November 14, 2026 Issue, Page 3 of 13

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SPORTS The Elk City News SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2026 • 3 Taylee Thiessen & Raegan Thornton behind Sayre's Kodi Peach Sayre's Havenlee Villegas defending Sayre's Callee Jackson Sayre's Blaykley Shooting-Calle Jackson behind Sayre's Blaykley Finley Sayre's Blaykley Fenley & Havenlee Villegas Merritt's Rubie Potter Merritt's Maybry VanBuren Merritt's Isabellaa Drew Merritt's Harper Lambright Merritt's Harper Clinton Merritt's Braylynn McGee Jaylee Wolcott defending from Kreslyn Denney Emersyn & Camryn blocking Adyson Coach Travis Thiessen encouraging Jaylee Wolcott Sayre's Laynee Underwood Sayre's Blaykley Finley & Calle Jackson Local Sports By Alex Alvarez GOLF: Sayre National had their last golf tournament on Saturday, November 7 when they hosted the Fireman’s Benefit Scramble for the Sayre and Erick’s Fire Departments. The results were as follows: A Flight: 1st: Cole Hammond, Justin Barrick, Blake Ramirez, and Sean Price 2nd: Blake Lovelady, Don Lovelady, Jace Lovelady, Ty Lovelady 3rd: Danny Fletcher, Ron Calhoun, Broc Teel, Derek Teel B Flight: 1st: Shawn Sawyer, Landon Sawyer, Mike Cowan, Kevin Cotts 2nd: Chris Rhoads, Coleman Rhoads, Cooper Rhoads, Garrett Noblitt, 3rd: Joe Sewell, Ty Owens, Gaynor Gonzalez, Trenton Crockett On other local news, Keaton Finnell from Elk City won the Under Armour Tournament in Weatherford with a score of 73. No other results were forwarded to us. Sayre will begin their winter schedule by hosting Saturday Scrambles which include men and women and players of all ages. Sayre is always promoting events, even in the off season. Elk City Golf & C.C.’s tournament calendar has ended. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS AROUND THE AREA AREA TEAMS RECORDS: ELKS FOOTBALL: Coach Zac Maynard. With a loss to Bethany on November 6 at Bethany’s stadium, the Elks Finished their season with a record of 2-8 and will be rebuilding their roster for the 2027 season promptly. Elks Basketball: will begin on December 1st for both boys (Coach: Tyler Foale) and girls (Coach: Mason Jones). Elks Wrestling: will begin December 8th (Coach Kaleb Murray) Craig Hixon. With a win versus Watonga by a score of 52-0, the Sayre Eagles finished the season 5-5. Basketball: Begins December 1st for Boys (Coach: Garrett Thomas) and Girls (Coach: Libbi Zinn) MERRITT FOOTBALL: Coach Dustin Beasley. Class “A”. With a loss against Hooker in their last game of the season, the Merritt Oilers finished 2-8 after winning the first two games of the season. Basketball: Begins November 20 for boys (Coach: Tyler Snowden) and Girls (Coach: Jarod Owen) SAYRE FOOTBALL: Coach CANUTE: Basketball: will start on November 6 for boys (Coach: Brock Steffes) and girls (Coach: Tatum Ridling). Note: Canute Girls was Basketball State Champion in early 2026 on their 2025-2026 season. Canute does not have a football team. KIDS INC Kids Inc., based at the Arrowhead Center, west of Ackley Park, does a great job with scheduling leagues, tournaments and open days at all soccer, baseball, softball and basketball courts. Now, it is basketball season for kids from 1st through 6th grades and there is nothing more fun than watching youngsters trying their hardest to shoot baskets at regulation height. Amanda Hunter, the main coordinator or manager for Kids Inc., will always do her best to accommodate players and teams as needed. Right now, basketball games are scheduled for Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 5:30 p.m. The last game is at 7:00 p.m. The rest of the time is open for practice to teams and the public. For more information, call Kids Inc at 580374-4332. This issue includes pictures of girls in 3rd and 4th grades from the game between Merritt and Sayre. Professional Golf By Alex Alvarez NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF GOLF: LIV More Questions than Answers. With LIV folding and filing for bankruptcy and leaving many PGA Tour pros who defected without a clear path to reinstatement to the PGA Tour. Sure, fans would like to see Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Tyerell Hatton, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and others more often, but it is not as easy as it seems. They not only broke contracts and rules with the PGA Tour and basically, but they also said: “We don’t care if American fans see us or not. And we don’t want to play the PGA Tour.” Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed came back with conditions, same conditions that were offered to several, but they all declined. Now, LIV is gone, and the offers seem to have been a “one time offer”. Now that Rahm won the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, beating Rory McIlroy in the process, surely, he would like to play the PGA Tour again, as he resides in San Diego. As a Masters and U.S. Open champion, as well as Dustin Johnshon and Cameron Smith with majors to their resume, they can play the majors, but not the Players Championship. Only time will tell. PGA TOUR: WORLD-WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP The sixth of eight Fed Ex Cup tournament was held in Los Cabos, Mexico, several hundred miles straight south from San Diego, and the winner should not be a surprise to anyone: young teenager, 19 years old Blades Brown who earned his Tour Card via the Korn Ferry Tour by finishing in the top 20 players at the end of the year. It was his first professional win. Blades has had a few 54-hole leads, but never won, and this win was a come from behind, seven strokes to be exact, by shooting 63 in the closing round to Ben James’ 70. Ben James had the 54-hole lead and was playing 4 groups behind Blades Brown. Ben came to the last regulation hole two shots behind Blades Brown, who had finished almost an hour before. Ben needed an eagle on the last hole to force a playoff, and he did just than by holing out a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 last hole. Both players played the 18th hole twice, the first time around, both players made birdie, the second time around, Ben James missed a 7-foot putt for birdie and Blades Brown made his from 3 ½ feet to win for the first time as a professional. Both players finished at 23 under par. In third place at 22 under was Mi- chael Kim, 4th was Kensei Hirata at -21; 5th was David Ford at -20, in a tie for 6th at 19 under were Denny McCarthy and Alvaro Ortiz; and four players were tied for 8th at 18 under: Jordan Smith, Seamus Power, Keith Mitchell and Ryan Gerard. Coming up is the Austin Championship by Compliance Solutions and the last FedEx Fall event will be RSM Classic in St. Simmons Island, in Georgia. The top 10 after the fall series (which are numbers 51-60 in the total standings), will earn a spot in two elevated events: AT&T Pebble Beach and the Genesis Invitational. CHAMPIONS TOUR: CHARLES SCHWAB CUP As we speak, the last Champions Tour event is being played in Arizona at the Phoenix Country Club: The Charles Schwab Cup final tournament. There’s a winner of the event, but also a winner of the Cup. Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson are so far ahead of the rest, that the cup will be won by one of them two, no matter who wins the Tournament. LPGA: TOTO JAPAN CLASSIC Shuri Sakuma won in her native land by coming from 4 shots behind and shooting a closing 64 to win the Toto Japan Classic at 20 under par by four shots over Aki Iwai and five shots over Erika Hara, both compatriots of Shuri. In a tie for fourth place at 14 under par was another Japanese player, Yuna Araki who tied with Arpichaya Yubol from Thailand. Five players tied for sixth at 13 under par: Ana Belac, Hyo Yu Kim, Nasa Hataoka, Youmin Hwang and Chia Yen Wu. Coming up is the Annika Sorenstam Classic, this weekend and the grand finale will be the CME Tour Championship on November 19-22. The last two events will be in Florida. DP WORLD TOUR: ABU DHABI ALDAR CHAMPIONSHIP Jon Rahm returned to the winner’s circle on the DP World Tour, where he once started his professional career when the tour was named the European Tour and only played in Europe before adding events all over the world. Jon shot rounds of 65-67-6667 for 23 under par to win by two shots over Tyrell Hatton and four over Rory McIlroy, who started eagle-birdie but finished there, at three under for the round. IN fourth place was Francesco Laporta at 17 under par; three players tied for fifth at 16 under par, Angel Ayora, Bernd Weisberger and David Pug. Next will be the DP World Tour Championship (Nov 12-15) at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates which will conclude the official schedule. Professional Team Sports By Alex Alvarez NBA The Warriors blew out the Pelicans by 51 points on a 138-87 win at Chase Center, in Mission Bay, San Francisco. Stephen Curry scored 25 points in about 20 minutes of play. Brandin Podziemski scored another 25 points. It was the Warriors eight straight win this season and now hold a record of 8-3 and are behind 1.5 games from Los Angeles Lakers who have a 10-2 record and lead the Pacific Division in the western Conference. Our own Oklahoma City Thunder have an 8-2 record and lead the Norwest Division of the Western Conference, even without three of their starters who are in injury list: Jalen Williams (Ankle/ Tibian Surgery), Chet Holmgren (Knee Surgery), Thomas Sorber (Knee Surgery), Nicola Topic (Lower Back Surgery) and others. It is a testament to their team effort and head coach Mark Daigneault to have several starters away and still have an 8-2 record Meanwhile, San Antonio Spurs have the longest winning streak at games, just one ahead of the War- riors. The Oklahoma City Thunder has four straight wins as of