By Bruce Campbell
Enid News and Eagle
ENID —
Enid’s boys will be putting their perfect Centennial Conference record on the line tonight when the Plainsmen visit second-place Ponca City in the second half of a girls-boys basketball doubleheader.
The girls tip off at 6:30, followed by the boys at 8. KGWA (960 AM) will broadcast the games.
The Plainsmen, 11-5 overall and 4-0 in conference, will be playing a hot team in the No. 18 Wildcats, 8-6 overall and 2-1 in conference. Ponca City has won three straight, including 40-35 and 57-44 wins over conference rivals Stillwater and Sand Springs.
EHS eked out a 44-43 win over the Wildcats at the Mabee Center Jan. 5 when Chris Fitzpatrick made a game-saving defensive stop at the buzzer.
“We were lucky to get a win the last time we played them,’’ said Enid coach T.J. Scholz. “We’re going to have to come prepared.’’
The Plainsmen are coming off an emotional 74-65 overtime loss to Star Spencer in the consolation finals of the Deer Creek Tournament.
“Sometimes you have a letdown after a game like that, but I think with the leadership we have from our older guys, we’ll be ready to play,’’ Scholz said. “This is a big rivalry. One of our goals is to win the conference and this is one of the games we need to win to do that.’’
Scholz was pleased with Enid’s effort in the tournament.
“It (Star Spencer) was a tough game for the guys,’’ he said. “They tried hard. I’m proud of what they did even though we came up a little short.’’
Ponca City is led by Chase Mongold, who had 13 the first meeting, and Austin Stephenson, who had 12. The Wildcats are known for their methodical offense and solid defense.
“They make you work for your shots, so we’ll have to be patient,’’ Scholz said, “but we’ll definitely try to pick up the pace a bit.’’
Fitzpatrick had 23 the first meeting. He leads the team in scoring with a 21.1 average. He is averaging 28.3 points the last seven games.
He is followed by Alex Patterson (10.9), Gibson Rose (8.6), Clint Gamble (6.0) and Zach Siewert (2.5).
Pacers lose Washington
The Pacers (9-6 overall, 2-2 conference) have lost Ty Washington, their lone senior starter, for the season because of a knee injury she sustained in the Deer Creek Tournament.
Washington was the team’s third leading scorer with a 6.6 average.
“She brings a lot of things that don’t show up on the scorebook,’’ said Enid coach Layne Jones. “It’s going to be hard to replace those intangibles. We’re going to have a void to fill leadership wise.’’
The Pacers are trying to avenge three straight losses to the No. 12 Lady Wildcats (9-4, 3-0), who beat Enid 47-39 Jan. 5 behind 17 points from 5-foot-11 Mica Havens and 13 points from 6-0 Lauren Vetters.
“If you can’t outrebound them and you take bad shots, it’s going to be hard to beat them,’’ Jones said.
The Pacers lost the last game at the line, going on 13 of 35. They missed eight shots in trailing by 10 at halftime.
“If you get down to 10 to Ponca City, it’s like being down 20 to anybody else,’’ Jones said. “They are hard to come back on because they play good defense and milk the clock.’’
Rani Melvin, who has been the Pacers’ sixth woman, will take Washington’s place in the starting lineup. She raised her season average to eight points a game with a season-high 18 points in a 55-40 win over Western Heights in the Deer Creek consolation finals. The 55 points matched Enid’s highest scoring total this season.
“We’re definitely starting to play better,’’ Jones said. “We’re playing better for more quarters. The girls did a good job on Friday and Saturday (last week). We’ll see if it carries over to this week.’’
Courtney Chelf, who made the Deer Creek all-tournament team after scoring 52 points in three games, leads the Pacers attack with a 14.6 average. She is followed by Melvin (8.0), Haley Rasp (6.4), Crowl (4.9) and Jayci Wehrenberg (4.5).
