Buck Ringgold: Family-first approach has carried Edmond North girls basketball team to an undefeated start this season

Edmond North is ranked No. 1 in 6A and is the No. 1 overall squad in the latest SBLive Oklahoma rankings.

By Buck Ringgold

Ask Edmond North girls basketball coach Pete Papahronis what he has really liked about his squad all season.

It won't take him long to provide an answer, and when he does, he sums it up rather nicely in just one word.

"Everything," he said. "I love these girls, they're fantastic. They come out to work every day."

The Lady Huskies have gotten the job done up to this point. They stand at 15-0 on the season, and 14 of those 15 games have been won by double digits.

Edmond North is ranked No. 1 in 6A and is also currently the No. 1 ranked overall squad in the latest SBLive Oklahoma poll.

Last weekend, the Lady Huskies rolled through the Jenks-Union Invitational tournament. North won by 24 points in its semifinal against a then-undefeated Sand Springs squad; then won by 17 points against a Tulsa Union team ranked in the top five in Class 6A.

Tuesday, the Lady Huskies returned home and posted an 80-16 win against Edmond Deer Creek.

"As a coaching staff, we had high expectations," Papahronis said. "We have a high work ethic and high discipline, and they come out every single day and grind every single day with no complaints.

"They're wonderful to coach, they play as one, they get along."

You could even say they're like a family.

Which is true in one regard, as both of Papahronis' daughters - senior Toni and junior Elle - play on the squad. But it extends beyond just those two.

"These girls I'm with, probably four hours a day every day, I'm sweating with them and bleeding with them," said junior forward Laci Steele, the team's leading scorer. "We're a family together and we know that and we try to always play like a family."

Toni Papahronis is in total agreement.

"We are really a tight-knit group, we're really close with each other and in practice, if somebody's not working hard, we kind of hold each other accountable," she said. "We are comfortable with telling each other, 'Come on, pick it up.'

"We want to win state this year, that is our goal, so we're all holding each other accountable while also being a tight-knit group."

The Lady Huskies are also motivated after last season came to an abrupt end in the state semifinals. It's a feeling that has lingered with the players ever since.

"We always think back, like we don't ever want to feel that way again, so we like use that as our fuel and our motivation, like I do not want to feel like that again," Steele said.

"I don't want to feel like we were cut short because I thought we had enough talent to at least make it to the finals last year and I think we just fell short on that, so we just don't want that to happen again."

One way the Lady Huskies have ensured themselves of that has been their defense.

They have allowed 40 points or fewer in 11 of their 15 wins. In their last four games, they have given up a total of exactly 100 points.

"We're confident in our defense, and I know when we play the right kind of defense, that teams aren't going to get easy baskets as long as we make them work for it," Pete Papahronis said.

And the Lady Huskies have also learned to adjust on the fly.

Elle Papahronis has been out indefinitely with an injury and she is the team's second-leading scorer, the top rebounder and one of the team's primary defenders.

"We were playing (the Jenks-Union Invitational) shorthanded, but we've got so many girls and we're talented and deep, and we just step up," Papahronis said. "When one goes out, the next one just comes in (and contributes)."

Having all of his players healthy come playoff time certainly can help Papahronis and his team when it comes to finishing the ultimate job.

But it won't be a ride down easy street, as 6A is loaded with some impressive teams.

There are teams like Bixby, Union, Sand Springs and Putnam City West capable of making deep runs.

Then there's Choctaw, which like Edmond North is also perfect on the season.

Certainly you can't count out defending 6A champion Norman. And there's also Tahlequah, which played in the 5A title game last season before being elevated to 6A.

"There are a lot of good teams, and it's not going to be easy; I don't think it's going to be easy," Toni Papahronis said.

"It's going to take a lot of hard work and hopefully, we keep playing the way we've been playing and we don't get in like a rut."

And the Lady Huskies continuing to play together, like a family.