Sports

The 2020 year in sports can almost be referred to as “the year that wasn’t” in sports. The usual flurry that was January and February in basketball and wrestling carried over into the first week of March. Then COVID. Then the world - slowly at first, then more rapidly began to shut down.

In yet another way COVID-19 has affected sports, Kingfisher’s annual high school wrestling tournament was completed in just one evening this year. Due to a number of teams having to drop out, the tournament was reduced to four teams, which set the stage for a round-robin format at all the weights..

Vance Raney scored his share of points in Cashion’s most recent win, but the final five in the last 80 seconds of the game were by far the biggest. Raney nailed the game-tying 3-pointer and then made the go-ahead free throws as the Wildcats won 60-58 at Morrison on Dec. 18.

An already shorthanded Kingfisher girls basketball team had even fewer of its bullets in its final game before the Christmas break. But it was still enough to remain unbeaten. KHS struggled offensively, but maintained its stellar defensive play in winning 38-25 last Friday at Chickasha.

Back in 2014, a group of Cashion sixth graders were preparing to do battle in their league’s version of the “Super Bowl” in Crescent.

GOLD AT LAST — Saturday night’s Class A state championship game was historic for the Cashion Wildcats and Coach Lynn Shackelford, who capped a 16-0 undefeated season with a 34-7 thumping of Thomas to bring home the team’s first gold ball since 1981 and its first ever in 11-man competition.

Cade Stephenson’s value to the Kingfisher High School team was wellknown locally. Turns out the District 3A-1 coaches were quite aware as well. Coaches named Stephenson the district’s most valuable player after a recent vote.

Kingfisher lost a regular season game for the first time in nearly two years. And, just as was the case then, it took 6A’s best team to do it. The Jackets had to settle for a runner-up finish at last weekend’s Edmond Open after dropping a 33-27 decision to the host Memorial Bulldogs in the final.

Coaches will tell you it’s one thing to try to prepare for a certain type of standout player, but another to actually face them in a game. How do you prepare for a quarterback who’s thrown for more than 3,800 yards, 59 touchdowns and guides an offense that averages 66.4 points a game?

Dover’s boys took fourth in the Cimarron Classic over the weekend. The Lady Longhorns? Good question. After winning their first game of the season in Thursday’s quarterfinal, the Lady Longhorns dropped a 43-31 semifinal decision to Cimarron on Friday.