On the court, Kiersten Hines is the Broken Arrow Lady Tigers most accurate long-range shooter. Off the court, however, she is the quickest to offer an assist.
“I love helping people out,” said Hines. “Everybody comes to me and says I’m the mom of the group. Seeing my teammates or anyone else be happy makes me feel good.”
From tutoring fellow Tiger athletes in math or reading to serving special needs students as a peer tutor, there is no end to Hines’ willingness to help.
“Over the summer, there was a girl, I think she was in eighth grade, she would always come to open gym, and say, ‘I want to shoot like you. I want to be like you,’” Hines shared. “I would take time out of the day to work with her on her shot, her dribbling, her confidence. I would tell her stories and she would just laugh and have a great time.
“It’s mind blowing that little kids would come up to me and say, ‘I want play just like you.’ It’s like I can’t believe I’m making an impact on these little kids. That’s crazy.”
The “impact” is not just with future Tiger basketball players.
Her coach explains.
“She doesn’t miss an open gym session,” Lady Tiger first-year coach Mike Dooney said. “She comes to everything that is extra. She does all the little stuff. She works as hard as any kid in the program, if not harder. It’s great for those other kids to be around, because it ignites a passion in them.”
Hines’ passion for the game she loves has is the driving force in building her confidence. She has worked diligently since early summer to improve her craft. She was the only Lady Tiger to make 10,000 free throws during open gym time. Though she didn’t make that many three-pointers, she shot until “my arms hurt.”
Her steadfastness has paid off. Hines is averaging a team-best 12.5 points per game and is shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc. Colleges are taking notice of the Lady Tiger sharp shooter.
“She is maybe the best in-game three-point shooter I’ve ever coached,” Dooney said. “Her shot is always on line. She either misses short or deep. She doesn’t miss left or right. That’s the sign of a really good shooter.”
And a confident one.
“It’s important for me to have confidence, so when my teammates pass me the ball, I know I will hit the shot,” Hines said. “They have confidence in me, so that means a lot to me.”
With the work Hines has put in, Dooney has faith the senior will come through when needed.
“I tell her ‘shooters shoot,’” he said. “In the big moments she doesn’t mind stepping to the free throw line and knocking down the free throws or taking the big shot.”
On the court, she wants the ball in crucial situations. Off the court, she is always ready to help those need.
“For me, I want to be the first person at everything: first person in the gym, to turn something in at school or be the first person to take someone home if they need a ride,” Hines said. “Basketball, it just correlates to life.
“You have to know where you want to go in life and keep progressing each and every day.”
Broken Arrow Tiger record-setting running back Noah Cortes was named the VYPE Magazine and Shelter Insurance winner of the Mr. Football Oklahoma Award.
The Shelter Insurance Mr. Football Oklahoma Award recognizes the outstanding athletic achievements of Noah Cortes and the high standards of athletic excellence and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, which distinguishes Cortes as Oklahoma’s best high school football player this season.
Cortes finished an historic season with the Broken Arrow Tigers by winning the Class 6AI state title over Jenks High School. The win marked the first state football title for Broken Arrow High School. Under the leadership and guidance of head coach David Alexander, Cortes set the single season rushing record for Broken Arrow and led the team to an undefeated season.
During the season, Cortes rushed for 1,958 yards and 35 touchdowns. In the title game versus Jenks High School, Cortes rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers defeated the Trojans, 28-20. Cortes is Broken Arrow's career rushing leader with 4,444 yards.
“Noah is a special player," said VYPE Magazine Publisher Austin Chadwick. "Tough, physical, reliable. He embodied the DNA of Broken Arrow’s team and championship run. Proud of a young man that has turned into an exceptional player and person. We wish him good luck from the crew here at VYPE Oklahoma.”
Cortes is the first Tiger football player to win the award and second BA Athlete to be recognized for a season-end VYPE/Shelter Insurance award. Toree Thompson was named Miss Basketball in 2014 after leading the Tigers to a state championship and undefeated season.
Cortes joins former Mr. Football award winners; Trey’Vonne Barre’-Jenks (2012), Kai Callins-Guthrie (2013), Mason Fine-Locust Grove (2014), Cooper Nunley-Jenks (2015), Shamari Brooks-Union (2016), Joshua Proctor-Owasso (2017).
Zach Marcheselli took one official visit.
That’s all he needed.
“I just felt at home there,” Marcheselli said of TCU (Texas Christian University), the school in which the Broken Arrow senior linebacker confirmed his commitment to at noon Wednesday by signing a football letter of intent.
“I chose TCU because of Gary Patterson and their coaching staff,” Marcheselli said. “I got along really well with Coach (Chad) Glascow. It’s in the Big 12. It’s fast paced. They need linebackers like me. I think I fit in pretty well.”
The Horned Frogs, who play a 4-2-5 defense, lost their top four linebackers to graduation. On the current roster, TCU has just one returning linebacker that will be a senior. Four others will be sophomores. Whether it’s on special teams or backing up at linebacker in 2019, Marcheselli wants to “really contribute next year.”
As for the recruiting process, Marcheselli began getting letters and visits as a freshman. That was for wrestling. It wasn’t until his junior year that schools began contacting him about playing football for them.
The first to offer was the University of North Texas. After that, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Missouri and others schools reached out to the linebacker who would become the Tigers leading tackler and a member of the 106th Oklahoman All-State Team during this state championship season.
Now that football, at the high school level at least, is over for Marcheselli, his attention is back to wrestling, the sport for which college coaches first took notice. The three-time state champion has an individual goal of nabbing a fourth state title this year. But the greater desire is to add a second 18-19 team trophy to the BA awards cabinet.
“That is probably the most important thing to me now,” Marcheselli said. “My individual goals aren’t really what I care about right now, because I want to see our team win another championship.”
“I love wrestling, but I just think I love football a little bit more,” said Marcheselli, who most-likely will wrestle at 220-pounds again this season for Coach Shawn Jones and the Broken Arrow Tigers. “I’m trying to be smart about it too. Football has full scholarships and wrestling doesn’t, so that keeps a lot of money in my parents’ pocket.”
And for the future and money in his pockets, he looks at TCU as a wise choice.
“They take their academics seriously there,” Marcheselli said. “If you graduate from there you can pretty much get a job wherever.”
Even though, Marcheselli took just one official visit, his college choice was measured carefully. Thus, to him, one look is all he needed.
Parents of Broken Arrow High School, Freshman Academy and middle school student-athletes may go online to complete necessary forms to assure their child is eligible to begin participation in school athletics.
The completion of such forms as the Emergency Consent Form, Concussion and Head Injury Acknowledgement Form and the Risk/Insurance/Transportation Consent Form is required before a student is eligible to participate in Broken Arrow athletics. Other online forms parents are required to complete include the OSSAA’s Eligibility and Recruiting Forms, the Social Networking Form and the Drug Testing Consent Form.
To begin completion of the forms parents will need to include their child’s first and last names and know their child’s student ID number. An electronic signature of one parent is required.
Student-athletes are also required to have a current physical on file in order to participate in Broken Arrow school-sponsored athletics.
Online completion of the required forms is more convenient for parents and will streamline the process for Broken Arrow athletic department administrators, coaches and trainers. Visit RankOneSport's website to start the online forms process.
Parents with questions regarding the medical forms may email Daniel Steward or Taylor Coatsworth. For all other questions, please call the athletic office at 918-259-5900.
