ENID, Okla.–Your Welch Wildcats were looking to exorcise some demons in Enid today, as they faced the Texhoma Red Devils in the second round of the area basketball tournament. These two teams met in the area tournament last year, and Wildcats were hexed and ended up on the losing end. The stakes were familiar: win and advance; lose and the season is over. The Cats hoped to be the ones celebrating at the final buzzer this year. Texhoma advanced to the second round by beating Barnsdall (who beat the Cats in districts) last night. The winner of Welch-Texhoma faces the loser of tonight’s Garber-Turpin match-up Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Jacob Mount started the scoring for the Cats on a put back on the low block. The Cats faced a big challenge inside because the Red Devils are quite a bit taller than the Cats’ recent opponents. The Devils hit a trey on their next possession, and both teams stepped up the defense, holding their foes scoreless till 4:22 remained first quarter, when Mount sank two free throws to make it 4-3, Welch. Gabe Moore also sank a pair of free throws, making it 6-3, Welch, but the Devils made a bucket, slashing theCat lead to 6-5. Chance Harris answered right back with a three-pointer at the 2:39 mark, making it 9-5, Welch, but Texhoma answered with a trey on their next possession, drawing the foul and completing the charity attempt for a rare four-point play, which tied the game. The three-pointer was falling for Texhoma, and they converted three in the quarter. Joey Powers scored off of a scramble at half court, and Texhoma missed a shot as time expired, and the first quarter ended with Texhoma leading, 12-11.

The second quarter started with another trey falling for Texhoma, and, after a Cat turnover, they converted another three ball before Mount scored on an offensive rebound to answer for the Cats. Another three ball for Texhoma gave them their biggest lead, 21-13, with 5:04 left in the half. Neither team could score the next 2 minutes until Texhoma got an offensive rebound and scored. Mount answered with a bucket, narrowing the gap to ten with 1:52 remaining in the half. Another three by Texhoma at the 1:00 mark extended the Devil lead to 13. The Cats had a hard time guarding both sides of the court, and the Texhoma shooters spaced themselves well, passing the ball around the arc, shooting as the Welch defense tried to recover. A basket on a flip with his back to the basket by a Texhoma player concluded the half with Welch trailing, 30-15. Mount paced the Cat attack with eight points in the first half. According to our unofficial stats, the Red Devils must have been having their prayers answered. They hit seven three-pointers in the first half. The Cats would have to step up their defense in the second half to crawl back into the game.

The Cats got possession first in the second half, and Mount scored down low to start the Cats. The Cats came out in a man-to-man defense, scrapping the zone. The Cats held Texhoma to an old-fashioned three-point play for the first three minutes of the second half, but were only able to convert one bucket on the offensive end. Mount converted a jumper in the paint to cut the Cat deficit to 33-19 with 3:35 left in the third. The man-to-man defense seemed to catch Texhoma off their guard, as they were unable to run their offense as effectively as they had in the first half. But the Cats’ inability to score hampered their efforts to cut into Texhoma’s lead. The scoring drought ended at 2:19, when Texhoma converted a pair of free throws, pushing their lead to 37-19. Powers scored with 1:16 left, and the Cats forced a ten count, getting the ball back, which Mount quickly converted, making it 37-23. Then a controversial call by the official on a clean looking block by Mount sent the Red Devils to the line. After a miss on the first, he made the second, and a desperate heave at the end of the quarter by the Cats fell short, and the quarter ended with Welch trailing 38-23.

Powers scored at the beginning of the fourth but failed to convert the foul shot. With 6:50 to play in the game (and potentially the season), the Cats trailed by 12. Buchanan scored, cutting the Texhoma lead to ten with six minutes left, and the Cats used full-court pressure to force a turnover. Instead, they fouled and Texhoma made both, to lead by 12, 40-28. Mount was fouled and sank both to re-narrow the deficit to ten. A turnover gave the ball back to the Cats. Texhoma answered, moving ahead by 12, and Mount made one of two free throws, to narrow the gap to 11. Fouls went 10 to 8 in favor of the Red Devils, and they continued to make their foul shots, squashing the Cat comeback the rest of the quarter. At the 2:50 mark, the Red Devils had a comfortable 44-33 lead. Texhoma converted six of eight free throws down the stretch to keep control of the game. In the end, the Cats battled back valiantly but fell short, 53-41, to the Texhoma team, who will advance to the final game Saturday. Jacob Mount had 19 to pace the Cats. Joey Powers added 11, Chance Harris made five, Austin Buchanan scored four, and Gabe Moore contributed two.

