Eastern Hosts 15th Annual Tournament Of Champions
(Press Release 01-06-07)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

BRACKET AVAILABLE

Once again eight of Oklahoma’s best girls teams will hit the hard-court in McAlester, as Eastern Oklahoma State College hosts its 15th annual Tournament of Champions. The tournament begins on Thursday and will continue through Saturday at the Southeast Expo Center in McAlester.

The coaches Besides outstanding girls’ basketball between teams that range from class 3A to 6A, there are several familiar faces that will be coaching on the sidelines.

Former Indianola stand-out, Krista Ragan-Binam, will once again return to the annual event as head coach for Class 5A’s No. 3 team, the Coweta Lady Tigers. As a high school player, Ragan-Binam was named MVP after she helped Indianola win the 1996 Tournament of Champions on the way to a state championship the same year.

McAlester’s head coach, Kris (Sullivan) Wood has been at the helm of the Lady Buffs for three years and was a member of the Eastern Oklahoma State Lady Mountaineers women’s basketball team. Another former Eastern player returning to coach in the tournament will be Stillwater’s Rhonda Kite-Fields who was a Lady Mountaineer before playing for Oklahoma State University.  

Former area coach Gary Kennemer will also be making a trip back to the area with his Class 3A, No. 3 Verdigris team. Before guiding the Lady Cardinals, Kennemer coached at Talihina, Hartshorne and McAlester.

The teams This year’s Tournament of Champions features six top-15 teams from around the state.

Thursday’s opener sees a pair of Class 3A teams square off as No. 3 Verdigris meets the Morris Lady Eagles at 4 p.m. Class 6A’s No. 8 Del City then tips off against 5A Coweta scheduled for 5:30.

The No. 8 Lady Buffs then face Class 6A Stillwater at 7. The night-cap of day one will be a contest between Class 6A Edmond Memorial and Class 3A Chouteau, both of whom are ranked in their respective classes.

Four games will be played on both Friday and Saturday as the bracket progresses. Games on Saturday will begin one hour earlier at 3 p.m.

The schedule

Thursday
Game 1: Verdigris vs. Morris, 4 p.m.
Game 2: Del City vs. Coweta, 5:30 p.m.
Game 3: Stillwater vs. McAlester, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Edmond Memorial vs. Chouteau, 8:30 p.m.

Friday
Loser game 1 vs. loser game 4, 4 p.m.
Loser game 2 vs. loser game 3, 5:30 p.m.
Winner game 2 vs. winner game 3, 7 p.m.
Winner game 1 vs. winner game 4, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday
Seventh place game, 3 p.m.
Consolation championship, 4:30 p.m.
Third place game, 6 p.m.
Championship game, 7:30 p.m.

BRACKET AVAILABLE