by BY JASON KERSEY, THE OKLAHOMAN
ANADARKO — The streak started when Lakota Beatty was a seventh grader.
Anadarko was beaten out of the girls basketball playoffs by Vinita four straight years. But Beatty and the Warriors finally toppled Vinita in the Class 4A semifinals this year, and went on to win the state title a day later.
“It felt like that was a very important milestone in my life,” Beatty said of beating Vinita. “I felt like that was the championship game.”
Betty averaged 18.6 points and 5 rebounds per game as a junior and has established herself as one of the top state college prospects for the class of 2013. She already has offers from Oral Roberts and Tulsa, and Arkansas, Fresno State and Oklahoma State are showing strong interest.
Beatty will visit Stillwater on Monday, but she said she’d really like to play out of state.
The championship was particularly meaningful for Beatty because she was able to share it with her sister. Freshman Ashley Beatty played a key role on the team, and Lakota said hoops has brought them closer.
“I feel really comfortable when she’s on the court with me,” Lakota Beatty said. “I love playing with her.”
First-year coach Jeff Zinn, who came to Anadarko from Newkirk, said the two Beatty girls have a very typical sister relationship.
“They’ll be the first to celebrate with each other, and they’ll be the first to get on each other if something goes wrong,” Zinn said. “They’re great for each other. They seem to be more than sisters; they seem to be best friends.”
Zinn said having a player like Lakota Beatty allowed him to work with the defense, which he thought early on was the key to their championship run.
“You can just put the ball in her hands and good things are going to happen,” Zinn said.
“Everybody sees her skills, but I think her number one attribute is that she’s probably one of the best competitors I’ve ever seen. When everybody else gets nervous, she gets determined.”