The Cats play again at the Lucky Seven all-star game Monday night in Welch. Check back soon for pictures from the area tournament.

Here are some pics of the game:

Patrick Hankins contributed to this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Send your news, info, and pics to info {at} WelchOK {dot} com.

ENID, Okla.–It was another big cat battle as the 1A basketball area tournament underway here in Enid at the Chisholm Trail Expo Center with your Welch Wildcats taking on the Seiling Wildcats. Welch is looking to win three games in three days and was hoping for a fast start to put the game in the bag early. Austin Buchanan started where he left off last week, nailing a trey to start the Cats’ scoring. Then Welch’s senior forward, Joey Powers, took over, scoring 12 consecutive points, literally “powering” the Welch attack from all over the floor. The Cats ended the quarter leading, 17-5, on a baseline fall-away jumper by Powers, who led the Cat attack with 12 in the first quarter.

The second quarter started with the Seiling in possession of the ball. They were fouled and made both free throws to cut the lead to 10. After a Wildcat stop, Powers scored and was fouled, making the freebie to push the lead back to 13, 20-7, with almost two minutes played in the quarter. The Seiling big man scored in the lane on the next possession, cutting the Seiling deficit to 11. After stopping the Cats on offense, Seiling promptly turned it over, failing to capitalize. Both teams clamped down on defense the next three minutes, not allowing any scoring on either end until a free throw by Jacob Mount broke the drought. Mount scored again at the 1:19 mark and drew a foul, sending him to the line with an opportunity to extend the lead. Mount sank the charity shot and increasing the Welch lead to 14 with just over a minute to play in the half. After a missed trey by Seiling, Powers drove to the rim and was fouled but missed both free throws. The Cats held the Seiling scoreless their next possession, ending the quarter up, 26-12. Powers had 19 in the half.

The second half began with Welch in possession of the ball and looking to further their lead. A rare miss by Powers gave the ball back to the opposition, but a steal on the defensive end resulted in Jacob Mount getting fouled and converting both foul shots to push the Welch lead to 14. Seiling then rallied off three straight points, to cut the deficit to 11 with five minutes left in the third quarter. Mount finally scored, stopping the bleeding on the offensive end extending the lead again to 13, but Seiling made one of two foul shots 2:30 to play in the quarter. Powers powered up the lead to 15 with a made free throw with 22 seconds to play in the quarter. Mount paced the Cats with eight points in the third quarter, many coming from the foul line, as Seiling started seeing their bigs in foul trouble. Cats led at the end of three quarters by 15 points, 36-21.

A pair of missed Welch free throws failed to add anything to Welch’s total, and Seiling answered by making a pair of their own, to narrow their deficit to 13 with 6:30 left in the game. The first of Seiling’s bigs fouled out with 5:39 to play, and Brenton Hale made one of two free throws, upping the Cat lead to 41-25. Seiling’s second big fouled out 36 seconds later, sending Mount back to the line where he sank one of two. The third of Seiling’s bigs fouled out 21 seconds later, sending Powers to the line. He also made one of two shots, giving the Cats their biggest lead of the night, 43-27.  Seiling answered right back with a bucket of their own, cutting the lead to 14 with 4:14 to play. On the next possession, Powers fed Mount, who fed the hoop, but Seiling answered right back with a bucket of their own. Powers scored on the Cats’ next possesion and was fouled but missed the free throw. A steal by Powers led to a breakaway by Chance Harris who was fouled shooting. He made both free throws, giving the Cats a 14-point lead, 49-35, with just over two minutes left in the game. An NBA-length three by Seiling cut the lead to 13, but Powers was fouled and made one of two to get his thirtieth point, pushing the Cat lead back to 14. Forrest Davis made both shots after a foul, and the buzzer rang out with the Cats victorious, 54-41, over the Seiling Wildcats. Powers had 30 for the Cats and was joined in double figures by Jacob Mount, with 16. Austin Buchanan had three, Chance Harris and Forrest Davis netted two each, and Brenton Hale added one to round out the Cats’ scoring.

You can hear our audio update from the game venue by clicking “play” below:

The Cats face the #8 Texhoma Red Devils in round two tomorrow at 3 p.m. Welch Schools will be bringing the pep bus once again. Those unable to make it in person can listen to the game live online at http://z92online.com.

Patrick Hankins contributed this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info ‹at› WelchOK ‹dot› com.

