sports
NEWS-CAPITAL
B3 Thursday
www.mcalesternews.com
July 9, 2020
TITLE TALK
2010 team remembers fun rituals, family feel By DEREK HATRIDGE SPORTS EDITOR
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third of five oral histories with members of the McAlester High School 2010 girls basketball state championship team.
McAlester had a set of pregame rituals before each game and talked about their family atmosphere during the 2010 girls basketball state championship season. Former players Whitney Anderson, Lesley Huff, Kirsty Cook, and Alli Nichols (nee Eales) continue the oral history of the season: Derek Hatridge: So let me ask you this: what were the pre-game rituals like? Did you do something you did together as a team? Was it something that you each had your own individual thing? What were pre-games like in the Lady Buffs locker room? Whitney Anderson: The music… DH: What was on the playlist? WA: Can’t tell you that. We got to actually have our own playlist. It wasn’t some boring music to run out to; we actually convinced Billy Ray (Holt) to let us have our own music to warm up to as well. Lesley Huff: The locker room music varied. I remember at one point one time, we were playing K.C. and JoJo’s ‘All My Life.’ We were listening to that before the game. If we were at home, we’d always go the practice gym — if you didn’t play in the J.V. game, you’d go shoot in the practice gym, or the hot box as we like to call it. And then when Crystal (Robinson) came in, we would say the Lord’s Prayer, I believe. Then Coach Robinson would give her words for us. I always remember we broke out on ‘play hard, play smart, and play together’ with her. Then it was time to get hyped up. Alli Nichols (nee Eales): Our season motto was ‘play hard, play smart, play together.’ And with our expectations with (Robinson), we really had no other choice but to play hard. DH: I got you. You did have a couple road blocks, though. A tough matchup with Shawnee handed you your second loss of the season. You bounce back with a win against Broken Bow at home. I dug up an interesting tidbit from the game recap in the News-Capital. It said ‘The Lady Buffs had no fear though. Whitney Anderson described how her head coach, Crystal Robinson, kept the team focused. ‘She gets us calmed down during the timeouts. We tend to get in a rush and that’s when we start fouling, playing poor defense, and missing open shots.’ So my question is, first to Whitney: What are some of the ways Coach helped keep you calm? What did she say to you in those timeouts? WA: Well, if you want the honest truth, I don’t remember. Probably more so because I was a post player, so I have to, if one of the girls got past on a run, my job was to not let them score — so, start swinging. Then again, that’s just how I played. I played rough, very rough. AN: In timeouts, she’d always have this monotone. Don’t get me wrong, if we were out on the court, she’d raise her voice. But she never full-on yelled in a timeout. Like I see some coaches get (in player’s
Staff file photo
THE LADY BUFFS BASKETBALL HOMECOMING court sits court-side as the Buffs play the first game of the night in February of 2010.
Staff file photo
KIRSTY COOK saves a loose ball during the 2010 homecoming game in Bob Brumley Gymnasium.
faces), she’d never do that to us. I think that helped calm us because she never got riled up, so we never did. WA: We definitely fed off of her. When she was mad, we got mad. If she mellowed out, she did a pretty good job of mellowing us out. DH: As a leader should. WA: She was a great leader. DH: What were some things personally? Did y’all ever get nervous before games? LH: If I got too hyped up, if I didn’t feel a bit of butterflies, I knew things weren’t going to go well that game. So I always liked to get the feelings of but-
terflies, especially when we got to the playoff time. It was an odd sense of calm because I felt like it let me know that I was ready, that I was emotionally involved and invested…I was very superstitious. In sports, I’m very superstitious. I wore the same compression shorts, I wore the same sports bra, I wore the same double-layered socks. I was insane superstitious like that. Kirsty (Cook) and I would listen to the same song before we played every day. Whether it was just on the bus or — and this is when we didn’t have air pods — so we’re sitting there
DH: Anything you could do to make sure you were ready for the game. So, let’s talk about the homecoming game, where you played the second game. Was that a little different for y’all? WA: It was very out of my comfort zone. I don’t like doing things different. I don’t like dressing up either. AN: I didn’t like having to wear a dress, first of all. Then I had to go play ball. DH: There’s a picture I saw of you all sitting in chairs lined up in your dresses, I guess watching the boys game. AN: We had to sit until halftime, I think. I was like ‘get me out of this puke green dress, and two, someone’s going to run me over on the baseline.’ LH: I just remember my mom was so picture crazy, and I knew whenever — between the time when halftime ended — I had to get all the pictures taken with all my family that was there…I knew I had to get all the pictures in with them, and get changed and get ready to play. I remember thinking ‘if I’m not playing well because we weren’t focused…’ Another thing I remember is Kirsty had had her first baby in September of our senior year, and so Case was only a few months old, so he sat with us on the homecoming court. So if there’s a baby in that picture where we were sitting on the sidelines all lined up, that’s Kirsty’s oldest. KC: I do remember that. I think he was in the picture in the paper. DH: Speaking of that, what was it like for all of you to have your families right there with you every step of the way? WA: It’s probably one of the best feelings. KC: I think all of our families are really close-knit because those four years we had all been together. We had been through a lot together. We switched coaches, what, three times? At one point we were like, do we even have a coach? LH: We had a big group from McAlester like Ali and Whitney that had played together and had been friends for quite some time. And then Kirsty and I came from Frink-Chambers, and that’s a very small school and we’re like a family there. So, it was really just the joining of two big families once we got together.
with headphone connected and getting in the zone. We would typically listen to a goofy song, and then a song that gets us hyped up and ready to go. WA: I’m pretty sure I slept. As much sleep as I could get. LH: You were definitely a sleeper. WA: I was. I think that’s what calmed me down. Just sleep, listen to music…they wanted people to do homework on the bus, but I wasn’t doing it. I was sleeping on the bus every chance. Kirsty Cook: We listened to music a lot. Jumped around, • Contact Derek Hatridge at dhatridge@mcalesternews.com. prayed.
Wilburton releases 2020 football schedule By DEREK HATRIDGE SPORTS EDITOR
The Wilburton Diggers are looking to the future as they’ve released the complete schedule for the 2020 football season. The Diggers will open play during Zero Week, where they’ll face off against Pocola on Aug. 28. This will set off a fivegame home stand for
Wilburton, culminating with the start of district play against Antlers on Sept. 25 and new district foe Idabel, who replaces Heavener, on Oct. 2. The first road test for Wilburton will take place on Oct. 9 as the Diggers travel to Hugo to take on the Buffaloes. After a Thursday night contest against Eufaula the following week, the Diggers
will travel to the other side of Gowen Mountain to take on heated rival Hartshorne on Oct. 23. The Diggers will play one final home game with Senior Night festivities on Oct. 30 against Atoka, and round out the regular season with a road contest against Valliant. Here is the complete
2020 football schedule for Wilburton: Aug. 28 vs. Pocola, 7 p.m. Sept. 11 vs. Keys, 7 p.m. Sept. 18 vs. Roland, 7 p.m. Sept. 25 vs. Antlers, 7 p.m. Oct. 2 vs. Idabel, 7 pm. Oct. 9 at Hugo, 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at Eufaula, 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at Hartshorne, 7 p.m. Oct. 30 vs. Atoka, 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at Valliant, 7 p.m.
• Contact Derek Hatridge at dhatridge@mcalesternews.com.
ADRIAN O’HANLON III | Staff file photo
THE WILBURTON DIGGERS will see a fresh face and new opportunities during the 2020 football season.
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