January
The new year got off to a rousing start as basketball teams gathered for the annual Sequoyah County Tournament. The Sallisaw boys ended Muldrow's three-year reign with a semifinal win over the Bulldogs. However, it was Roland that came out on top of the boys' bracket. All-tournament selections Stanley Releford and Scooby Copeland led the Rangers past the Diamonds, 42-40, in the championship game played Jan. 11 at Sallisaw. The girls' championship went to Muldrow, which was led by seniors Jennifer Jones, Miranda Matlock, Lacey Tate and Jenny Mendoza. The Lady Bulldogs topped Sallisaw 40-31 in the finals to win the tourney for the third-straight season.
In wrestling, Sallisaw hosted the Paul Post Classic Jan. 24-25 and came away with a third-place finish in the team standings. Josh Hume and Seth Cox won individual titles and Randy Johnson, Colt Sanders and John Petree also advanced to the finals.
February
In football news, Ron Lancaster accepted the head coaching job at Muskogee following a successful seven-year stint at Sallisaw.
The Muldrow girls and the Roland boys won basketball championships in the NOAA conference while the Gans Lady Grizzlies came out on top of the Riverside Athletic Conference for the second year in a row.
The Webbers Falls girls basketball team captured a Class B district title with a 65-53 upset of No. 13 McCurtain on Feb. 15. Twyla McLaughlin hit six three-point shots and scored a game-high 24 points in the win. The Cave Springs boys won a district title on the same night as Dustin Scott scored 18 points in a 60-55 victory over Howe.
Callie Sullivan scored 25 points to lead the Vian girls past Central for a 2A district title on the 22nd, while Jeremy Cheater's 18 points guided Central past Vian in the boys' game. Other basketball teams winning their districts were the Roland boys and girls, Gore girls, Sallisaw boys and Muldrow girls.
March
The month began with a pair of Sallisaw wrestlers advancing to the finals of the Class 3A state tournament. Josh Hume came in second at 103 pounds and John Petree was the runnerup at 152 pounds after each wrestler won two matches at state.
Roland swept the Class 4A Area III regional championships in basketball as the Rangers topped Star Spencer 101-99 in four overtimes and the Lady Rangers edged No. 3 Star Spencer 39-32. Jennifer Jones' 32 points led Muldrow to a regional consolation title and the Sallisaw boys, Central boys and Gore girls also advanced to the area playoffs.
Roland was the lone team to make it out of the area tournament. The Lady Rangers bounced back from a loss to No. 1 Cushing and topped Fort Gibson 44-40 for the consolation title. The Lady Rangers qualified for the state tournament for just the second time in school history, but their run came to and with a quartfinal loss to second-ranked Anadarko on March 13.
Two days later, a pair of weightlifters brought state championships back to the county. Josh Acton placed first in his weight class to lead Muldrow to a team title at the Class 4A state powerlifting meet. Gore was third in the small school division as Robert Moreno won the state title in the 275-pound weight class.
March ended with the Gore Lady Pirates winning the Vian slowpitch softball tournament on the 31st. Brittney Webster was named MVP after Gore beat Checotah 4-3 in the championship game.
April
The Vian baseball team won its 11th-straight game to capture the title of the Stilwell tournament on April 4. Spencer Smith batted 3-for-5 with six RBIs as the Wolverines beat Stilwell.
In track action, the Vian boys team won the McAlester meet while Sallisaw's Annie Hadley and Muldrow's Jennifer Edwards won gold medals at the Poteau Invitational.
The Sallisaw baseball tournament was held later in the month and Muldrow was the highest placer among the county teams. Muldrow ended Vian's 20-game win streak in the first round and beat Sallisaw for the first time in four tries in the semifinals. The Bulldogs eventually fell to Stilwell in the finals and Sallisaw beat Central for third place.
Sallisaw's girls golf team qualified for state by taking second at the Class 4A regional. Sarah Jamison's 88 led the Lady Diamonds and Muldrow's Sarah Webb also qualified as an individual at the April 31 tournament.
