OKTAHA BOYS
In his first year as head coach of the Oktaha Tigers, Jason Edwards faces that reality that all programs face from time to time-a rebuilding year. Last year the Tigers battled to a 21-11 record and fought through the playoff consolation bracket all the way to the area tournament finals. But most of those players are gone and Edwards is left with just one starter back in Raif Bacon (6-4, So.) who averaged 12.4 points a game last year.
“Raif is a gym rat who has continued to improve his game. He started as freshman last year and was a valuable asset during the playoffs,” said Edwards.
There is just one senior on the team, Joe Bunch (6-2), who doesn’t have much playing time experience. And the rest of the roster is made up of four juniors, with the rest being sophomores and freshmen.
“We’re extremely young with nine sophomores on the varsity roster. This group was very successful in junior high and at the junior varsity level last year, but now they’re having to make the transition to high school varsity in a short time,” said Edwards.
Other than Bacon, the early season starting lineup so far has consisted of Luke Edwards (5-9, So.), Jaxon Guthrie (6-2, Jr.), Ryker McCoy (5-9, So.), and Carter McKinzie (5-10, Fr.).
“We’ll probably play 10 guys in a game as we rotate players to find the best combinations,” said Edwards. “This will be a transition year for most of these guys, so we’ll see how it goes. But given the youngsters winning ways at the junior high level, I expect that we’ll see much more competitive teams over the next two years as these guys mature.”
The rest of the roster is composed of juniors O’Shea Boothe (5-10), Hunter Ford (5-11), and Bryor Meeks (6-1). Other than the previously mentioned sophomores, look for Riley Screechowl (6-2), Ryder Mullen (5-9), Kaden Osborne (5-10), and Beckette Shelton (6-2) to be among those rotating in and out while freshmen Kyler Zachary, Zakaryah Brant, Holton Grace, Remington Sanders, Jacob and Joseph Pitts and Mateo Hodgson fight for some playing time this season while honing their skills on the junior varsity level.
