Lady Diamonds senior believes basketball playoff run will keep going
EDITOR’S NOTE: The interview for this story took place earlier this week, prior to the start of the Class 4A Regional Tournament on Thursday at Paul Post Field House, where the Lady Diamonds played Broken Bow in the championship semifinals. Look for complete regional tournament coverage in Wednesday’s edition.
The Sallisaw Lady Diamonds did something that had not been done since 2017 — win a Class 4A District Tournament. They did that last Saturday night, beating the district-host Wagoner Lady Bulldogs.
“It was really exciting,” Sallisaw senior Casey Brackett said. “It was the first one we had won since 2017. We were all really excited. That was four tournaments in a row (to bring home a plaque).”
The win put the Lady Diamonds into the Class 4A Regional Tournament championship semifinals, which took place Thursday night against Broken Bow at Paul Post Field House. When the Lady Diamonds entered play in this week’s regional, they found themselves only three wins from the Class 4A State Tournament.
“We’re really excited,” Brackett said. “We’re planning on winning all the games, so we’re excited and motivated. We’re ready for anything that’s headed our way.”
Thursday night’s home game was the final game Brackett, who was crowned this season’s homecoming queen prior to the Jan. 17 NOAA Conference games against Stilwell, got to play in front of the home crowd at Paul Post Field House. Needless to say, it was an emotional night for the senior.
“It was very exciting,” she said. “It was bittersweet because it was the last time we’re at home. It being the last home game was bittersweet.”
The Lady Diamonds have had a great season up to this point. They’ve won 17 games. They have played in four tournaments, and won plaques in each one. They also have already won more playoff games than last season, in which they were 0-2. Brackett said that the new defensive schemes second-year coach Eric Carr has installed has been one reason for the successful turnaround from last year’s 8-16 season.
“Our record is a lot better already,” the Sallisaw senior said. “I think our defense has gotten a lot better. We’ve changed a few things around. Other teams just can’t handle it. It’s a good strategy because they don’t see it (defensive pressure) coming. It works. We the players all like each other. It’s a good environment.”
As long as the Lady Diamonds do not lose two games between now and the end of next week, they will qualify for the Class 4A State Tournament, which will be March 1315 in Oklahoma City. Brackett said there would be no better way to end her prep basketball career than making the Elite 8.
“It would be really amazing,” she said. “I think we can definitely get there. It would mean everything. The last three years, things haven’t gone so well, but I think this year it (making state) can happen.”
Brackett does not believe she will do any college athletics — whether it be basketball, track or cheerleading. However, she is not totally closing the door to that possibility just yet.
“I was an all-region cheerleader,” Brackett said. “I’m not really looking at (going to college) for cheer, neither am I in basketball. I think it would be cool to go in track, but I’m also recovering from an injury. So, I’m not as fast as I used to be, but I’ll worry about track in a couple of weeks.”