WELCH—Your #15 ranked Welch Wildcats face the unranked Seiling Wildcats in the first round of the 1A area basketball tournament at 3 p.m., Thur., Feb. 25, at Chisholm Trail Expo Center in Enid. Seiling was their region’s runner-up, losing to Turpin, 37-26, Saturday night.

The winner of Welch-Seiling, plays the winner of Texhoma(#8)-Barnsdall (unranked) at 3 p.m., Friday. Texhoma was consolation champion of its region, beating Hooker, 37-35, Saturday afternoon. Barnsdall was runner-up of our region, having been routed by Garber, 109-55, in Morrison Saturday night.

Advancing from there, the winner will face the loser of Garber(#1)-Turpin (#14), which will likely be Turpin, Saturday at 8 p.m. The winner of this game will advance to state with the winner of Garber-Turpin.

Here’s the bracket from OSSAA

As we gaze into our crystal ball, we predict: Welch should handily dismiss Seiling. Texhoma will likely beat Barnsdall, which means Welch will probably face a competitive second-round game from the #8-ranked Red Devils. If the Cats hang together and rediscover the groove we saw against Morrison, it’s likely they will advance to the third round. If, by some odd chance, Barnsdall makes it to the second round, we know Welch can defeat them. The district loss to Barnsdall had more to do Welch having an off night then with Barnsdall being strong. There’s little doubt that Garber should defeat Turpin, so we’re predicting Welch plays Turpin for the second spot out of our area, the winner of which game will advance to state. Welch and Turpin are ranked #14 and #15, respectively. Turpin is a good team, having played three close games against Texhoma this season. Welch has had some major wins against strong teams, some from larger classes, even while ailing from key player absences. With the Cats healthy, motivated, and confident, we’re predicting they have the edge on the Cardinals.

Overall, our prediction is that Garber and Welch advance to state from our area. What are your predictions for each game and overall?

FYI: Here are the team profile pages from OKRankings.com, which include season records and info for each team in the area tournament.

• Welch Wildcats (22-3) on OKRankings.com
• Seiling Wildcats (8-8) on OKRankings.com
• Texhoma Red Devils (20-3) on OKRankings.com
• Barnsdall Panthers (17-9) on OKRankings.com
• Garber Wolverines (20-2) on OKRankings.com
• Turpin Cardinals (17-5) on OKRankings.com

Regional Tournament Consolation Champs

MORRISON, Okla.—After a thrilling overtime victory over Ripley Friday night, your Welch Wildcats took on the Morrison Wildcats in a big cat battle Saturday afternoon at the Morrison Event Center. Both teams knew the stakes going in: the winning team would be the regional tournament consolation champion and advance to the area tournament next week; the losing team would move on to Spring sports, having complete its 2010 basketball season. Your Welch Wildcats rose to the occasion. Joey Powers delivered his usual, strong showing, and Austin Buchanan was on fire, sinking trey after trey. Strong efforts by all the Welch Wildcats—starters and reserves, scorers and non-scorers—illustrated why this team is so phenomenally successful. Coach Josh Schertz has crafted a group of young men who are all class.

Welch won the tip and set their offense looking to score first. A trey by Austin Buchanan got the Cats on the board first. After a defensive stop, the Cats scored again on another three-ball by Buchanan. Welch held Morrison scoreless the first three minutes of the game before the hosts got on the scoreboard with a bucket by their big man down low. Jacob Mount answered with a bucket of his own to increase the lead, and yet another trey by Buchanan forced a Morrison timeout. Welch led, 11-2, with four minutes left in the quarter. The scouting report on the Wildcats says to shut down Powers’ outside game and Mount’s inside game. Morrison seemed privy to this information, as they kept a man on Powers and packed the inside with their 2-1-2 zone against Mount. That strategy let Buchanan run free, to the tune of 13 first-quarter points. At the end of one period, the Cats of Welch were leading, 17-9.

The second quarter started like the first, with another trey by Buchanan, this one from the left side. The only thing that slowed Buchanan down was his second foul call, causing him to visit the bench early in the second period. The whistles came fast and often against Welch, and Morrison was in the bonus with 5:40 remaining in the half. Jacob Mount scored in the paint for an “and-one,” raising the Welch lead to 23-17. Powers got his second bucket, extending the lead again, and Welch forced a turnover to get the ball back again. Powers was fouled shooting and made both freebies to advance the Welch lead to 27-17 with under three minutes remaining in the half. Welch missed the front end of a pair of 1-and-1′s twice. The defense stepped up, allowing only a single bucket on the Morrison end and ending the half ahead, 27-19. Buchanan alone almost outscored the opposition combined, sinking 16 first-half points.

