EC SWEEPT ALTUS 

Elk City basketball went down to Altus for their first game in calendar year 2025 on Friday afternoon. The Elkettes started slow and trailed 13-11 after the first quarter. They dominated the second quarter, outscoring Altus 27-5 to open up a 20 point halftime lead. A huge part of that second quarter barrage was soph campbell garbarino.... (45:55) Campbell scored 16, Abby Brown led Elk City with 17, and Luci O’Hara was the 3rd in double figures with 10 in a 65-43 Elk City win. The Elkettes improve to 8-1. The Big Elks trailed the Bulldogs 18-6 at the end of the first quarter, but that turned out to be an anamoly. The Elks won the second and 3rd quarters by 3 to pull with 6 as the 4th quarter began. They trailed 44-42 with under 30 left left.... (5:50) Tucker Garza’s right wing 3 gave the Elks their only lead and one they wouldn’t relinquish in a 46-44 win over Altus. Garza led Elk city with 16. Damon Jackson chipped in with 8. The Elks improve to 2-6. Both teams hit the road tomorrow night with stiff tests in Anadarko. 

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL RANKINGS 

The first high school basketball rankings for calendar year 2025 were released this afternoon. The Elk City Elkettes jumped up to #14 in the Class 4A girls rankings buoyed by their impressive 8-1 record. Other Western Conference mates that are ranked this week include #4 Kingfisher, Bethany’s 7th, Newcastle 9, Tuttle’s 10, and Wford’s 16th. In Class 2A Merritt held steady at #7. Seiling’s still #1 in Class A. Canute’s 6th, C-R 15, and AB comes in at #20. Hammon’s still #2 in Class B. L-S is 3rd, Arnett 6, MVG 12, Leedey’s 13.  

On the boys side of things, Wford’s a strong #1 in Class 4A at 11-1. Canute’s finally in the Class A rankings at 16th this week. H-E's #20. Calumet jumped to #1 in Class B. Granite’s 4th, Hammon 6, Duke 10, Leedey’s 11, Sentinel comes in at 14th. 

THUNDER CONTINUE TO ROLL 

The Ok City Thunder continue to roll to a franchise record 15th straight victory after vanquishing two of the top 3 teams in the East. OKC trailed at halftime to both the Knicks and Celtics then destroyed both in the second half. They outscored New York 63-41 in Friday’s second half to win 117-107. Then yesterday against the defending champion Celts was even better. They beat Boston 105-92 behind a second half lambasting to the tune of 50-27. OKC’s 30-5 with a trip to Eastern Conference leading Cleveland on Wednesday. 

NFL WEEK 18 

The final week of the NFL regular season came and went over the weekend to settle the playoff bracket in both conferences. Baker and the Bucs held off New Orleans 27-19 to win the NFC South. Detroit smoked Minnesota to win the NFC North. Baltimore hammered Cleveland 35-10 and won the AFC North. Denver shut out a depleted Chiefs team to clinch the final AFC wild card spot. This week’s Wild Card schedule looks like this: At 3:30 on Saturday Houston hosts the Chargers. The 7:00 game on saturday night is Baltimore at home against Pittsburgh. Sunday starts at noon in Buffalo with the Bills welcoming the Broncos. At 3:30 in Philly it’s the Eagles and Packers. The Sunday nightcap at 7:00 features Tampa at home against Washington. The Monday night game is in LA with the Rams hosting the Vikings.