Motivated Warriors throttle Waukomis

Aaron West is always intense on the sidelines of basketball games, but rarely has outbursts of emotions.

So when Ethan Kirby knocked down his second 3-pointer to give the Warriors a big early lead on No. 10 Waukomis in their Class A area championship game, it was peculiar to see West pumping his fists and waving his arms in the air to encourage the Warrior faithful.

“We were a little extra motivated,” said West. “We really wanted this one.”

And the Warriors got it. Waukomis entered with a 24-game win streak, but left having felt the wrath of the two-time defending champions as Okarche rolled to a 101-58 victory at Enid High School.

It put No. 1 Okarche into the Class A state tournament for the fourth straight year and 20th time in the program’s history.

“That’s a really good team we beat,” said West of the Chiefs, who included Dover in their list of victims this season. “But we as a coaching staff also knew they felt very confident coming in, so we wanted to come out and establish ourselves early.”

Kirby’streygaveOkarche a 14-2 advantage that forced a timeout.

The Chiefs gathered themselves and pulled within 27-19 by the end of the quarter, but along the way saw Keagan Keller pick up his third and fourth fouls.

Already being stressed by Okarche’s frantic pace, the Chiefs had to go to their limited bench. That turned an unlikely upset bid into no chance.

Okarche put the throttle down in the second quarter with 34 points and led 61-33 at the break.

The Warriors extended their lead to 89-45 after three quarters.

Two Chiefs had fouled out before that quarter was even halfway done.

Despite a size advantage, Waukomis was out-rebounded 38-26 by Okarche.

The Warriors forced 36 turnovers and scored 35 points off of those miscues.

The Chiefs did shoot 56 percent in the game, but only shot 44 times compared to 75 attempts for the Warriors. Okarche had 53 field goal attempts by halftime.

They made 14 3-pointers in the contest, led by five from Kirby, which accounted for all 15 of his points.

He was one of four Okarche players in double figures.

They were led by Jett Mueggenborg’s 25 points and 11 boards.

Easton Roby added 17 points and 7 rebounds and Kysen Avila came off the bench to score 12.

Fourteen different Okarche players scored in the game.

Seeking their third straight championship, the Warriors have averaged 97 points and outscored their foes by an average of 52.2 points in four playoff games.