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The morning blog 2-26-2021
By CRAIG HALL
Good morning and welcome to our (drum roll, please, or not) morning blog for Feb. 26 of 2021.
Thanks again for visiting our blog. If you like it, please share it with anybody you think might be interested. If you aren’t impressed, let’s keep that between us and let me know how to improve it.
Today is the 57th day of 2021 and there are 308 days left in the year.
I know a lot of you miss not having the video of basketball games, but because of fees charged by the OSSAA we chose to not air them.
So I have been covering the games the way I used to. The bonus is I have gotten a lot more pictures. If we were streaming the games, I would get a good picture and go back to helping with the video.
Now, I can take pictures as long as my back and buttock bone can handle it. I have gotten a lot more pictures to choose from and took a bunch at Howe’s home games with Wilburton last night.
The picture above of Gracie Lute is just one of them. You can see more on our scoreboard page and the story of Howe’s wins.
In news
LeFlore County had 19 new coronavirus cases in Thursday’s report, the most in a day since Feb. 19.
Spiro had five new cases, Pocola and Poteau each had three, Cameron and Heavener had two, while Arkoma, Bokoshe, Shady Point and Talihina each had one.
Active cases are 126, up eight from Wednesday. There have been 72 cases over the last seven days, an average of 7.2 per day.
LeFlore County has now had 5,224 cases, 5,056 recoveries and 42 deaths from complications due to the virus.
We had mucho basketball yesterday and more today.
Here are all the scores from Thursday and the games scheduled for Friday.
Basketball
Boys
Regionals
Class IV
Poteau 59, Catoosa 43
Class 3A
Sperry 49, Heavener 42
Class 2A
Area II
Pocola 47, Commerce 29
Area IV
Howe 57, Wilburton 39
Panama 51, Warner 41
Girls
Area
Class B
Area IV
Whitesboro 51, Coleman 26
Regionals
Class 4A
Poteau 53, Catoosa 46
Class 3A
Sperry 42, Heavener 41
Class 2A
Area II
Pocola 51, Commerce 13
Area IV
Howe 53, Wilburton 43
Oktaha 69, Panama 35
Friday’s schedule
Boys
Class 4A
At Verdigris
Poteau vs. Wagoner 8 p.m.
Class 3A
At Spiro
Spiro vs. Sequoyah-Claremore 8 p.m.
Class 2A
Area II
At Hulbert
Pocola vs. Caney Valley 8 p.m.
Area IV
At Warner
Panama vs. Wilburton 8 p.m.
Girls
Area
Class B
At Byng
Whitesboro vs. Cyril 1 p.m.
Regionals
Class 4A
At Verdigris
Poteau vs. Victory Christian 6 p.m.
Class 3A
At Antlers
Heavener vs. Tishomingo 6 p.m.
At Spiro
Spiro vs. Morris 6 p.m.
I covered Howe’s home games with Wilburton in Class 2A regional action last night. Howe won both games, as you probably noticed above, but they were a pair of good games.
In weather, partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of rain again Friday. We will have a high of 54 and low of 43, which isn’t great but beats the weather we had last week to a pulp.
Thanks to all of you again for reading. And remember, you, yes you, can get our daily newsletter at www.heavenerledger.substack.com for ONLY $5 a month and get exclusive content you won’t fine anywhere else and you will support your favorite Heavener Ledger/LCJ media group.
NEWS
Coronavirus cases go up to 19
LeFlore County had 19 new coronavirus cases in Thursday’s report, the most in a day since Feb. 19.
Spiro had five new cases, Pocola and Poteau each had three, Cameron and Heavener had two, while Arkoma, Bokoshe, Shady Point and Talihina each had one.
Active cases are 126, up eight from Wednesday. There have been 72 cases over the last seven days, an average of 7.2 per day.
LeFlore County has now had 5,224 cases, 5,056 recoveries and 42 deaths from complications due to the virus.
Oklahoma had 1,146 new cases, 38 deaths and 1,151 cases in Thursday’s reports.
Active cases are 13,544, down 43 from Wednesday. Overall, Oklahoma has had 422,156 cases, 4,302 deaths and 404,310 recoveries.
SPORTS
LeFlore County sports scoreboard 2-25-2021
The LeFlore County sports scoreboard and schedule.
