Okarche opens TRC play with sweep

Okarche nearly let its conference opener slip away, but free throw shooting down the stretch kept victory in its grasp.

The Warriors shot 10 of 14 from the foul line in overtime to outlast Watonga on Tuesday for a 69-59 road victory.

The win was Okarche’s third straight as it improved to 4-2 overall and started 1-0 in Three Rivers Conference games.

The Warriors led 49-44 after three quarters, but Watonga held them to eight points in the fi nal eight minutes of regulation.

Okarche turned the tide in overtime and held Watonga to 0 for 6 shooting. The Eagles’ only points were a pair of free throws.

Meanwhile, Okarche was frequenting the charity stripe and most of those trips belonged to Kaleb Harris and Logan Kroener.

Harris was 17 of 21 from the foul line for the game, including 7 of 8 in the extra period.

The senior guard fi nished with a game-high 34 points.

Kroener made half of his 14 attempts, but both of them in overtime. He scored 21 points on the night.

Kroener was 4 of 7 from 3-point range, all in regulation.

Harris scored 13 in the first quarter alone as Okarche got out to a 24-18 lead.

He added a pair of treys in the second quarter.

As a team, Okarche was 28 of 46 from the free throw line.

Lady Warriors begin

sweep with win

Okarche’s balanced attack last Tuesday allowed it to win its third straight game and start its conference season on a positive note.

SixLadyWarriorsscored five or more points as the Lady Warriors pushed their way to a 52-40 win at Watonga.

Okarche, which started the week ranked seventh in Class A, moved to 5-1 overall and claimed a win in its first Three Rivers Conference contest.

The Lady Warriors started strong and managed 17 fi rst-quarter points.

Marlo Hunt, Madison Owens and Sage Griswold each knocked down a 3-pointer in the frame.

However,the team made just two more treys the rest of the night.

That allowed Watonga to keep in the game.

The Lady Warriors pulled away in the fourth.

Hunt made her third trey of the game while Owens and Ryen Wittrock combined to knock down 10 free throws.

Hunt, Wittrock and Owens scored nine apiece.

Rachel McDowell scored 12, including nine in the second half.