Welch got the ball first in the second half, and Joey Powers quickly converted a bucket to extend Welch’s lead to double digits. Buchanan made a free throw, and, after a Morrison turnover, nailed another trey to push the Welch Cat lead to 14 with 5:45 left in the quarter. A made free throw and an ensuing jumper, both by Powers, ran the Wildcat lead to 17 with under five minutes left in the quarter. Welch went cold the next couple of minutes, as Morrison worked a full-court press, hoping to contain the Cat’s offense. Welch was not able to attack after breaking the press, but Morrison could not buy a bucket, either. A basket by Mount and a free throw by Powers at the end of the quarter got the Cats back on track. At the end of three periods, the Wildcats from Welch led, 41-24.

Powers started the fourth quarter with a layup off a pass from Moore to stretch the Welch lead to 19 with 6:30 remaining in the game. Another bucket by Powers extended the lead to 21, quieting the unexpectedly small Morrison crowd. A Powers put-back and a Mount layup upped the Wildcat lead to 24 with 4:39 to play, and the Welch Wildcat bench started to see the court. The reserves proved a formidable challenge for the home-court Morrison Wildcats. Just before the end of the game, and before a made basket by Morrison, Welch had doubled their opponents, 62-31. That last Morrison basket made the final score, 62-33, Welch. Powers led the Cats with 24; Austin Buchanan added 20; Jacob Mount tallied 13; Asa Chenoweth nailed 3, and Chance Harris had 2. The Cats move on to the area tournament in Enid as the regional consolation champions.

Click here to see more, high quality photos from this game in our Flickr photo set.

Patrick Hankins contributed this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info at WelchOK dot com.

MORRISON, Okla.–As an excited crowd bedecked in blue and white cheered them on, your Welch Wildcats muscled past the men from Ripley, 46-42 in overtime, to advance up through the losers’ bracket of the regional tournament. Next, Welch faces Morrison, who will host the the Cats Sat., Feb. 20, at 3:00 p.m. A victory will make Welch winner of the regional losers’ bracket and give them get them a ticket to the area tournament. A loss will end their season.

Friday’s match against Ripley saw the Cats dominate the boards for most of the game. Ripley rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points in the final period. Though it looked like Ripley wouldn’t be able to overcome Welch’s lead, a desperate Ripley jump shot at the final buzzer found its way through the hoop, tying the game as time expired.

The overtime period saw Welch reestablish its lead, ahead by four when the game was over. Joey Powers led the Cats’ scoring efforts, sinking 26 points. Jacob Mount scored eight, Austin Buchanan added six, Grant Bullard pitched in four, and Chance Harris contributed two.

Click here to see hi-res pics from this game in our Flickr feed.

WELCH—We’re down to the last week of voting. Welchite or Welchkin? You get to decide, and the winning term will be what WelchOK.com henceforth uses to refer to Welch residents.

We started with several names, and these two were the top vote-getters, though neither received over 50% support. So, now we’re in a run-off and your vote counts. Make your choice now, and tell your friends and family to make their voices heard. This poll is done for good, Fri., Feb. 26, at 5:00 p.m. And here’s a little hint. If you’re not a fan of Welchkin, it’s only ahead by 18 votes as of this post. You could easily recruit enough voters to make Welchite come out on top. Of course, Welchkin fans might mount a campaign to extend its lead. Have fun.

WELCH—Jim Thomas has been released from the hospital and is doing well. He’ll have some rehab for a while. The family appreciates everyone’s concern.

WELCH—Welch National Honor Society raised $800 for scholarships with its BBQ sandwich feed last Saturday evening at the Welch school cafeteria. Event sponsor, Tobie Gatewood, said, “Thank you to all the folks who came out and supported NHS Saturday night and to all parents and students who helped out!”

WELCH—Joshua Thomas Earnest Easley of Oswego, Kan., passed away Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, at St. Francis Health System in Tulsa, Okla., after an illness. He was 17 years old.

Joshua was born June 21, 1992, in Miami, Okla. While attending Bethany Public Schools, he enjoyed art work, playing music, and being with people.

