Senior says Black Diamonds have a playoff run in them

Sallisaw Black Diamonds senior center Cooper Carter believes his team has a playoff run in them. That playoff run will begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the road against the Wagoner Bulldogs in the Class 4A District Tournament, right after the Lady Diamonds and Lady Bulldogs meet at 6 p.m.

“I feel everyone is really excited,” Carter said. “It doesn’t matter how you play in the first half of the season (regular season), if we start playing our best ball (now in the playoffs), you can go on a good run here and go to area and state (tournaments). I really think we have a good chance to keep going. I think we’ll have a chance to go on a deep run here. A lot of us play football, and we know it’s one game — then on from there. Basically, it’s who is going to get hot at the right time. If we can get hot, I think we can keep going.”

The Black Diamonds (8-12) were at the Pryor Invitational Tournament last month just as the ‘Dogs were, but neither team played — nor did Cooper and his teammates get to even see them play. However, the two teams met in last year’s Class 4A Regional Tournament consolation semifinals in Bristow, a game won by the Bulldogs by a score of 5249 to end the Sallisaw boys’ basketball season.

“They always played at different times (at the Pryor Tournament),” Carter said. “They’d play in the afternoon, and we’d play at night. We were always playing at different times, so we never got to see them play. They’re pretty good. They’ll probably full-court press us like they did last year when we lost to them at Bristow last year (in the Class 4A Regional Tournament consolation semifinals). They have a little point guard who is really good. They have shooters all around. I think it will be a good matchup for us.”

While the regular season did not go as desired, Carter said it was still fun — with a lot of thanks for that going to first-year coach Zac Rogers.

“It’s been great,” he said. “The new coach is awesome. I love him. He made me find my love for basketball again, so it’s been awesome. I’m having fun.”

While college aspirations are not totally off the table, Carter is more concerned with the potential postseason run for the Black Diamonds than playing college athletics.

“There might be,” Carter said. “It’s kind of hard right now (concentrating on the basketball playoffs) thinking about it. It just seems like the other day I was a freshman. I don’t have an idea (if playing college sports will happen) — but I’ve thought about it.”