Kaylee Davis

Writer

Jumping straight into the 2022-23 basketball season, the Marlow High School boys and girls basketball teams played their first game of the year on Nov. 29.

The game took place at the Outlaw’s home court against Pauls Valley panthers and resulted in a 39-37 win for the girls team and a 59-42 win for the boys.

The season’s first game was the beginning of both the Outlaw’s basketball season and biology teacher Brock Harris’ time coaching school basketball.

Harris coached AAU summer basketball for four years before he began coaching at Marlow, having plans for shaping and improving the team this season.

“My goal for the season is to win the conference. I think if we focus on having a successful regular season.  It sets us up on a great path to have a successful post season,” Harris said. “We are going to have to continue to outwork people. But fortunately, that’s what our kids are known for. They are very very tough and hard working.”

With the help of their coach, the boys basketball team has had opportunities to improve at the sport, and more opportunities throughout the season.

Senior Avery Payne has played basketball since the second grade, having fallen in love with the sport as soon as he started and attending the state tournament two years in a row.

“I think I add a good leader and someone my teammates can trust in to the team,” Payne said. “I have gotten better at basketball just by learning.”

Not only does the boys team have big plans for the season, the Lady Outlaw’s varsity team has been hard at work as well.

Junior Kentley Davis has played basketball since she was in third grade, scoring 16 points at the Pauls Valley game. 

“My greatest achievement through basketball would be how it helped me grow as a person,” Davis expressed. “I plan to continue improving this season by practicing hard and staying focused.”

With the guidance of coaches both new and old, the boys and girls teams moved on to play their homecoming game on Friday, Dec. 2.

The game took place against the Lexington Minutemen and resulted in a win of 76-48 for the Outlaws and a win of 50-38 for the Lady Outlaws.

The game was not the only thing that took place during the homecoming game, with the homecoming crowning taking place during the halftime portion of the boy’s game.

The crowning had entrances of royalty as well as the crowning of the Homecoming Queen.

Seniors Erin Doughty, Katie Ellsworth, Kendall Kizzar, Marlow Latimer and Whitney Wade were all members of the homecoming royalty, escorted by senior basketball player Blayd Harris and junior players Mason Holding, Zach Petit, Ty Spivey and Cody Weber.

After the royalty was escorted to the court, senior and crowning captain Payne crowned Wade as Homecoming Queen .

“Being crowned homecoming queen was such a fun experience,” Wade said. “It just made me feel happy that the boys respected me enough to vote for me and that people believed I represented them enough to be queen. I enjoyed the experience of getting to dress up with my friends as well.”

The Homecoming festivities began before the royalty was crowned, having dress-up days for the week of the game with a theme of “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

The week had themes of “Baby It’s Cold Outside!!” (favorite stocking hat day), “All I want for Christmas is Sleep!” (Pajama day), “I Triple Dog Dare You” (Favorite Jersey Day), “Cousin Eddie Day!” (Ugly Christmas sweater day) and “Sleigh the Bulldogs!” (Spirit day).

Cheer students helped to spread spirit during the week, dressing up as well as putting up signs to inform students of homecoming events.

Senior Katie Ellsworth is both a member of Marlow cheer and the Lady Outlaws basketball team, and served as a member of the homecoming royalty.

“I love to be able to play the sport that I love but also cheer for it when watching the boys,” Ellsworth expressed. “I love getting to be on both sides of the sport, from a player to a viewer.” The Outlaw and Lady Outlaw teams will continue to improve as they move further into their season, their next event being against the Bridge Creek Bobcats.

The game will occur on Dec. 13 and play both varsity and junior varsity players at the Bridge Creek campus.