Sports

When Oklahoma and Texas announced this summer they were bolting for the SEC, I expected the Big 12 Conference to fold like an accordion. Not so: The conference revealed last week it has invited four new members, bringing its number of member institutions back up to a logical 12.

Amaya Evans (left), Lexi Pendleton (right) and Olivia Littleraven (bottom right) were honored between games during Senior Night for the Geary fastpitch softball team on Monday, Sept. 13, as the Lady Bison faced off with Okeene. The Geary softball season continues this weekend at the Guthrie Tournament. The team recently found out that it will be hosting its District tournament against Leedy (7-20) and Dover (14-9); the tourney must be completed by Sept. 25, though the exact schedule hasn’t yet been finalized.

WATONGA — In its first two games, Watonga won comfortably but had to overcome major second-half adversity to pull away. That wasn’t the case on Friday night, as the Eagles celebrated their 2021 home opener with a 54-6 romp over the Rush Springs Redskins.

FAIRVIEW — The Watonga Lady Eagle softball team played in the Northwest Shootout softball tournament in Fairview Thursday through Saturday. They started the pool play portion of the tournament by beating the Thomas Lady Terriers 12 - 4 with offensive contributions from the whole lineup and a big grand slam by senior Haylee Roberts. In the second pool play game, they faced the Medford Cardinals. Good pitching and stout defense resulted in an 8-0 win and a 2-0 start to the tournament. On Friday the Lady Eagles faced the Crescent Tigers. The game was a defensive battle and a 1 - 1 tie was broken by a bottom of the 6th solo home run by Natalie Walker. Once again the defense stepped up and effort by multiple players was the difference in the game. The Lady Eagles held on with a 2-1 victory. Friday ended the pool play portion with the Lady Eagles finishing first in their pool and advancing to the semifinals of the bracket play on Saturday. Bracket play started for four of the players (Landri Hussey, Julien Roman Nose, Shelby Miller, and Jaidon Turney) with a Cross Country meet in Cherokee, where our Lady Eagle C.C. team dominated the meet with 5 medals and a first-place finish. Those four then made the trip to Fairview for the last two tournament games. The semi-final game was against the Fairview Lady Yellowjackets. The Lady Eagles played a really good all-around game, but once again was powered by their solid pitching and the defensive behind her. Holding Fairview to one run and winning 4-1 to advance to the finals. In the Championship game, the Lady Eagles faced a top-eight team in Class B, the Arnett Wildcats. The championship game started tough for the Lady Eagles, giving up five runs in the first inning, but these ladies battled to limit Arnett the rest of the game. The offense could not get going and the Lady Eagles ended up runner-up in the tournament with a 9-1 loss. Finishing the weekend 4-1 was a big positive for the team and look forward to building off of this weekend. The Lady Eagles only have four seniors on the roster (Haylee Roberts, Landri Hussey, Kaylee Roberts, and Alyssa Bay), with their leadership and a talented group of underclassmen this group has been solid this year and continues to improve.

Sept. 11, 2021 High School Boys (5K) 35.

CANTON — On Friday, Sept. 3, the Geary Bison traveled to Canton but couldn’t get it going during the 50-0 loss to open the season. Canton scored 6 points in the first quarter, 22 in the second, 16 in the third, and 6 in the fourth to beat the Bison. The game ended with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter when a Canton touchdown made it 50-0.

People don’t know what it means to be champions. Oklahoma invented it.

Brayden Cowan and Reese Coleman. Photos provided by Watonga Public Schools.

The Geary Lady Bison competed this weekend at the Hinton Tournament, matching up against Sayre and Yukon’s junior varsity squad. The Lady Bison will take the field again this weekend at the Arapaho Tournament, seeking the program’s first win under new Head Coach Bridget Goodknight.