Tuesday. The standings are (top two teams in each division): EASTERN CONFERENCE: Philadelphia 76ers 9-2, Celtics 8-2 (Atlantic), Detroit Pistons 7-3, Cleveland Cavaliers 5-6 (Central), Atlanta Hawks 7-5, Miami Heat 4-6 (Southeast) WESTERN CONFERENCE: Oklahoma City Thunder 8-2, Minnesota Timberwolves 8-3 (Northwest), Los Angeles Lakers 10-2, Golden State Warriors 8-3 (Pacific), San Antonio Spurs 9-2, Houston Rockets 8-3 (Southwest). NFL With no undefeated teams in the league, the news switched to trades and trade rumors. Actual Trades: Jordan Davis (DT) went from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Jacksonville Jaguars; Jessie Bates III went from Atlanta Falcons to Jacksonville Jaguars; Arnold Ebiketie was traded from the Eagles to the Cincinnati Bengals; and Jeffrey Simmons was traded from Tennessee Titans to Chicago Bears. Trade Rumors: Minnesota Vi- kings are eyeing a trade in their quarterback position after Carson Wentz deal tanks. The Buffalo Bills at 7-1 and holding consecutive opponents to less than 200 yards are giving General Manager Brandon Beane a thing or two to think in future trades, since the Bills have spent the past month making changes to their secondary, including releasing starting safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Deadline for trades was Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, so more news on this issue. The standings are as follows: AMERICAN LEAGUE: Buffalo Bills 7-1, New England Patriots 5-2 (East); Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals 6-2 (North), Jacksonville Jaguars 6-2, Houston Texans 3-5 (South), Denver Broncos 7-2, Kansas City Chiefs 6-2 (West). NATIONAL LEAGUE: New York Giants 5-2-1, Dallas Cowboys 4-5 (East); Chicago Bears 7-2, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions 6-2 (North), Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints 3-5. (South); San Francisco 49ers 7-1, Seattle Seahawks and Los An- NBA Victor Wembanyama nearly had a “triple-double” in just 25 minutes in history blowout of the Suns 122-96. Just a comment: the word “nearly” is the main word of the “triple-double”. Now, give him credit: he scored 40 points! Lebron is doing well in his new team in Philadelphia: Through his first 9 games with Philadelphia, LeBron is averaging 15.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game while playing 32.9 minutes per night. Will this be his last ever season? HOCKEY Stats don’t lie: Sabres Owen Power is taking his game to a new level. Power had a three-assist night Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he now has 12 assists and 14 points in 17 games. See TEAM page 10 Sports Tidbits By Alex Alvarez GOLF Teenager (19) Blades Brown became the youngest winner since Jordan Spieth won the 2013 John Deere Classic, previously Charles Kocsis won the Michigan Open in 1931 when he was 18, a tournament that was considered a regional event in the early years of the PGA. Blades shot the lowest closing round in the FedEx Fall Series with a 63 at the Worldwide Technology Championship in Los Cabos. Ben James earned his PGA Tour membership by finishing as the No. 1 player in the PGA TOUR University Ranking and Blades Brown qualified as a top 20 in the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season In the over 50 Tour, only two golfers can win the Charles Schwab Cup: Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson this weekend, regardless of who wins the final stop at Phoenix Country Club. Jon Rahm wins in Abu Dabi on the DP World Tour after leaving LIV. LIV finally folds: what will happen to the players who are defected from the PGA Tour and how will they be eligible to earn a PGA Tour card? NFL FOOTBALL: San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk was reinstated by the NFL from the Reserve/Left Squad on Monday, Nov. 9. Colts yet to receive an offer they like for Jonathan Taylor. “One in a Row” – Dallas avoids a last-minute collapse against Indianapolis Colts and comes from behind to win. About time! New York Ginats honor Rachel Apa after her death during the New York City Marathon at age 24. Tragedy! COLEGE FOOTBALL It’s been a crazy season and the top 25 have been shuffling the positions. Georgia is back to a rightful #1 after sweeping the field with Ole Miss on the road, 42-7! Come on, Alabama with two losses is #5 and Tennessee #13 after beating Alabama by 16 points 2 weeks ago? USC made it to #15 after soundly beating Ohio State at home by a score of 30-18, and Ohio State slipped to #21 And #1 Miami lost to Notre Dame so now Notre Dame is #3 and Miami is #5. UCLA is #4??? COLLEGE BASKETBALL UCLA & Virginia jump in rankings after big wins: UCLA beat Arizona 84-75 and Virginia beat Arkansas 91-72. Virginia jumped to #7 and UCLA jumped to #9. Florida and Duke continue to head the rankings as #1 and #2 respectively. Sources ESPN, Google, MSN Sports, On-Line, local