Your hometown Enid Outlaws finished the regular season in style Sunday, by beating Dallas Skyline 123-103. The win left them tied with the Houston Push for best record in the league (22-2), and by virtue of the tiebreaker, won the Central Conference over Houston. Further, the TBL announced that Enid star Chance Comanche was honored as 1st team All Conference, while sharp shooter Charlie Marquardt received 2nd team All-Conference honors.
By virtue of their outstanding regular season, Enid will have home court advantage throughout the playoffs, which begin this Wednesday. Each round of playoffs are best 2 out of 3, with the first game being “away” and the next two games “home.”
The first round pits Enid against a conference rival – Omaha’s Finest (12-12). They will play 7:00 p.m. in Omaha the first game, at the Stride Bank Center here in Enid on Friday, July 2nd at 7:00 p.m. for game #2 and Saturday, July 3rd at 6:00 p.m. (Stride Bank Center – if necessary). The winner of this series will play the winner of the Houston/Shreveport matchup next week in the conference finals.
The Outlaws won all five matchups against the Finest this season. With the exception of the last game, all games were close (118-115, 136-125, 126-116, 129-121, 143-113). In those games, Enid’s MVP candidate Chance Comanche averaged 30.4 points per game, with a high of 40 points and 20 rebounds in their last matchup. Tavares Sledge has also had several high scoring games against the Finest, averaging 23 PPG over their last 4 matchups. Taking out the 5 losses to Enid, Omaha is 12-7 against everyone else, including giving Houston one of their two losses.
Omaha has had a bit of, shall we say, roster flexibility, with one of their top players, Craig Sword, out since May 16th. Forward Devonte Patterson (#10) has taken up some of his slack and has had 17, 35 and 25 against Enid the past three games, and 24.3 PPG, and 7.4 RPG on the year.
As for the Outlaws, the unquestioned best player is Center Chance Comanche, who averages 27.2 PPG and 12.8 RPG, both good for second in the league. Close behind are Wayne Runnels (19.6 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.9 APG), Charlie Marquardt (18.8 PPG, 49.7% from 3, a league leading 92 3’s made), and Tavares Sledge (16.2 PPG 9.4 RPG).
Tickets for Friday’s matchup start at $8 are on sale at www.stridebankcenter.com or walk-up the day of the game.
