Local talent helps Lady Vikes

By CRAIG HALL
POTEAU—LeFlore County hasn’t exactly been a hotbed for college basketball recruiters over the years.

There have been a few big-name players over the years and the one program that has benefitted the most from the strength of girls basketball in the county has been Carl Albert State College.

Photo by CRAIG HALL Taylor Cawhorn of Howe is one of three county players making an impact on the CASC Lady Vikings.

There are currently five girls from the county playing at Carl Albert, with two starting.

Randi Jerrell from Pocola and Katie BenAmor from Howe both start while Taylor Cawhorn, also of Howe, gets plenty of minutes. Former Lady Lions Ashley Scroggins and Samantha Carter are also on the team.

All of those girls made an impact on LeFlore County basketball. When Pocola and Howe both won state championships two years ago, all three players played key roles.

Now Carl Albert, especially coach Jeff Tadtman, has home-grown players who can help the program in many ways.

“We always try to get the local kids first,” said Tadtman, whose Lady Vikings are 3-1 on the season. “We’ve had some good success at that.”

While there isn’t enough talent in the county to fill the whole CASC team, having players from the county has helped with attendance and also in recruiting other county schools when the players see former opponents staying close to home.

But the players aren’t on the team just to appease local supporters. They can all play. BenAmor, only a freshman, has been the leading scorer in several games. Jerrell is a solid player and Cawhorn is a good point guard and playing while getting to accustomed to the college game. Carter and Scroggins are also on scholarship for the Lady Vikings.

“There’s no question the quality of basketball in the county has helped,” said Tadtman. “Chris Brown at Howe always puts out a terrific product. He puts out very good kids who are always well coached.”

Other county schools have also contributed. “The quality of coaching around here has been real good,” the CASC coach said.

“It’s nice to keep the local kids here,” he added. “The bottom line is they are all quality people. We have gotten a lot of good student-athletes from LeFlore County.”

Carl Albert's men also have one player from the county on their team in Kyle Tucker, also from Howe.

Both Carl Albert teams play at Northern-Enid tomorrow night in a stretch of playing three games in five days. They host Cowley County on Saturday afternoon and Northern-Tonkawa on Monday.