He is survived by his parents, Thomas and Leatha Easley of Oswego, Kan., and Jeff and Lisa Gilman of Miami, Okla; four brothers, Cody and Treg Easley of Oswego, Kan., Eli Gilman of Miami, Okla., and Donavin Gilman and his wife Lyndsey of Welch; one sister, Tabitha Gilman of Joplin, Mo.; grandparents, Alvin and Pauline Krumrey and Linda Harris, all of Miami, Okla.;  great-grandmother, Rosa Camp of Miami, Okla.; one niece, Alyssa Gilman of Welch; numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins; loving and dedicated caretakers; and a host of friends.

Services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wed., Feb. 17, 2010, at Thomas Funeral Home, Welch. Serving as pallbearers will be Lonnie Gilman, Donavin Gilman, Kevin Horn, Jeremy Hailey, Joe Pease, and Jeff Pease. Honorary pallbearers will be Bill Blair and Jeff Barg.

Interment will be at Rogers Cemetery, west of Welch.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Children’s Center of Bethany, Okla., c/o Thomas Funeral Home, PO Box 231, Welch, Okla. 74369.

Services under the direction of Jim Thomas, Thomas Funeral Home, Welch.

WELCH—Your Welch Wildcats hosted the Barnsdall Panthers at the Wildcat Gym Saturday night to decide the District 7 championship. Barnsdall came fresh off a victory over Afton the previous night, which ended the Eagle’s season. The Wildcats, #10 in the latest Class A rankings, was top district seed and drew a bye in the first round of district play, thus they had been idle since the previous week.

The Cats won the opening tip, and Jacob Mount drained a baseline jumper for the first Wildcat tally. Barnsdall answered back on their possesion with a bucket of their own. The next few moments proved to be a lot of expelled energy without any purpose as both teams played a frantic style of ball while not adding to their score. Half the quarter went by before Barnsdall finally broke the ice, scoring a bucket in transition. Typical roles seemed to be reversed, as the Panthers, instead of the Wildcats, put on the pressure defense and forced a number of turnovers, which they converted for a couple easy scores. Joey Powers followed a Welch miss and scored, drawing the foul but missing the “and one.” The score stood at 6-4, Barnsdall. A trey by the Panthers extended their lead to five, but Powers scored again on an “and one, “again unable to convert the freebie. That cut the Panther lead to three with two minutes left in the quarter. Mount then scored a bucket to narrow the Cat deficit to one, but the Panthers converted a trey on their next possession, expanding their lead, 12-8. The Cats had a couple of chances to score at the end of the first quarter, but their shots just wouldn’t fall.

The second quarter started with another three ball from Barnsdall, extending their lead. The Cats struggles from the field continued, while every prayer from Barnsdall was answered, and they made shots from all over the floor. Mount finally broke Welch’s icey shooting, scoring from the lane. Another Panther trey extended their lead to double digits, 22-11, with 5:39 left in the half. Chance Harris entered the game and scored a nice driving tear-dropper after Grant Bullard was called for his third personal foul and had to sit the bench. A big, two-handed shot block by Powers ignited the Cat defense, and Mount scored in transition to narrow the score to 22-18 with 2:50 remaining in the half. A bucket by Barnsdall put them up six, but the Cats answered and cut their deficit back to  four on their ensuing possesion. The Wildcat defense got a stop, but then a Wildcat walking call gave the Panthers the ball back, and they scored to extend their lead again to six with under 20 seconds remaining in the half. Jacob Mount was fouled and made one of two free throws to cut the Panther lead to five with under 10 seconds to play in the half. Barnsdall’s shot at the buzzer missed, and the Panthers led, 26-21, after two. The Wildcats struggled not only from the field in the first half but also from the foul line, missing a bunch of free throws that would have helped the Wildcat cause. Jacob Mount led the Cat offense with 11 first-half points.

The second quarter started with a Panther basket, but Austin Buchanan scored, drawing the foul. He missed the charity shot, and the score stood 30-23, Barnsdall, with just a minute elapsed in the quarter. After a made bucket and a free throw by Barnsdall, the Cats trailed by ten and called a timeout to regroup with 5:15 left in the quarter. Barnsdall made another basket and upped their lead to 12, but Mount cashed in a basket to cut the Panther lead back to 10 with 4:30 left in the quarter. Powers converted a layup to narrow their deficit to eight, and Harris scored on an inbound play reduce it to six with 2:53 left in the third quarter. After another answered prayer of a shot, Barnsdall pushed their lead to eight with just under two minutes left in the third. Both teams traded baskets the remainder of the quarter, and Barnsdall led, 39-33, after three.

