By Anvil Welch
Globe Sports Writer
GROVE, Okla. —
Will Jones, who’s in his second year as athletic director at Grove High School, recently added the duties of head boys basketball coach for the Ridgerunners.
Doug Winters left Grove after two seasons as the boys head coach to take a similar position at Glenpool.
Jones, 36, is a product of Skiatook High School (1992), Oklahoma State and Northeastern State. He was a volunteer assistant for two years at OSU under Eddie Sutton and a student assistant for two at NSU under Ken Hayes.
Jones’ coaching experience at the high school level before coming to Grove includes two years as an assistant at Enid, three as head coach at Pawhuska, two as an assistant at Bartlesville and three as head coach at Enid.
Jones said that Grove should have several players with experience from a team that won a handful of games last season.
They include a quartet of seniors in 6-foot-9 Chase Hilton, 5-9 Zac Knox, 6-1 Trent Phillips and 5-11 Josh Wilhelm.
Sophomores Tyler Busch (6-2) and Trae Fairchild (5-11). described by Jones as a “good shooter,” also lettered last season.
“Ryan Young, a 6-5 junior, boosted his stock during the summer,” Jones said Tuesday. “He’s athletic but raw. He loves basketball. He has a chance to be very good.
“I thought we had some good times working together during the summer,” Jones said. “We coached efforts, attitudes and expectations.
“Chase (Hilton) needs to become accustomed to playing more minutes,” Jones said.
Jones’ assistants at the various levels will include familiar names: Jason Geer, Dennis Millican and Jerod Phillips.
Jones said that the move by Winters, a graduate of Collinsville High School, places him closer to family members. Jones’ father-in-law, Jim Cherry, is longtime head football coach at Tulsa Eidson.
Shad Miller resigned after four seasons at Glenpool.
“I haven’t had a chance to see very much of our players, but from what I’ve seen, this could be the most athletic team I’ve coached,” Winters told Barry Lewis in the Tulsa World. “We’re going to run and press. It should be a fun team to watch for the fans.”
Joey Powers stars
Powers, a 6-5 Welch product, scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help the Small East clip the West 72-69 in an All-State game in the Mabee Center at Tulsa.
Powers scored 11 points to key the East’s 43-36 halftime advantage.
Jay’s Hannah Ritter, who’s headed for Fort Hayes State, tallied eight for the Large East in its 53-50 loss to the West.
Matt Oberste honored
The Sallisaw graduate will be remembered by Joplin American Legion baseball fans for his homers for Three Rivers in this year’s annual JSA/Joplin Miner Classic at Joplin High School.
Oberste, a four-year starter in baseball, basketball and football, has been named male athlete of the year by the Oklahoma Coaches Association.
Quarterback Oberste, who produced 31 touchdowns and more than 3,000 yards as a senior, will concentrate on baseball at Connors State College of Warner.