Basketball
Boys
Regionals
Class IV
Poteau 59, Catoosa 43
Class 3A
Sperry 49, Heavener 42
Class 2A
Area II
Pocola 47, Commerce 29
Area IV
Howe 57, Wilburton 39
Panama 51, Warner 41
Girls
Area
Class B
Area IV
Whitesboro 51, Coleman 26
Regionals
Class 4A
Poteau 53, Catoosa 46
Class 3A
Sperry 42, Heavener 41
Class 2A
Area II
Pocola 51, Commerce 13
Area IV
Howe 53, Wilburton 43
Oktaha 69, Panama 35
Friday’s schedule
Boys
Class 4A
At Verdigris
Poteau vs. Wagoner 8 p.m.
Class 3A
At Spiro
Spiro vs. Sequoyah-Claremore 8 p.m.
Class 2A
Area II
At Hulbert
Pocola vs. Caney Valley 8 p.m.
Area IV
At Warner
Panama vs. Wilburton 8 p.m.
Girls
Area
Class B
At Byng
Whitesboro vs. Cyril 1 p.m.
Regionals
Class 4A
At Verdigris
Poteau vs. Victory Christian 6 p.m.
Class 3A
At Antlers
Heavener vs. Tishomingo 6 p.m.
At Spiro
Spiro vs. Morris 6 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Boys
Class 2A
Area IV
At Warner
Howe vs. Central Sallisaw 8 p.m.
Girls
Class 2A
Area II
At Hulbert
Pocola vs. Oklahoma Union 6 p.m.
Area IV
At Warner
Howe vs. Warner 6 p.m.
To report scores or information on games involving LeFlore County teams, send a text to (918) 649-4712 or email craig@heavenerledger.com.
Howe holds on to beat Wilburton
By CRAIG HALL
HOWE – Both Howe’s girls and boys have become accustomed to winning fairly easy this season.
Especially at home.
That wasn’t entirely the case Thursday as both Howe teams played Wilburton in the opener of the Class 2A regional tournament.
Both Howe teams won and advanced to Saturday’s regional championship games at Warner. But it was far from easy.
The Lady Lions had to hold a late Wilburton charge off to win, 53-43, before the Lions built a big lead early, withstood a rally by the Diggers to win, 57-39.
Howe’s girls (20-2 and ranked second) advance to play Warner Saturday at 6 p.m. while the Lions (19-3 and ranked seventh) go up against Central Sallisaw at 8 p.m.
Girls
Howe’s backcourt of Shiloh Fletcher and Makayla Twyman had big games to pace the Lady Lions to the win.
Fletcher got the offense going early with a pair of 3’s and finished with four on the night in a 19-point effort while Twyman finished with 12 points.
The Lady Diggers drop to 4-13.
Howe 53, Wilburton 43
WHS 7 10 10 16--43
HHS 10 15 18 10—53
Wilburton: Tegan Tilley 1 0-0 1 2; Hayley Anderson 2 1-2 1 6; Hannah Giger 2 1-4 1 5; Hayley Stanford 4 6-8 3 15; Miranda Cheek 1 0-0 3 2; Jacy Browne 1 0-0 0 3; Jalen Spears 4 0-0 3 8; Chelsea Holloway 1 0-0 1 2. TOTALS: 16 8-14 13 43.
Howe: Maddie Ramsey 2 2-3 0 6; Shiloh Fletcher 6 3-4 1 19; Gracie Lute 2 0-0 0 4; Makayla Twyman 3 5-6 0 12; Caitlyn Stacy 2 0-0 1 5; Kalyn Nye 0 0-0 5 0; Raelyn Delt 3 1-2 2 7. TOTALS: 18 11-15 9 53.
Boys
Howe built a comfortable 31-13 lead at the half before Wilburton made a charge to pull within 11 points in the third quarter. But the Lions’ Zayn Coggins killed the momentum with a basket just before the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter and Howe got going again in the fourth quarter.
Brayden Oglesby led the Lions with 22 points while Coggins added 14.
Wilburton is 9-8 and plays in consolation play Friday at Warner.
