Pawhuska draws Chelsea for 3A District matchups

The Pawhuska High School basketball teams have entered the final week of the regular season fresh off a 10-day break and hoping to fine tune their games for the post season.

Last Thursday, the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA) announced that the PHS squads will be going to Chelsea for their Class 3A District matchups. That is certain to be an improvement over a year ago when the Huskies and Lady Huskies were sent for difficult district tests against highly-ranked Adair.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the Chelsea Dragons boys’ team has a 9-10 record, while the Lady Dragons boast an overall mark of 12-7.

The upcoming district games are to be played on Friday, Feb. 20, or Saturday, Feb. 21. Other 3A districts will have Kellyville at Adair, Metro Christian going to Perry and Sperry playing at Cascia Hall. PHS teams are slated to begin Regional competition at Adair on Thursday or Friday, Feb. 26-27.

Sperry High School will be serving as the main Regional site. From Thursday through Saturday, March 5-7, Sperry also is to host the Class 3A Area II Tournament.

The district lineup for 3A’s other area bracket shows Westville at Kansas, Morris at Lincoln Christian, Nowata at Verdigris and Haskell at Meeker, with Verdigris as the Regional main site and Haskell as a sub-site. State tournament action is scheduled March 12-14 in Oklahoma City.

The Huskies and Lady Huskies were scheduled for home games Tuesday night versus Pawnee. PHS is also scheduled to host Nowata this Thursday evening and then travel to Newkirk for Friday night contests.

On Monday, the Huskies and Lady Huskies will play Caney Valley on the road at Ramona. Pawhuska will host the final games of the regular season Tuesday, Feb. 17, against visiting teams from Hominy. Tipoff for varsity girls’ action is set for 6:30 p.m., followed be the boys’ contest around 8.

“Senior Night” activities are planned at Oren Terrill Field House as part of next Tuesday night’s games. It will be the final home appearances for Huskie players Tucker Helmer, Brandon Hicks, Trent Barnett and Trey Red Eagle. Andie Sweeden is the lone senior member of the Lady Huskies’ squad.

Coach Monty Unruh’s Huskies are much better than their 5-14 record might indicate and could pose a threat in the postseason. At 7-12, the Lady Huskies of coach Austin Minshall have shown some high-scoring ability during a strong 2015 run. The Pawhuska girls may have major upsets in their future, as well.