All state Class 5A boys basketball playoffs will be held at Oral Roberts University’s Mabee Center, the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association announced Sunday.
Seventh-ranked Ardmore will play third-ranked Tulsa East Central at 7 p.m. Thursday. The winner of that game will take on the survivor of the day’s first game, a 2 p.m. battle between No. 4 Western Heights and No. 6 Booker T. Washington.
On the other side of the bracket are No. 1 Tulsa Memorial vs. No. 11 MacArthur and No. 8 El Reno vs. No. 9 Claremore. MacArthur has beaten Ardmore in two of three close meetings this season, the most recent one for a regional championship.
Washington defeated Ardmore in last season’s quarterfinal.
State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City is the final site for the Class 3A tournaments, but the No. 7 Plainview boys team will have to win two games at Moore High to play in “The Big House.” Plainview will take on No. 3 Cascia Hall at 2 p.m. Thursday, with a semifinal against No. 6 Mount Saint Mary or No. 8 Hugo on the line.
The other 3A boys quarterfinals are No. 2 Millwood vs. No. 5 Verdigris and No. 4 Tahlequah Sequoyah vs. No. 18 Holdenville.
In the 3A girls bracket, Tishomingo will need to win just once to play in State Fair Arena. The fifth-ranked Indians will face No. 9 Prague at 2 p.m. Thursday at Choctaw High. The winner will face No. 1 Kansas or unranked Perry, which stunned No. 3 Bethel in the Area II consolation final.
Prague denied No. 7 Sulphur a possible rematch with Tish by beating the Bulldogs 55-52 Saturday in the Area I consolation final. Sulphur won at Tish 52-37 in February, en route to an unbeaten record in the Lake Country Conference.
No. 4 Millwood vs. No. 10 Tahlequah Sequoyah and No. 12 Morris vs. No. 2 Adair round out the 3A girls bracket.
All state tournaments will be held Thursday-Saturday.