May
The baseball playoffs opened with district sweeps by the Central Tigers, Gore Pirates and Vian Wolverines in Class 2A while the Gore softballers claimed a regional title. The Lady Pirates battled through the losers bracket and edged Hartshorne to advance to the state tournament for the second year in a row.
On May 5, Sallisaw golfer Trent Whitekiller fired a 65 and a 69 to win the Class 4A regional tournament at Shadow Creek. Muldrow, led by Luke Morgan and Trevor Earls, won the team title by 22 strokes. A week later at the state tourney, Morgan finished fourth overall with rounds of 71, 71 and 73 at Trosper Park. Sallisaw's girls competed at the 4A state tournament at Hefner South and came in 10th.
Top-ranked Washington ended Gore's successful softball season with a 6-1 win over the Lady Pirates in the first round of the Class 4A state slowpitch tournament May 8 in Norman.
Cole Stoner's 10th-inning homerun lifted Vian past Okay in the regional championship game at Commerce to clinch the Wolverines' first trip to state since 1996. At the 2A state baseball tournament, Joe McEver belted a grand slam to lead Vian to a 12-4 win over Cordell in the first round. The Wolverines lost to eventual state champ Latta in the semifinals.
The track season came to a close with state meets on May 10. Tyler Lackey placed third in the 100-meter dash and Vian also got team points from sprinter Willie Hutson and the 1,600-meter relay team while competing at the Class A meet. Gore, in its first season of track, also sent several athletes to the state meet. In Class 3A, Muldrow's Jennifer Jones won a bronze medal in the 300-meter hurdles while teammate Jennifer Edwards and Sallisaw's Annie Hadley and Seth Stites also competed at the state meet.
The high school all-star games began on May 17 with the Lake Eufaula Iron Bowl Classic football game. Muldrow's Cody Smith ran for a touchdown to help the East All-Stars to a 27-7 victory over the West at the annual game played in Eufaula.
The Kiamichi Classic all-star games were played on the 24th in Wilburton with several countians excelling. Jennifer Jones was MVP of the girls' basketball game. Vian's Spencer Smith was the winning pitcher in the baseball game and Roland's Stanley Releford and Sallisaw's Clint McHenry helped the North to an 80-62 boys basketball win.
Jones capped a busy month at the OGBCA All-State basketball games on May 31 in Edmond. She joined Roland center Brooke Yost on the Middle East squad, which topped the Middle West 104-100 in double overtime.
June
The All-Star games continued on into the summer. Sallisaw basketball standout McHenry was selected to play in the OBCA All-Star Games in Shawnee and scored eight points for the Class 4A All-Stars in a loss to the 5A/6A All-Stars on June 7.
Later in the month, Vian football players Jarrod Yates and Donald Blackbird played in the Native American All-Star Game in Lawrence, Kan. They helped the West to a 30-7 win in the annual event.
Trent Whitekiller of Sallisaw competed in the prestigious Texas-Oklahoma Junior Golf Tournament and made a serious run at the championship. Whitekiller shot a 69 in the second round to move up to second place, but eventually finished fourth at the event held in Wichita Falls, Texas.
July
The Eight-Man All-Star Football Game was played July 19 in Miami with several local players participating. Central's Mike Ross and Brian Slaughter helped the Class B team to a 24-12 victory. Webbers Falls' James Shinault and Gans' Bevan Brant played for the Class C team, which was coached by Gans' Trent Holt.
McDonald's All-State Week was held in Tulsa during the final week of July. Vian's Spencer Smith played in the baseball game and Roland's Brooke Yost scored 11 points for the Large East in the girls basketball game. Roland's Eddie Lewis coached in the boys basketball game and Vian cheerleader Raegan Rogers cheered for the East All-Staters.
August
The final All-State event, football, was played on Aug. 1 at Skelly Stadium. Sallisaw linebacker Derrick Blount played for the East and Sallisaw's Shannon Turner was one of the All-State queens honored at halftime.