Howe 57, Wilburton 39
WHS 7 6 13 12—39
HHS 17 14 9 17—57
Wilburton: Jordan Miller 1 0-0 2 3; Grayson Mathis 3 0-0 1 7; Colton Fite 2 0-0 0 4; Lane Sprewell 1 0-0 2 2; Kobe Green 0 1-2 0 1; J.J. Justice 5 0-1 3 12; Lane Franklin 0 3-4 1 3; Caleb Holliday 1 0-0 0 2; Christian Gockel 1 0-0 2 2. TOTALS: 14 4-7 11 39
Howe: Ky Lynn 2 0-0 2 5; Zayn Coggins 7 0-0 2 14; Brayden Oglesby 9 3-6 1 22; Kobe Brown 1 0-0 0 3; Eduardo Sanchez 2 3-5 0 7; Jensin Coggins 2 0-0 3 4. Ricardo Sanchez 0 0-0 2 0. TOTALS: 23 6-11 10 57.
OTHER STORIES
LeFlore County calendar
The LeFlore County calendar of events lists the upcoming events in the area. This is a free service so if you or your group have an event coming up and would like it added to the calendar, please send an email to craig@heavenerledger.com.
Friday
Funeral service for Bobby Shadwick
High school basketball: Class B area at Byng: Whitesboro vs. Cyril 1 p.m.; Class 4A regional at Verdigris: Poteau girls vs. Victory Christian 6 p.m. and Poteau boys vs. Wagoner 8 p.m. Class 3A regionals at Antlers. Heavener girls vs. Tishomingo 6 p.m. At Spiro. Spiro girls vs. Morris 6 p.m. and Spiro boys vs. Sequoyah-Claremore 8 p.m. Class 2A regional at Hulbert Pocola vs. Caney Valley 8 p.m. At Warner Panama boys vs. Wilburton 8 p.m.
High school baseball: Arkoma at Clayton; Buffalo Valley at Cameron
Saturday
Funeral service for Connor Smallwood
High school basketball: Class B area TBD. Class 4A regionals TBD; Class 3A regionals TBD. Class 2A Area II at Hulbert Pocola girls Pocola vs. Oklahoma Union 6 p.m.; at Warner. Howe girls vs. Warner 6 p.m., Howe boys vs. Central Sallisaw 8 p.m.
College softball: Rose State at CASC
College baseball: CASC at Labette Community College
Sunday
Poteau Pirate Dugout Club spaghetti dinner
Monday
LeFlore County commissioners meet 9 a.m.
High school baseball: Poteau at Stigler; Spiro at Wister; Bokoshe at Pocola; Cameron vs. Hackett, Arkansas;
High school softball: Wister at Heavener
Heavener Lions Club meets 5 p.m. at Simple Simon’s
City of Poteau meetings 7 p.m.
Tuesday
High school baseball: Heavener at Valliant; Stigler at Poteau; Roland at Spiro; Arkoma at Pocola; Cameron at Bokoshe
High school softball: Heavener at Poteau
Poteau Evening Lions Club meet 6 p.m. CASC
Wednesday
Poteau Rotary Club meets noon at EOMC
College softball: CASC at North Arkansas College
Thursday
Kiwanis Club meets noon at Western Sizzlin’
Heavener VFW bingo 6 p.m.
High school baseball: Pocola at Heavener; Poteau at Wister; Panama at Spiro; Bokoshe at McCurtain; Battiest at Cameron
College softball: NOC (Tonkawa) at CASC
Heavener City Council meets 6 p.m.
High school basketball: Class B state TBD; Class 4A, 3A, 2A area TBD
LeFlore County weather 2-26-2021
Partly cloudy skies and a slight chance of rain for Friday in LeFlore County.
The high will be 54 degrees with a low of 43 degrees.
Sunrise is at 6:50 a.m. with sunset at 6:11 p.m.
Thursday’s high was 55 with a low of 41. A total of .23 inches of rain was recorded, bringing the monthly total to 1.34 inches. Average rainfall for February is 2.90 inches.
Average temperatures for Feb. 26 are a high of 59 and low of 30. Records for the date were a high of 77 in 1976 and a low of 9 in 1980.
Blast from the past 2-26-2021
Here is today’s blast from the past.
Blast from the past is a feature we run daily on ledgerlcj.com along with our newsletter heavenerledger.substack.com.
Each day we feature an old picture of the people, places and events in LeFlore County from days gone by.
Today’s picture is of Blake Smittle running the ball in a game against Union Christian in the late 2000s. He set an unofficial single-game rushing record for the game.
If you have a picture you would like to post on the blast from the past, send an email to craig@heavenerledger.com.