It’s been as if the Arkansas River is a wall separating Hilldale and Fort Gibson soccer.

Patience in the face of adversity.

Cole Mahaney was in command of a situation that changed with the weather Thursday.

Dwindling resources creates dilemmas in this business not known when I showed up here 20 years ago, for my second stint in the business we call sports journalism.

Led by Mesa Falleur’s 2-under par 69, Muskogee won the Sapulpa Invitational boys golf tournament on Wednesday at Rock Creek Golf Course in Sapulpa.

A freshman struck a blow for the seniors on Senior Night at Rougher Park on Tuesday — a much-needed blow.

 It was probably a foregone conclusion that the Hilldale Hornets would mercy-rule Tulsa Webster in their District 4A-4 soccer contest Tuesday night. 

Oktaha forward Ethan Frazier made the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association All-Academic team announced this week. He was the lone area player to make it.

It had none of the drama, nor the tension, of the game played here exactly a week ago.

 FORT GIBSON —One of the nice things about baseball is that if you have a bad at-bat or a bad game, you don’t usually have to wait more than a day or two to have another crack at it. 

Felts places

Wagoner swept the team titles Friday at the Hilldale Track Meet.

Lightning strikes sent Muskogee and everyone else home early from the Ram Relays in Owasso late Friday afternoon.

FORT GIBSON  — As the soccer season begins winding down, the Fort Gibson Tigers seem to be heating up as they recorded their fourth straight shutout with a 6-0 win over a young but outmatched Wagoner team Thursday night in a District 4A-4 encounter at Leo Donahue Stadium.

Patrick Murphy’s goal with about two minutes to play kept Hilldale boys unbeaten in 4A-4 soccer with a  1-0 home win against Metro Christian on Thursday.

Bartlesville forward Jalen Belong made life miserable for the Muskogee Roughers on the soccer pitch Tuesday, scoring three goals and assisting on another as the Bruins sailed past Muskogee 5-0 in District 6A-4 action Tuesday night at Indian Bowl.

It started out much different.

FORT GIBSON — The question was worth an answer in a game featuring two unbeaten district co-leaders.

  FORT GIBSON—Tiger pitchers Grant Edwards and freshman Wyatt Pierce teamed up to limit Class B powerhouse Red Oak to just two hits.

FORT GIBSON — By itself, it wasn’t decisive.

Muskogee’s girls sprint relay team is on a tear.

Baseball

The hosts of what is being called the Shootout at the Fort — which is not just being played at Fort Gibson but also at Hilldale — survived an early takeover of the Fort on Thursday and advanced closer to being the conquerors at the Fort.

The pandemic that shut down Tim VanEtten’s first season as Muskogee’s boys soccer coach had a silver lining.

JaVontae Campbell’s nickname is “Soup.”  The Campbell’s brand of the product had a history of being known as “Mmm mmm good,” but also was marketed as a complete food.

When finding the best of the best, there’s two schools of thinking.

 FORT GIBSON — It seemed appropriate that on Senior Night at Leo Donahue Stadium that the three first half goals by the Fort Gibson Tigers were scored by seniors as the Tigers routed Catoosa 8-0 Tuesday night.

When Zack Ange resigned last week to go back to his hometown of Cache to take over the girls basketball program there, Wagoner athletic director Dale Condict knew he didn’t need to look far or long for Ange’s successor as the boys basketball coach.

A nerve-wracking start was met equally by a nerve-wracking end Monday at Hilldale as the Hornets escaped — barely — with a  3-2 win over the Wagoner Bulldogs.

Soccer