Powers scored to start the fourth, cut the Panther lead to four, but the visitors answered back, upping their lead once again. A big trey by Brenton Hale narrowed the spread to three, and a foul on Powers in the back court sent him to the line for a one-and-one opportunity to shrink the lead. Powers missed the first shot, and Barnsdall raced down the court and scored, drawing a foul call, and extending their lead, 44-38. The Wildcats fouled on their miss and sent Barnsdall back to the line where they sank both shots, pushing their lead again to eight with 5:45 remaining. Buchanan scored back-to-back driving layups to push the Cats within four of the Panthers, 46-42, with just under five minutes remaining. Both teams had starters foul out, and the Wildcats took advantage with their supperior size. Mount scored on a dump in to cut the Cat’s deficit to two with 4:02 left in the game. Buchanan was fouled on a drive, which sent another Panther to the bench with his fifth foul. Buchanan converted one of two freebies, cutting the spread to a single point. A block by Mount got the ball back for the Cats, but they misfired on the offensive end, and remained behind by one with 2:54 to go. Barnsdall drew a foul call and made one of two to lead, 47-45, and the Cats turned it over on their next possesion, giving Barnsdall another chance to score. Grant Bullard stole the ball, though, and was fouled on the offensive end and sent to the line for free throw opportunities. Bullard, who had been saddled with foul trouble, converted the pair of gimmes to tie the game at 47-all with 1:45 left in the contest. After a stop on D, the Cats were called from the opposite end of the floor for a ghostly traveling call, which gave the ball back to Barnsdall. The Panthers ran the clock down to 22 seconds before calling a time out to set their offense for a final shot. Jacob Mount drew a charging call with 19.5 seconds remaining, giving the Cats back the ball and a chance to claim their first lead of the game. After a mad scramble for the ball, the Cats did not have much time but did manage to get it into the hands of Powers. His fall-away at the buzzer missed and sent the game to the four-minute overtime period.

Barnsdall wasted no time hitting a three and, after a Cat miss, hit another three, upping their lead to six with just a few seconds elapsed in OT. Powers scored and was fouled but did not convert the foul shot, so the Cats trailed by four.  Barnsdall scored again, but the Cats scored back-to-back buckets, cutting the Panther lead to two with 2:20 remaining. A foul on Powers sent the Panthers to the line, where they converted one to up their lead to three. Mount scored from the paint to cut the Panther lead again to a single point again with 1:35 left, but the Panthers answered with a bucket of their own. The Cats turned it over on their next possesion and fouled, sending the Panthers to the line for a pair of freebies. Barnsdall converted both shots and extended their lead to five with under a minute remaining. Mount scored again from the paint, cutting the Barnsdall lead to three, and the Cats forced a turnover. Brenton Hale was fouled on the perimeter and sent to the line. He missed both shots, but Powers gathered in the rebound. His put back-was also denied. Barnsdall was fouled on the inbound and made one of two, extending their lead to four, also getting the rebound on the miss. The Wildcats were forced to foul the Panthers, and they made one of two free throws, sealing their victory, 62-57. The Wildcats’ struggles at the free throw line came back to haunt them, as it would have been a different outcome had they been able to convert a higher percentage of their charity shots. Mount led the Cats with 21, Powers added 18, Buchanan tallied nine,  Chance Harris bucketed four, Brenton Hale added three, and Grant Bullard contributed two.

The Cats travel to Barnsdall for a regional game Thursday. Their state tournament dreams depending on them getting back on the winning track. Another loss ends their season.

[Editor's note: I know it's frowned upon to criticize the referees of high school sports, and I know that the OSSAA runs radio announcements telling everyone to be nice to them, but seriously, folks, in what other job in the world can you be utterly horrible and not receive any criticism whatever? I'm not advocating harm or injury here, but let's be honest, the refereeing at this game was some of the absolute worst I have ever seen. It probably wasn't the deciding factor in the game, but it surely added to the perfect storm that allowed the inferior Barnsdall team to best our Wildcats. And one of the refs knew his performance had so outraged the crowd that I witnessed him ask a Sheriff's deputy—while the game was still going—to meet him outside the ref's locker room and escort him to his vehicle. That's all the confession of an awful job I needed to see. There, I've said my piece. Ed.]

See photos of the game in our Flickr phot set.

Patrick Hankins contributed this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info at WelchOK dot com.