Warriors send a message

If the basketball scene wasn’t taking Okarche seriously before, it’s definitely time to take notice.

The Warriors closed out an impressive run of the NextEra Energy Resources Invitational at Garber on Saturday by knocking off 2A Hooker 65-58 for the championship.

“That was a big win,” said coach Aaron West, whose Warriors are 8-1 with an eight-game win streak after the tournament.

“We knew we’d have our hands full because they’re still such a physical team.”

Okarche countered with its relentless pressure on both ends.

The Warriors forced 32 turnovers on defense and then attacked on offense. They attempted 31 free throws to just 14 for the Bulldogs.

That style helped them to a 26-17 lead after a quarter.

Hooker was able to settle in and eventually took a one-point advantage into the fourth.

But, after scoring 20 third-quarter points, the Bulldogs were limited to just six points in the fourth.

Four Warriors hit double figures in scoring.

Easton Roby poured in 19 and had eight rebounds before fouling out.

Hunter Mueggenborg collected 13 points and nine steals.

Jett Mueggenborg added 12 and six assists while P.K. Harris scored 11.

Hooker was led by Jaxson Parker’s 25 points.

The Warriors dominated the second half Friday in their 76-43 semifinal victory over Garber.

They were up eight at halftime, but outscored the Wolverines 38-13 in the final two frames.

Harris’ 18 points and 10 boards led the way.

Roby scored 15 while Jett Mueggenborg and Hunter Mueggenborg chipped in 12 each.

Okarche won handily despite shooting 1 of 19 from 3-point range. Garber made just 3 of its 23 attempts.

Tonkawa fell prey to the Warriors in Thursday’s opening round.

The Warriors scored early and often in a 95-45 win.

Okarche led 34-7 after a quarter and 64-29 at halftime.

Cooper Bomhoff made half of Okarche’s eight 3-pointers and scored 18.

Jett Mueggenborg added 15 points while Harris scored 13 and Hunter Mueggenborg 10.

••• Cashion’s girls lost a pair of one-possession games and settled for sixth in their bracket.

One of the narrow losses came Saturday as Tonkawa prevailed 37-36 in the consolation championship.

Cashion scored just two second-quarter points to fall behind, but clawed its way back into it.

Megan Shafer scored 17 for the Lady Wildcats while Lauren Jenkins added 11.

The team’s tournament win came Friday as it beat Enid JV 63-19 in the consolation semifinals.

Jenkins led the way with 18 points while Reese Williams added 12 and Shafer 10.

Enid had just seven points at halftime and nine through three quarters.

The Lady Wildcats were sent to the consolation bracket with Thursday’s 36-34 defeat to Ripley.

Shafer led the team with 13 points and Jenkins scored 11.

Cashion was 2-3 at the conclusion of the tournament.

The Cashion boys were able to salvage a win on the final day.

They defeated Newkirk 68-40 in the seventh-place game.

The Wildcats used a 17-7 run in the second quarter to open up a 15-point lead. They proceeded to outscore Newkirk by 10 in the third to further extend it.

Chance Acord recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Caleb Shafer scored 19 while Jackson Vandruff added nine.

Eleven different Wildcats scored.

Cashion shot 44 percent in the game, a sizable increase over the previous two days, which were losses.

The Wildcats were just 14 of 54 (25 percent) in a 50-42 defeat to Garber on Thursday.

Vandruff led the team with 10 points while Nathan Nabavi scored nine.

They shot 34 percent (16 of 47) in Friday’s 43-41 loss to Tonkawa.

Vandruff and Nabavi had 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Cashion was 3-2 after Saturday’s win.