Detailing history; celebrating those who make state

Two has happened before.

Eight times, to be exact.

Yours truly has been there for five of them.

But three? Never. Not once. Not until Saturday, March 7, 2026.

That’s when not one, not two, but THREE teams from Kingfisher County schools raised gold balls to signify their feats of becoming state basketball champions.

It was quite the historic day inside the OG&E Coliseum for a multitude of reasons.

One reason? Well, the name of the building. It wasn’t State Fair Arena or The Big House.

No, this was the very first year in the new home of Oklahoma high school basketball state tournaments.

Second reason? Dover’s boys won their first title in program history.

Third? Lomega girls won their 17th and Kevin Lewallen won his ninth as a coach, putting him atop the record book for girls coaches.

Fourth? This was the first year of Class B-II. Kingfi sher County swept those championships.

Fifth? Okarche’s boys put themselves in rarified air with a three-peat.

And sixth…at no time in history had three teams from Kingfisher County won championships in one year.

And it’s not like the county is starved for success.

Counting Big Four’s girls title in 1954, the county has experienced 43 state championships.

Those titles have spanned seven different decades - 1950s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. (What were you all doing in the 60s?)

Championships have been won in 33 different years.

And eight of those years, there were two: 1981 - Kingfisher and Okarche girls 1982 - Lomega and Okarche girls 1989 - Kingfisher and Lomega girls 2000 - Cashion and Kingfisher girls 2001 - Dover girls and Lomega boys 2007 - Cashion and Lomega girls 2021 - Kingfisher boys and Lomega girls 2024 - Lomega girls and Okarche boys So, yes, that first Saturday in March was historic… and fortunately we were there to capture it all.

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We’ll dive more into those title teams in a future column, but let’s first take a look at the Kingfisher and Okarche girls teams.

While they may not have brought home championships, their seasons certainly deserve recognition.

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One unfortunate byproduct of all that history on Saturday at the Coliseum was the accomplishment of the KHS girls being a bit overlooked…or overshadowed.

After Dover won its championship, as Lomega was winning its own and before Okarche captured the title, the Lady Jackets were northeast of Oklahoma City in Kellyville holding off Berryhill 44-38.

The win advanced the program to state for an incredible 29th time.

It was also the fourth time in five years under coach Taylor Young and that’s a number I think gets overlooked as well.

During Young’s tenure, we’ve almost taken for granted the fact the Lady Jackets have once again become tournament regulars.

However, before her arrival and her first trip to state in 2022, it had been 13 years since the program made it to OKC.

There are only two other stretches where KHS has made similar or better runs than this one:

• The program made it five out of six years from 2004 to 2009;

• Its best run was eight straight trips from 1974 to 1981, which stretched to 10 out of 11 when extended to 1984.

This year’s team started out with a 59-50 loss at Merritt and had some particularly rough stretches in the game, especially on defense.

But that turned out to be more of an aberration.

Those 59 points turned out to be the second-most the team surrendered all year.

The Lady Jackets eventually played eight regular season games against teams that made the state tournament in their respective classes and went 5-3 in those matchups:

• 0-1 against Merritt, a 2A quarterfinalist;

• 0-2 against Washington, the repeat state champ that went 31-1;

• 2-0 against Alva, and in dominant fashion both times, a 3A semifinalist;

• 2-0 against Weatherford, a 4A quarterfinalist;

• 1-0 against Howe, the eventual 2A state champ.

After losing to KHS in the opening round of the Bertha Frank Teague Mid-America Classic, Howe won its last 21 games of the season in capturing a state championship.

The Lady Jackets went on to advance to the finals of the Bertha Frank Teague, which is no small feat.

Washington was about as good a team as you would have seen all season, regardless of class.

Once in the playoffs, KHS lost only to Locust Grove (a semifinalist) and the eventual state champ, Lincoln Christian.

The 53 points for Lincoln Christian in the quarterfi nals were the fewest it scored in the state tournament.

Coach Young and her staff made their run through the regular season and playoffs despite not having a couple of key contributors they expected to have once they finished with their summer work.

That left them with a shorter bench than they were expecting…and a much less-experienced one.

Yet there they were once again making their way to state.

That certainly deserves to be celebrated.

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The Okarche Lady Warriors didn’t always shoot the ball particularly well.

There were some good nights…a lot of them, to be fair.

But there were some bad ones.

And some really bad ones.

But the Lady Warriors were always in the mix, thanks mostly to their defense and also their ability to get to the free throw line. Brett and Scott Tahah got the Lady Warriors back to state - in much less dramatic fashion than in their first season a year ago - and once again won a game.

That’s significant. It marked the 14th consecutive trip for the program to win at least one game at the state tournament.

That stat is incredible. But, again, just getting to state is no small feat.

The Lady Warriors played probably their worst game of the season in a 3924 area title game loss to Amber-Pocasset.

They had to rebound the next night against a redhot Mooreland team the Lady Warriors had barely squeaked by at home a week before. This game was on a neutral court and Mooreland was on a roll with two straight wins. But Okarche controlled the game and punched its ticket. Then, against, No. 7 Allen in the quarterfinals, the Lady Warriors relied on their strengths. With the game tied entering the fourth quarter, Okarche didn’t surrender a point until the 2:48 mark. Then, Katie Parham nailed 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch to help the Lady Warriors preserve and extend their lead.

Okarche got to state for the 33rd time in program history with just two seniors on the roster, meaning you can count on the Warriors to battle for trip No. 34 next year.

Have the Lady Warriors been overshadowed by the boys team the last couple of seasons? Absolutely…and for good reason.

But do they deserve to be celebrated as well?

Once again, absolutely.