammon vs. Pittsburg, 7:00 p.m.
Red Oak vs. Balko, 8:30 p.m.

Cheyenne-Reydon will be making their second straight appearance in the Class A Boys State Tournament. The Bears will face Merrit in their quarterfinal matchup.

“It's a tough tournament I felt like there was probably 20 teams in Class A that were good enough to get and looking at the area tournaments it was like that but I think we got a chance," said Cheyenne head coach Brad Thrash.

It will be the third meeting between Merritt and Cheyenne, with Merritt winning both previous meetings.

"We know them well but they know us just as well; we've got two losses and they are both to them so maybe we'll do better this time," Thrash said.

Okarche will be making their third straight state championship appearance, their 14th overall. The Warriors will face Fort Cobb, who is 27-1 on the season.

"It looks like to me everybody in the state tournament has a good ball club so it doesn't make any difference who you draw. All of them look like they have good ball clubs," said Okarche coach Ray West.

Coach West actually coached Fort Cobb's head coach Scott Hines.

"Scott Hines is one of my former players so either way if I win that would be wonderful and if Scott wins I'd be happy for him, so it's a fun draw," said West.

Okarche came up short a year ago, falling to Garber 59-33 in the State Championship game. They Warriors have been battling injuries and sickness all season. Cheyenne beat Okarche 55-30 in the Area Championship, but the Warriors bounced back in the Area Consolation with a victory over Okeene to punch their ticket to the state tournament.

"I've really been proud of my young men this year, we've had a lot of injuries and a lot of sickness," West said. "I didn't have my point guard the whole second semester and our kids just really stepped up. We won some big games with two and three starters out the whole second semester so I've been really proud of all of our kids, the kids that came in a stepped up off the bench. I think they're hungry and I'm really proud of them.”

The Chattanooga Lady Warriors will make their third straight state tournament appearance and will face Beaver in their quarterfinal matchup.

"Once you get to the state tournament about any draw is good. “So we're happy with it," Chatty head coach Marty McBride said.

Chattanooga was battle tested in the playoffs, bouncing back with an overtime win in the Area Consolation after falling to Cyril on a buzzer-beater. The Lady Warriors came up just short a year ago, falling to Okarche in the Class A Girls State Championship.

"Just being there having that experience getting that close kind of helped us through playoffs and they kind of remember those feelings, I think they are ready to roll," said McBride.

The Hammon Girls come in with a perfect 26-0 record. The Lady Warriors received the top seed in the Class B Girls State Tournament and will face Pittsburg in their quarterfinal matchup.

"When you come in as the top seed you want to pick up somebody that you haven't played before and that's the luxury that we got there," Hammon head coach Lance Carpenter said. "I'm happy with the draw you just got to be ready to play every time out that's what I told my kids you gotta get ready to go and play the best we can when we get up here."

This will be the ninth state tournament for the Lady Warriors. Hammon lost in the state quarterfinals a year ago, but were young. This year they are coming in with state tournament experience.

"My young kids were pretty young last year," Carpenter said. "This year hopefully we'll get over our jitters and get ready to play. I thought we were a little nervous last year but hopefully this year we'll just be ready to go."