Beggs quadruplets unique to state tourney
BEGGS — Chiawn Johnson won’t step on a basketball court this weekend. He hasn’t for nearly two years and he tends to shy from road trips.
A series of knee injuries has kept him off the court since his freshman year at Beggs High School.
But he’ll be noticeable in Carl Albert High School’s stands Thursday leading the fan club for his three sisters.
“I’m their biggest fan,” Johnson said. “If I spend time crying I might miss their moments.”
These days, the Johnsons have plenty of fans.
They’re a set of quadruplets raised in the small community near Okmulgee. The three sisters — Chyniqua, Cheyenne and Chiawna — are starting juniors for No. 6 Beggs in the Class 3A state quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. Thursday against undefeated Comanche.
On a weekend where communities come together across the state, Beggs features a unique family dynamic.
A set of three sisters — Raven, Mattie and Autumn Blackburn — of different ages play. A set of cousins —Diamonique Kennedy and Moiya and Trinity Phillips — all play.
But the Johnsons lead the way.
“It’s like a dream,” said Chiawna, pronounced key-on-ah. “Hopefully, we can get the championship together. It’s been a dream, playing with my sisters in high school, starting. It’s just all coming true.”
The quadruplets were a surprise in 1998.
Maryetta Johnson was 40. She had agreed with her husband, Floyd, to have one more baby. They were surprised during a routine exam when the doctor walked out of the room after he continued to find one baby after
another.
“He didn’t tell us nothing,” Maryetta said.
A nurse practitioner came in and said Johnson was having four babies. She looked at her husband and punched him in the arm.
When they had gotten married, they combined four kids as a family. They then had one more son together before the quadruplets.
They became the talk of the town. Now Johnson is teased about the need to buy a bus to shuttle the family around.
“It really does take a village, and I have been very appreciative of what everybody has done,” Johnson said.
Johnson is the head cook at the elementary school and a former star basketball player. She was an All-Stater at Beggs before playing at Seminole State, Oklahoma State and New Mexico.
She knows basketball and passed that to the quadruplets.
Chiawn — pronounced key-on — played football and basketball his freshman year. He said he hopes to return to both next year.
Chiawna is listed at 5-foot-10, the tallest of the siblings.
She can be a force with her energetic personality and inside the paint with an average of 5.1 rebounds.
Cheyenne and Chiniqua are the only identical twins of the group. Both tend to be quiet.
They’re both listed at 5-foot-9 and are lockdown defenders.
Beggs coach Bunyan Johnson, who is not related, said he loves to put all three at the top of his multitude of presses to wreak havoc on opponents.
“Just get after it,” he tells them.
Bunyan is in his second tenure at the school. He returned four years ago and took over the middle school and high school girls programs looking to build something special.
He’s got it with the quadruplets and a team with just one senior.
“Everybody’s gotten to watch them grow up before their eyes,” Bunyan said. “It’s been fun watching them grow up. It’s been so much fun with me not having kids.”
The three sisters are hoping they can do more than their mom did at Beggs in the 1974 state tournament.
Win a game and then maybe bring home a gold ball.
“Basketball means everything to us,” Chiawna said. “We’re getting better and better as we go. We want to do something great for our family.”