Fastpitch softball action began to heat up in August. Sallisaw pitcher Lana Reed hurled a no-hitter in the Lady Diamonds' 12-0 win against Vian on the 19th.
Football practice also got underway as teams began to prepare for the upcoming 2003 season.
September
Roland opened the football season with a 20-0 win over archrival Muldrow on the 5th as Kyp Matlock tossed a pair of touchdown passes. The Rangers followed that win up with a 14-6 upset of Class 4A No. 6 Broken Bow to go 2-0.
On the 12th, Tyler Lackey ran for 239 yards to guide the Vian Wolverines to a 33-6 win over Warner. The next week, Caleb Childers set a Cave Springs school record with 266 yards rushing in a win over Haileyville and Sallisaw knocked off Fort Smith Northside for the fourth year in a row.
The fastpitch softball playoffs began later in the month with Muldrow and Gore the only county teams to make it out of the district tournaments. Muldrow edged Sallisaw 11-6 to win the deciding Game 3 of their Class 4A district series while Sharly Anderson batted 4-for-4 to lead Gore past Keys 5-0 for the 2A district title.
October
The fastpitch softball season came to an end as two county teams were eliminated from the regional playoffs. Bethany Dotson's hit lifted Gore to a 4-3 win over Wister, but two losses to Cameron stopped the Lady Pirates short of the state tourney. Muldrow lost a close game against No. 4 Oologah and was then eliminated by Fort Gibsonat the 4A regional.
Kevin John ran over Haileyville for 312 yards and six touchdowns as the Gans football team posted a 57-16 victory on Oct. 3.
The next week, Bubba Philpot and Josh Randolph both ran for more than 250 yards in Central's 64-36 win at Caddo. The Sallisaw defense shut down Broken Bow as the Black Diamonds grabbed a 14-6 win in their early-season showdown in District 4A-4.
Lester Keathley rushed for 221 yards and two touchdowns on Oct. 17 as the Gore Pirates took control of the A-8 race with a 15-14 win at Keota. Another big rushing night was had by Kevin John on the 24th. John picked up 360 yards to lead Gans to a 66-18 blowout win at No. 5 Bowlegs.
The month ended with a Halloween night matchup between county rivals Sallisaw and Muldrow. The Black Diamonds got their first shutout of the season in a 56-0 victory. In Gore, the Pirates romped to a 46-6 win over Pocola to clinch their first district title since 1996.
November
Football's regular season came to a close on the 7th with Sallisaw and Roland both securing big wins. Sallisaw thumped Fort Gibson 34-0 to wrap up the 4A-4 championship while the Rangers posted a 26-6 win at Inola to clinch a playoff berth.
Roland, Central and Gore all lost in the first round of the football playoffs on Nov. 14, but Sallisaw topped Wagoner and Gans thrashed Waynoka to advance.
In the second round, Ryan Clubb threw four touchdown passes as Sallisaw overcame a 14-0 deficit to beat Ada 26-14. The Gans defense shut down Forgan in a 20-12 victory that avenged a setback from the previous season.
Gans advanced to the Class C semifinals on the 29th and scored 45 points in the second half to get past Ryan 57-26. Sallisaw wasn't as fortunate, falling to defending state champ Glenpool in the 4A semifinals.
December
Gans played in its first state championship game on Dec. 6, but a 42-6 loss to No. 1 Shattuck handed the Grizzlies their first loss of the football season after 13-straight victories.
Basketball season tipped off and Vian rolled to the championship of the Connors Invitational with a 73-60 win over Porter in the finals on Dec. 6. MVP Ryan Lame scored 26 points for the Wolverines.
Sallisaw notched its first wrestling victory of the season on Dec. 11, beating Stilwell 40-33 in a dual at Paul Post Fieldhouse.
The next night, Roland swept its Sequoyah County basketball clash against Muldrow. The Lady Rangers held off a Muldrow rally for a 74-63 win and Jerrell Taylor scored 30 points to lead the Roland boys.
