ENID — Ty Washington may be the ultimate leader by example.

Her actions speak a lot louder than words.

“Her intensity is contagious,’’ said Pacer basketball coach Layne Jones. “There’s not a drill that we do in practice where she doesn’t go full speed. She knows only one speed and that’s full speed. That’s a good trait to have.’’

Assistant coach Robb Mills, who’s been at Enid for seven years, said Washington has played harder than any Pacer he’s seen.

“I take that to heart,’’ said Washington, who will be leading the Pacers (6-6) against Centennial Conference rival Bartlesville (1-8) at 6:30 tonight. “I try to be a hard worker. I try to take everything serious. When it’s game time, it’s game time. It’s just like softball. When you have an aggressive coach, you can’t take anything as a joke.’’

Washington’s hustle was seen in a 42-41 win over the Northeastern Oklahoma Association of Home-schoolers Saturday at the Skiatook Tournament.

She hustled down court to knock a ball out of a NOAH’s player hand to halt an attempt at a game-winning shot at the buzzer.

“Defense is my favorite,’’ Washington said. “I would rather play defense than offense. I have more confidence on defense than offense.’’

Defense fits her aggressiveness better, too.

“That’s my personality,’’ she said. “I like being physical.’’

Her aggressiveness has allowed her to be competitive at 5-foot-4. She often will be defending inside. Mills said Washington’s knees are always bent and her arms are out all the time on defense.

“You have to be aggressive and get down low on defense, no matter how tall or short you are,’’ Washington said.

Washington jokes she was a post in junior high “when I was taller than everybody else.’’

Washington had back-to-back games in double figures for the first time in wins over NOAH (13) and Skiatook (10). She is beginning to hurt opponents with her 3-point shooting.

Washington is averaging 6.8 points per game.

“I have more confidence in my shooting,’’ she said. “I’m trying to shoot the ball more.’’

As the only senior starter, she tries to be a liaison between the team and Jones. She will give advice to Jones and will explain his actions to younger teammates.

“I try to tell them that it’s nothing personal,’’ Washington said. “I don’t like to put my teammates down. I try to pick them up the best I can.

“The season can be better, but we’re coming along and working hard as a team. We all can play better defense, but we’re getting better at it.’’

Washington will be playing softball at Texas Southern next season. Her role model growing up was ex-EHS softball great Shanel Scott, who is an assistant coach at TSU.

Freshman Courtney Chelf leads the EHS attack with an 11.4 average, followed by Washington (6.8), Rani Melvin (6.7), Haley Rasp (5.7), Jayci Wehrenberg (4.0) and Regan Crowl (3.3). Bartlesville has lost four straight games, including a 61-41 decision to NOAH Tuesday.

“We can’t go over there thinking we’re going to win the game by just showing up,’’ Jones said. “If we don’t play hard or don’t play well, we can lose to anybody on a given night.’’



EHS boys ride hot streak



Enid’s boys (9-3) will try to continue a hot streak (six wins in last seven games) against the Bruins (4-6). The Plainsmen swept Bartlesville last season.

“They have some different players,’’ said Enid coach T.J. Scholz. “I’m not sure if they run the same system, but they run a lot of the same stuff. Bartlesville is always a tough place to play with their crowd. They are very well-coached and you know they will be ready to play.’’

Enid is coming off a third-place finish at the Skiatook Tournament. Bartlesville was seventh, beating Skiatook 51-46.

Chris Fitzpatrick, who scored 102 points in the tournament, leads the Plainsmen attack with a 27.6 average, followed by Alex Patterson (9.8), Gibson Rose (8.4), Clint Gamble (6.0) and Zach Siewert (1.9). Both games can be heard on KGWA Radio (960 AM).