OKLAHOMA CITY — Pond Creek-Hunter’s girls (24-4) will try to beat a coach quite familiar with northwest Oklahoma tonight in the first round of the Class A state basketball tournament at Oklahoma City University.

The Lady Panthers, the No. 6 seed, will try to knock off No. 3 seed Cheyenne-Reydon (23-6), coached by Brad Thrash, who led Dover to four state championships. Tip-off is 8:30 p.m. at  Abe Lemons Arena.

The Lady Bears have wins over Sentinel, Arapaho-Butler and Texhoma  in the playoffs.

The Lady Panthers are coming off a 55-51 win over Velma-Alma in the Area III losers bracket finals. behind 19 points from Carson Ferguson.

Pond Creek-Hunter is in the state tournament for the first time in more than 20 years.

• Three area teams — Lomega, Deer Creek-Lamont and Timberlake—  begin their quest for the Class B championship at Midwest City Carl Albert.

Defending state champion Lomega (25-6), the No. 5 seed, will challenge No. 4 seed Leedey (21-7)  at 7 p.m.

Leedey won the Area I title with wins over Lookeba-Sickles, 77-42;  Dover, 42-25;  Sharon-Mutual, 51-31; and Shattuck, 54-31.

The Lady Raiders lost to Red Oak 66-52 in the Area IV winners bracket finals, but came back to beat Midway, 57-29. Lomega dominated its first three playoff opponents — Paden, 75-25; Bokoshe, 95-55; and Midway, 71-39.

Lomega coach Kevin Lewallen is seeking his third state title as a coach. He took the Lady Raiders to crowns in 2007 and 2008.

DCLA (21-7), the No. 8 seed and Hammon (25-4), the No. 1 seed meet at 8:30 p.m.

The Lady Eagles have won 12 of their last 13 games, including two wins over Lomega and another over Timberlake. They beat top 10 Burlington twice in the postseason.

Katy Starr is averaging 16.8 points in the playoffs for DCLA. Jessica Blanton is averaging 12.8.

DCLA has lost in the first round of state the last two years.

Hammon, which lost to Lomega in last year’s finals, won the Area II championship with wins over Fargo, 73-28; Duke, 53-35; Varnum, 46-24; and Erick-Sweetwater, 39-36.

No. 3 seed Timberlake (23-3) faces No. 6 seed Erick-Sweetwater (22-8) at 2:30 p.m.

Erick-Sweetwater beat Earlsboro 42-36 in the Area II losers bracket finals after a loss to Hammon. They opened the playoffs with wins over El Dorado, 79-18; Big Pasture, 67-25 and Earlsboro, 36-33.

Timberlake, making its third straight trip to the state tournament, won the Area II championship with wins over Oilton, 77-39; Asher, 68-36; Coyle, 56-35 and DCLA 47-38.

Kayla Castle is averaging 14 points in the playoffs, followed by Bailee Clift (13.3), Karly LeForce (10.8) and Ami Adkisson (10.5).

• Laverne, the Class B state football champion, will try to add the Class A boys basketball title to its showcase.

The Tigers (23-6) face No. 1 seed Weleetka at 8:30 p.m. at Southern Nazarene University.

Laverne (23-6) beat Okarche 51-40 in the Area I losers bracket finals. They won five straight games after falling to Garber 60-53 in the regional semifinals.

Weleetka (25-2) is riding a 17-game winning streak.