SPIRO, Okla. -- The final night of the LeFlore County Tournament was twice as nice for Howe girls coach Chris Brown.
Immediately following his Lady Lions' championship win over LeFlore, Brown was inducted into the second class of the LeFlore County Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in a ceremony between championship games.
"When I started at Howe in 1999, I just wanted to play in the semifinals," Brown said. "The semifinals in LeFlore County is just crazy. Then, it was at Carl Albert (State College) and it was just an amazing atmosphere to play in. We felt like if we could do that then there was nothing we were going to see along the way to state or even competing for state that would match that."
This year's championship is the 19th for Howe overall and 13th under Brown, who has built a juggernaut.
It didn't start out that way, though.
Brown wanted to coach boys when he first started but was coaxed into coaching the girls that first summer in 1999.
"My superintendent asked me to coach the girls during the summer," Brown said. "We didn't win a game, and I mean not a game in the summer. They did us a favor and put us in a JV tournament and we lost that in the summer."
Also inducted into the Hall of Fame last weekend was Marcia Parker-Walton, who coached Bokoshe, the smallest school in the 13-school county, to a county championship in 2001.
"Marcia Parker was inducted with me," Brown said. "The very first game I ever coached in she was coaching Bokoshe and we started the game down, 18-0, and I thought they were going to fire me by the end of the first quarter. They were really good, and we didn't have any answers. She taught me a lot. We lost our first seven games to Bokoshe. That conference was pretty loaded at the time, Cameron was good, Bokoshe was good. We played in four homecomings, not just ours. I wanted to be good enough that when our bus pulled into the parking lot, they would say 'oh crap, it's Howe.' That's the way we were at the beginning."
Brown began this season with 560 wins and four state championships, a long way from that first season.
"We started that season with 18 players and ended with seven," Brown said. "I always say we found the right seven. More than anything in the world, those seven players I'm connected to. There are so many stories from that team that would amaze you. I ran them one time for wearing coats in the gym when we getting ready to practice. Now, if you ask these players today if they wear coats today in the gym, they'll tell you 'no' because of that team. If they're handing that down, then all of the good culture things filter down as well."
SCOTT NELKE
A tradition of the LeFlore County Tournament is the announcement of the all-county teams and the Most Valuable Players following the boys' championship game.
Pocola's Garrett Scott and Howe's Gracie Lute were named the MVPs this year.
Pocola's Scott Nelke remains the only three-time MVP of the county tournament after helping the Indians win championships in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
"When we played it at Carl Albert, it was so packed you couldn't even throw the ball inbounds from the baseline," Nelke said. "Playing in it, a college gym, as a high school player, that was big-time. It's still big-time but I miss it for these kids now. We had a run there, and I remember all of those times with those guys. That's the time of year you start to ramp it up. There's lot of good times looking back on that tournament."
Nelke is currently an assistant coach at Northside under Eric Burnett.
DEREK BARLOW
Championship teams and runner-up teams in the LeFlore County Tournament receive a nice trophy, and the head coach is also presented a nice personal trophy.
Last year, Derek Barlow guided the Pocola Indians to the boys championship but accidentally broke his trophy when he was getting out of his vehicle when he got home after the championship.
This year, he was more careful after winning another one.
"Accidentally, last year getting out of the car when I got home I was trying to close the car door and knocked the top off the base. We got it glued back together but I was disappointed that I didn't make into the house with the trophy. Now, we have a new one. I'm going to be careful with it."
Barlow is relatively new to the thrills and chills of the LeFlore County Tournament.
A Van Buren graduate, Barlow is in his third year as head coach at Pocola. In 2020, he was at Sallisaw but did get his first taste of the county tournament in 2019 as head coach at Wister.
"I coached at Wister a couple of years back, the boys for one year before going to Sallisaw," Barlow said. "That was the first time I'd ever been to the LeFlore County Tournament. Everybody told me what a big deal it was and I thought 'yeah, we'll see.' It was exactly what they said it was. It was awesome. This crowd is great. I'm blown away by the LeFlore County Tournament and the fans that show up and the support of all the teams."
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NoneAT A GLANCE
2023 LEFLORE COUNTY ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
BOYS
MVP — Garrett Scott, Pocola
ALL-TOURNAMENT — Dakotah Terrell, Pocola; Cole Vaughn, Wister; C.J. Halford, Wister; Zander Riggs, Spiro; Landon Thurman, Heavener; Devry Ritter, Heavener; Rabbitt Holly, LeFlore; Dax Collins, Poteau; Brex Caldwell, Panama; Deuce Walden, Arkoma.
Billy Brake Hustle Award — Zack Jones, Pocola
GIRLS
MVP — Gracie Lute, Howe
ALL-TOURNAMENT — Ashlynn Dalton, Howe; River Cogburn, LeFlore; Piper Warren, LeFlore; Allyssa Parker, Pocola; Kylee Smith, Pocola; Addison Walker, Whitesboro; Madison Grogan, Whitesboro; Brooklyn Garner, Poteau; Lynsey Wortham, Spiro; Sky Bluford, Panama.
Dennis Hemphill Hustle Award — Jurnee Williams, Howe
LEFLORE COUNTY BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME
2ND CLASS
Chris Brown, Gerald Blankenship, Mark McKenzie, M.K. Derrick, Marcia Parker-Walton, Joe Paul Hemphill
1st CLASS
Nadine Carpenter, Greg Nichols, Bob Turner, Chris Gillespie, Jim Roll, Clay Herring, Austin Moreton, Bob Traw, Steve Linker.