Late surge helps Okarche stun Calumet

After Okarche’s season- opening loss, coach Aaron West felt the Warriors let one get away with their slow start.

On Tuesday in Calumet, the Warriors almost let it happen again.

Almost. Okarche used a 15-2 run to start the fourth quarter to spur itself to a 74-71 road win.

“That’s a really good win for us,” said West after the game. “Calumet is a good team and will continue to get better.”

The Warriors led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but saw it dwindle to just a single point by halftime.

The Chieftains then outscored Okarche 25-16 in the third to take a 63-55 advantage.

Okarche went to work. Braxton Smith’s putback pulled the Warriors within 64-63, then Smith secured the defensive board on the other end.

That led to Okarche taking the lead as Jett Mueggenborg followed a miss with yet another putback.

The Warriors didn’t trail again.

Okarche pushed it to 70-65 before Tyler Thiessen broke the run with a 3-pointer.

However, after a timeout, Smith scored on the other end to put Okarche back up by four.

All three of Smith’s field goals were in the fourth quarter as he finished with nine points and six rebounds.

P.K. Harris led the Warriors with a double-double as he scored 20 and pulled down 10 boards.

Wyatt Pinkerton joined Mueggenborg in scoring 12 points apiece.

Mueggenborg also had six rebounds.

Okarche out-rebounded the Chieftains 47-29.

Calumet made nine 3-pointers, but it took 33 attempts (27.3 percent).

Hunter Arnold led Calumet with 24 points while Dalton Belcher scored 21.

Lady Warriors dominate from the start

Okarche cut down on its turnovers and ratcheted up the pressure to garner its first win of the season.

The Lady Warriors took command early Tuesday and cruised to an 83-39 win at Calumet.

In their season-opening loss at Preston, Okarche turned it over 21 times. That number was reduced by 10 at Calumet.

To compound the turnaround, Okarche forced its hosts into 33 miscues.

That helped Okarche jump to a 17-6 advantage, one it pushed to 44-12 by halftime.

Jalie Rother and Emma Stover dominated without even playing in the fourth quarter.

Both had 16 points by halftime.

Rother scored eight more in the third quarter as Okarche pushed the lead to 47 points. She led all scorers with 24.

Stover added six more in the third and finished with 22 points.

Jadyn Rother, Avery Schieber, Abigayle Johnson and Tyson Endres scored six points apiece.

Mattie Pritchett paced Calumet with 19 points while Allie Harris added 11.