Ray comes up big for Midwest City
Midwest City coach Dewayne Bradley is preaching consistency.
Senior JD Ray is his acolyte in that regard.
Ray led Midwest City with 31 points, five rebounds and four assists in the Bombers 71-69 victory against rival Del City on Tuesday.
"He's the one guy for us that's been through everything," Bradley said. "We rely on him for our experience and he plays with a sense of urgency that I'm trying to get the other guys to understand."
That sense of urgency was on full display against Del City. Midwest City got up 16 points at halftime before the Eagles came soaring back.
Then, leading by 11 late in the game, Del City cut the lead down again by forcing Midwest City into turnovers.
Del City junior guard Nate Goodlow led the Eagles in scoring with 24 points.
But Midwest City was able to pull out the win.
"We need to become more consistent in what we do," Bradley said. "If we do that, we'll have a chance to make a run."
Velma-Alma to go independent in football
Just as Class A looks to crown its next champion on Thursday night, one former champ is dropping from the ranks.
Velma-Alma was granted its request on Wednesday morning to to begin playing independent 8-man football next year.
At the monthly meeting of the board of directors, the Oklahoma School Secondary Activities Association voted to approve Velma-Alma’s request to drop its 11-man football status in Class A to play independent 8-man football starting next year.
Velma-Alma will still be an association member in other sports.
In the school's request, it stated that it believed 11-man football was not sustainable due to falling participation numbers.
Velma-Alma won back to back Class A football state titles in 1993 and 1994 but has fallen on hard times in recent years, winning just two games since 2016 and last making the playoffs in 2015 when the Comets went 8-3.
Beaver asked the same of the OSSAA in November and was also given permission to play independent football.
McAlester football coach resigns
McAlester football coach James Singleton has resigned, according to the McAlester News-Capital.
Singleton spent the past four seasons leading the Class 5A program in southeastern Oklahoma, making the state quarterfinals his first two years.
“I'm kind of getting to the point in my life where I've got to look to the future a little bit," Singleton told the McAlester News-Capital. "I'm 45 years old and I might have an opportunity to stay in administration. So, I'm going to check out that avenue and see how that goes."
Singleton was 25-19 in four seasons. The past two were particularly tough with McAlester going 2-8 in 2017 and 4-6 this fall.
Singleton is the current dean of students at McAlester and plans to remain at the school.