Full steam ahead

When Okarche lost backto- back games in late January and early February 2024, coach Aaron West had a message for the local sports reporter.

“We will get it fixed,” he wrote in a text, almost apologizing for the losses.

Whatever was broken did in fact get fixed…and there hasn’t been a breakdown since. The Warriors last Thursday night won a track meet of a basketball game as they outran Watonga 113-84 for a Three Rivers Conference road win.

The victory upped the Warriors’ mark to 9-0 on the season.

It was also the program’s 50th straight win.

The last loss took place Feb. 1, 2024, at Hennessey when the Eagles’ comeback dealt Okarche a 64-60 defeat. That was two days after Okarche lost 55-51 at Calumet.

The Warriors won their final nine games that season and claimed the Class A state championship.

They went 32-0 last year in garnering a second straight state title.

The 50 straight wins, said West, wasn’t something discussed in the locker room.

“We never talked about it, but it’s an incredible feat,” West said. “I’m proud of that accomplishment for them.”

Most of this senior-laden group has been a part of the entire win streak.

Most of the wins have been blowouts.

Several times during the streak, Okarche could have easily scored in triple digits, but West refused.

The Warriors seven times during the 2024-25 season stopped at 99.

Already this season, they’ve done so five times.

But at Watonga, Okarche barely had a choice.

The Warriors scored almost at will, but the Eagles weren’t too far behind.

Each of the first two quarters saw Okarche outscore Watonga 30-22.

Finally in the third, the visitors stretched out the lead with a 30-15 advantage to lead 90-59.

Watonga scored 25 in the fourth.

“They hit a lot of tough shots and put up some points,” West said. “So we kept the pedal down as well. It was probably a fun game for the fans.”

Combined the teams attempted 132 field goals (4.1 shots per minute).

The Warriors attempted 84 of them. They were 14 of 40 from 3-point range.

“That’s a great number,” West said of the 84 shot attempts. “And the 14 of 40 on 3-pointers is 35 percent. I will take that every night.”

Ethan Kirby was 6 of 11 from long range, which accounted for a large part of his 23 points.

Okarche also got three treys from Court Sumrall, who scored 11.

Brett Carnott added 12.

Then there were the two Warriors who nearly recorded triple-doubles.

Jett Mueggenborg notched 21 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists.

Easton Roby poured in 31 points to go with 10 assists and 7 rebounds.

While Okarche did force 35 turnovers and score 49 points off of them, West wasn’t overly pleased with his defense.

“It wasn’t the best tonight,” he said. “We’re going to have to do a better job moving forward guarding the ball.”

Okarche didn’t have to wait long to try.

The 51st straight win came Friday night as the Warriors dismantled Seiling 99-28 at home.

Seiling committed 36 miscues which led to 56 Okarche points. The Wildcats weren’t terrible from the field (40.7 percent), but only managed 27 shot attempts.

Okarche MADE 39 of its 85 attempts and went 15 of 43 from long range.

Mueggenborg, who was “off” by his standards on Thursday, poured in a gamehigh 36 against Seiling.

He was 14 of 17 from the field, which included making 6 of 7 from long range.

Kirby scored 11 points while Canon Rother came off the bench to snag a gamehigh 10 boards.

Okarche, ranked No. 1 in Class A, will take its 10-0 record into the Tournament of Champions in Tulsa next week.

The Warriors play Class 5A’s East Central at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 29.