Central, which is one of the smaller schools in the Big Eight Conference, played a rugged league schedule and struggled to a 7-14 record during the regular season. However, the Tigers hung tough with Class B No. 3-ranked Boynton and Class 3A No. 9 Keys in recent weeks and pulled out a close win over Cave Springs last Saturday in the district championship game.
"We're definitely battle-tested," said head coach Michael Wynne, who is preparing his team for an 8 p.m. Thursday clash against Howe in the regional semifinals at Gans.
Should the Tigers win that game, they'll move on to the regional championship where they would most likely meet No. 1-ranked Frontier, the defending state champion of Class A.
"I told our kids that obviously we have a tough one on Thursday. I would love to play Frontier, but we have our work cut out for us before we can do that," said Wynne.
Howe comes into the regional tourney with a record of 20-5 after topping Wister 59-48 for a district title last weekend. Wynne said Central will have to duplicate its winning effort against Cave Springs if the Tigers are to be successful against Howe.
"I've seen them a few times. If we rebound and we don't turn over the ball, we'll have a decent shot. We'll see on Thursday if last Saturday was a fluke of any kind, because Howe is pretty good," said Wynne. "They're not very big, but they are deep. They play probably five or six off the bench. They are quick and aggressive and they want you to turn the ball over so they can get easy shots. We'll have to avoid turning it over."
The Central girls are also in the semifinals of the regional winners bracket after winning a district title last week. They too will face Howe on Thursday night with a possible showdown against defending state champ and No. 1-ranked Frontier looming in Saturday's finals.
The Lady Tigers will put a 12-11 record on the line against Howe, which is 21-5 and ranked No. 19 by CoachesAid.com. Howe advanced by beating Keota by 25 points in last weekend's district tournament.
The Gans girls are also still alive in the playoffs. They'll take on Keota at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in a losers bracket game at Gans.
After Thursday's games, regional action will move from the Gans sub-site to the main site at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. The two finalists and the consolation champion will advance to next week's Class A Area III Tournament.
In Class B, the Webbers Falls boys will be fighting for a chance to play on their homecourt when they take on Dustin in a 3 p.m. Thursday regional losers bracket game at Boynton.
Webbers Falls' new gym is the main site of the Class B Area III Regional Tournament, but will not host any games until Friday and Saturday.
The Warriors opened the playoffs last week with a win over Arkoma before falling to powerful Boynton in the district championship game. Now they must win three in a row at regionals in order to advance to the area playoffs.
In other playoff action this week, the larger schools will tip off their postseasons with district match-ups.
In Class 4A, Sallisaw will travel to Checotah on Friday night while Muldrow will play the third-ranked boys team and fourth-ranked girls squad on the same night at Fort Gibson. Roland will be at home on Saturday night, hosting Stilwell.
In Class 3A, Vian will play its district games against Sequoyah-Tahlequah on Saturday night at the Muskogee Civic Center. Sequoyah has the sixth-ranked boys team and the Lady Indians are ranked No. 1 in the state.
Gore also has a challenge as the Pirates and Lady Pirates enter the Class 2A playoffs. Their district is at Oktaha, which boasts the No. 2 ranked girls team and the seventh-ranked boys.
All teams in Classes 4A, 3A and 2A will advance from districts to next week's regional tournaments.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
Class 4A District Playoffs
Friday: Sallisaw at Checotah, Muldrow at Fort Gibson.
Saturday: Stilwell at Roland.
Class 3A District Playoffs
Saturday: Vian vs. Sequoyah-Tahlequah, at Muskogee Civic Center.
Class 2A District Playoffs
Saturday: Gore at Oktaha.
Class A Area III Regional Playoffs - Boys
Thursday: Losers Bracket - Copan vs. Oaks, 3 p.m., at NSU; Cave Springs vs. Wister, 3 p.m., at Gans; Winners Bracket - Frontier vs. Watts, 8 p.m., at NSU; Central vs. Howe, 8 p.m., at Gans.
Friday: Losers Bracket - Central/Howe loser vs. Copan/Oaks winner, 3 p.m., at NSU; Frontier/Watts loser vs. Cave Springs/Wister winner, 8 p.m., at NSU.
Saturday: Consolation Championship, 3 p.m., at NSU; Championship - Frontier/Watts winner vs. Central/Howe winner, 8 p.m., at NSU.
Class A Area III Regional Playoffs - Girls
Thursday: Losers Bracket - Copan vs. Watts, 1:30 p.m., at NSU; Gans vs. Keota, 1:30 p.m., at Gans; Winners Bracket - Frontier vs. Oaks, 6:30 p.m., at NSU; Central vs. Howe, 6:30 p.m., at Gans.
Friday: Losers Bracket - Central/Howe loser vs. Copan/Watts winner, 1:30 p.m., at NSU; Frontier/Oaks loser vs. Gans/Keota winner, 6:30 p.m., at NSU.
Saturday: Consolation Championship, 1:30 p.m., at NSU; Championship - Frontier/Oaks winner vs. Central/Howe winner, 6:30 p.m., at NSU.
Class B Area III Regional Playoffs - Boys
Thursday: Losers Bracket - Butner vs. Schulter, 3 p.m., at Earlsboro; Webbers Falls vs. Dustin, 3 p.m., at Boynton; Winners Bracket - Earlsboro vs. Mason, 8 p.m., at Earlsboro; Boynton vs. Midway, 8 p.m., at Boynton.
Friday: Losers Bracket - Boynton/Midway loser vs. Butner/Schulter winner, 3 p.m., at Webbers Falls; Earlsboro/Mason loser vs. Webbers Falls/Dustin winner, 8 p.m., at Webbers Falls.
Saturday: Consolation Championship, 3 p.m., at Webbers Falls; Championship -Earlsboro/Mason winner vs. Boynton/Midway winner, 8 p.m., at Webbers Falls.
