Ada and Byng could collide in next week's 4A Regional

Feb. 16—This sports writer couldn't help but crack a smile when the Class 4A playoff basketball assignments were released by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.

There they were in the same Area 1 4A Regional, the two biggest schools in The Ada News coverage area. It could finally happen again, Ada versus Byng. and it could even happen twice.

Both Byng teams travel to Broken Bow tonight for Class 4A District Tournament action. The Ada squads head to Tuttle for district play on Saturday night.

The winners of those two matchups will square off next Thursday night inside Ada High School's Cougar Activity Center. The losers of those two district title battles will meet in consolation play on Thursday afternoon in Ada. What this means is if the Ada and Byng teams do the same things this weekend, we'll have the first playoff basketball games between the two schools since March of 2017 — seven long years ago — when the Ada boys knocked off Byng 56-33 in a Class 4A Area Tournament contest before a standing-room-only crowd inside East Central University's Kerr Activities Center. The Cougars were led by then-senior Ben Pruitt, who poured in a game-high 30 points.

And I'm willing to bet the Cougar Activity Center will be just as packed next week as the Gold Dome was that day.

But to get there, both Ada and Byng must take care of business — or not — this weekend.

Area I is loaded with talent

The boys' field is headlined by No. 9 Ada and No. 19 Byng. No 7 Blanchard is lurking on Ada and Byng's same side of the bracket.

The other side of the Area I bracket includes No. 16 Community Christian, a dangerous 14-8 Cushing team, and oh-by-the-way, No. 1 Weatherford.

The Area I is also full of good girls' teams. Just ask Ada girl's basketball coach Christie Jennings.

"I can't even imagine how hard it is to draw up the 4A playoff bracket. Someone is always going to feel slided. With that being said, we didn't get any favors," she said.

Ada and Byng's side of the bracket includes No. 8 Tuttle, No. 10 Kingfisher (Mid-America Classic fans got to see the Lady Yellowjackets firsthand) and somehow unranked 20-3 Plainview.

Waiting to emerge from the opposite side of Area 1 is No. 2 Lincoln Christian, No. 18 Mannford, No. 17 Weatherford and a 16-7 Skiatook squad.

"We knew on the girls' side of things we would have a tough road. We have played one of the toughest schedules in 4A, and we have been on the cusp of winning a lot of our games," Jennings said. "I hope that experience pays off as we head into the playoffs. I'm constantly telling our athletes that regular season games are just glorified practices to prepare us for playoffs. We hope it pays off as we head into this weekend."

Jennings said the Cougars have a rugged playoff path despite their No. 9 ranking and 17-6 record.

"Our boys have an extremely tough draw that on paper doesn't look like what a team who was ranked in the Top 10 all year deserves," she said.

Ada boys head coach Kyle Caufield agreed his team's draw was rugged.

"Our playoff pairing is tough, but it's tough for every team in it. We knew going in that it's always a possibility of that type of draw," he said. "At this point in the season it doesn't matter what you did in the regular season, you have to execute and play good basketball. I believe anyone in our regional can make it Area. The teams in our regional have been playing well."

Byng coaches speak on 4A

Byng boys coach Jared Gambrel knew before the pairings were released that his team would have plenty of tough opponents standing in their playoff path.

"Playing in 4A is always tough. No matter where you go it's always going to be a battle," he said. "Either way, we're prepared to go play wherever we have to. Hopefully, we just continue to build on the momentum that we have."

The Pirates are on a roll. They are 18-7 and have won eight consecutive games to wrap up the regular season.

The unranked Byng High School girls squad is expected to be a tough out for any team it faces. The Lady Pirates have reeled off four straight wins and have won six of their past seven outing to get to 16-9 on the season.

"We play in 4A and so regardless of where we get put, we know that it is going to be tough. It is just part of being in a really difficult class of basketball, but hopefully, we are playing our best basketball at the right time. That's our goal," he said.