Sallisaw senior post player using Senior Night game to send statement to Hilldale

The Sallisaw High School basketball teams will get a chance to see what they will face in the Class 4A District Tournament on Feb. 21 at Paul Post Field House when they entertain the Hilldale squads for Senior Night on Monday, with the Senior Night festivities beginning around 5:30 p.m. prior to the games at 6 and 7:30 p.m.

Sallisaw Lady Diamonds senior post player Sydney Weedon is hoping Monday’s Senior Night game against the Lady Hornets will send them a message when the same two teams open postseason play five nights later.

“I think it will be a good game,” Weedon said. “Since we drew Hilldale for districts, we kind of want to go out and send a message that we want to show them that we’re the better team. They will have to come back to Sallisaw on Saturday (Feb. 21). I’m excited. I think it will be a big game.”

Of course, Senior Night has its personal thoughts for the senior, too.

“It’s kind of crazy because it will my second-to-last home game,” Weedon said. “It will be fun. I hope the atmosphere is good and a lot of people come out. We have a lot of seniors that have really poured a lot into our program and have really turned our program around for four years now.”

The Lady Diamonds had an 18-9 season last year, including bringing home tournament hardware from four of five tournaments — including winning the Class 4A District Tournament at Wagoner to make them district champions for the first time eight seasons. So, success this season, which saw them take a 14-6 overall record and a 6-2 NOAA Conference mark into Thursday night’s road conference make-up game at Poteau, was all but eminent.

“This year, a big goal is to also bring home another district championship back, then make a run to area (tournament),” Weedon said. “We’re sitting really good right now. If we can beat Hilldale (in the Class 4A District Tournament), I think we’ll play Fort Gibson in the first round (of the regional tournament on Feb. 24) is what it looks like. We played them really good in scrimmages, so I think we have a good shot at sitting in the regional championship.”

This season has seen the Lady Diamonds end NOAA Conference losing streaks to their two county rivals. On Jan. 16 at Paul Post Field House, the Lady Diamonds defeated the Roland Lady Rangers 40-33 for Sallisaw’s first victory over Roland since Weedon and her senior teammates were freshmen.

Last Friday night, the Lady Diamonds beat the Muldrow Lady Bulldogs 65-39 to get Sallisaw’s first win over Muldrow since Feb. 13, 2015.

“I think they were really big wins for us that we can beat teams that are notorious state-tournament teams, that have really big, long-lasting programs,” Weedon said. “It really showed something for our team. We’ve worked really hard to beat those teams, and to prove we can win big-time games. Those were big-time games for us, big environments, big plays, being able to stick through — maybe not making as many shots and just battling to get anything up. Those were big games for maturity — to show maturity that we can pull through. Those (wins) were a big statement for us.”

Weedon has seen the Lady Diamonds show vast improvement since her freshman days to now.

“I think we have definitely grown,” she said. “We’ve really gotten good defensively. I think that has turned us around a lot and made us a name to a lot of people.”

Weedon was coached by Eric Carr her sophomore and junior seasons, and now she is coached by last year’s assistant coach Greg Pratt. The biggest change that has happened with the coaching change has to do with tempo.

“I think we really have a fast tempo on the court,” the senior post player said. “Everybody is running up and down the court super fast. Everything is really high energy. We have a really highenergy half-court defense, but we keep everything high-energy (defense) in the full court. That leads to a lot of points for us.”

Even though she has the athletic ability to do it, Weedon has made the bold decision to not try to be a studentathlete in college.

“I will not be continuing any athletic career in college,” said Weedon, who plans on attending Oklahoma State University in the fall. “I’m going to pursue a degree in P.A. (physician assistant), so I will not be doing any athletics in college. I think there will be some days I’ll miss it, but I’ve dedicated 15 years of my life to sports and I’ve put everything in. I want to end on a note of putting everything into it and not having any regrets about not playing my hardest in the last couple of years.”

Weedon’s final high school event will be playing for the All-State Middle School East team in the 2026 Oklahoma Fast-Pitch Coaches Association All-State Game on June 13 at Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts in Edmond. She said this is the event in which she wants to go out with a bang to end her prep career on a “high note.”

“I think the (Oklahoma Fast-Pitch Softball Coaches Association) All-State Game is where I want to end things, and end it (prep career) on a high note,” she said. “I think that is how I want to end it. I’m really happy I made All-State. I’ve worked really hard for that, and I want to end on a high note.”

Monday’s Senior Night basketball game will be Weedon’s third Senior Night game in which to be a part. She and Delaney Compton were honored with Senior Night in fast-pitch softball on Sept. 30 on “The Turf of Dreams” against Pocola, coached by Weedon’s youth softball coach from the past in Eddie Combs.

This season, Weedon chose to cheerlead as a senior, thus she along with other senior cheerleaders, football players, trainers and band members got to be a part of Senior Night festivities prior to the Ada football game on Nov. 7 at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.

On each of those Senior Night games, Sallisaw came up short — losing 13-3 to Pocola in softball and 21-20 to Ada in football.

Weedon, who was crowned football homecoming queen this season, is hoping to see the Lady Diamonds win their Senior Night basketball game over Hilldale on Monday.

“I would love to win on Senior Night obviously,” she said. “I think winning with this team is extremely fun, so I think a big Senior Night win would be awesome for us.”