SHS basketball teams prepare to host Norman
Jan. 25—Home games are rare luxuries on the Stillwater High basketball teams' January schedules.
The boys haven't competed at Pioneer Fieldhouse since facing Bixby on Jan. 8. For the girls, the road stretch has lasted nearly three weeks — they haven't played at home since defeating Westmoore on Jan. 4.
After traveling from gym to gym, both Pioneer basketball teams have returned to their court to host Norman on Tuesday night. The girls' game starts at 6 p.m., and the boys will follow.
The No. 17 Lady Pioneers know what to expect from the Tigers.
Only three days after falling to seventh-ranked Norman in the final game of the Deer Creek Bruce Gray Invitational, the Stillwater girls have a second chance against the same opponent. Despite the 59-43 loss to the Tigers, assistant coach Drue Brown said the rematch scenario gives the Lady Pioneers (7-8) a surge of confidence.
"For us, I think it's nice to be able to go back into a game and say, 'Hey, here's a couple of little things we made mistakes on,'" Brown said. "I think turnovers and then just kind of adjusting to their pressure will be big for us, and we get to roll back out there and not really have too much to think about, other than just, 'Hey, let's go back out there and play again.'"
To meet Norman (12-3) in the Bruce Gray Invitational championship game Saturday, the Lady Pioneers opened tournament play with two dominant victories. They rolled past Heritage Hall, 53-33, and then throttled Deer Creek, 63-25, on the Antlers' home court.
The tournament illustrated how Stillwater has built team chemistry since the start of the season. Seven Lady Pioneers had assists against Heritage Hall, and everyone on Stillwater's 14-person roster entered the game against Deer Creek.
"We've hit a really good stride recently," Brown said. "We're starting to have a lot of contributions that we didn't have earlier this season that we really need to be able to push ourselves in the next level."
Freshman star Janiyah Williams continues to fuel the Lady Pioneers' offense. Stillwater has competed in three tournaments this season, and she has been selected for every All-Tournament team.
"I'd say she's really probably exceeding expectations," Brown said. "I know it's really tough to jump straight up to varsity without a lot of experience in that circuit, but she played AAU and had a lot of experience outside (high school), and she handles the pressure well. She's a great teammate."
While Williams and the Lady Pioneers powered through a busy weekend at the Bruce Gray Invitational, the Stillwater boys had a chance to rest. They had already competed in their three tournaments, so they were able to take a break after falling to then-No. 2 Mustang on Jan. 17.
"We had an opportunity to kind of recover," coach Scott Morris said. "So we gave them a full day off, and then we got back in the weight room and got our legs back under us a little bit, so it was good, hopefully a positive in the fact that we can kind of get back to basics and get our legs back under us."
Morris said the Pioneers (6-9) need to mirror Norman's level of intensity. Although the Tigers most recently lost to Carl Albert, they defeated five of their past seven opponents.
Morris expects Norman (6-9) to play with high energy, but the Pioneers have the advantage of a home environment that they haven't experienced in a while.
"It's just nice to get to play in front of your home crowd, to not have to do the bus travel and all that," Morris said. "So we're excited about it, and hopefully we can come out and do well."
