Video: Central Plains wins 2019 state title Highlights from win over Hanover last March.
The Kansas boys and girls high school basketball state tournaments get underway Thursday and continue through Saturday.
Among the biggest stories at United Wireless Arena in Dodge City will be the
Central Plains (Claflin) girls, who are riding the nation's longest win streak at 135 games and seeking a seventh consecutive state title.
Coached by Pat Stiles, the top-seeded Oilers (24-0) look to continue making history in the Class 1A quarterfinals against Ingalls (16-8) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Should Iowa State recruit
Emily Ryan and fellow seniors
Addison Crites,
Rachel Lamatsch,
Zoe Potter,
Delaney Rugan and
Rebecca Stratmann help Central Plains attain its goal, the Oilers would stretch their winning streak to 138 games and the Class of 2020 would graduate with a remarkable 107-0 record.
There is plenty of competition standing in the way. No. 3 Olpe and No. 4 Cunningham both carry 25-0 marks intothe tournament while No. 5 Otis-Bison's (23-2) only two losses came against Central Plains.
The Oilers beat Osborne by 77 points Saturday to win the substate title.
Photo courtesy of Central Plains High School
The small school powerhouse last experienced defeat on Feb. 24, 2015 when Ellinwood upended Stiles' club 66-58. The Oilers, however, recovered in time to win five straight contests and claim their second Class 2A state title in a row. Central Plains has tacked on another 130 straight victories over the past five seasons and are looking to gain their fifth straight undefeated state championship.
Led by Ryan, who has piled up 2,985 career points, the Oilers have been thoroughly dominant in 2019-20. Central Plains has scored 80 points or more 12 times and 90 points or more seven times. Twelve opponents have been held under 20 points and 20 opponents failed to hit 30 on the scoreboard.
In all, the Oilers have outscored the opposition 1,864-483 in 2019-20, an average of 77.7-20.1.
With an 89-22 win over Osborne on March 7, the Oilers moved past Duncanville (Texas) into third for the nation's longest all-time winning streaks, according to the National Federation of High Schools Record Book.
It's the longest high school basketball win streak – boys or girls – in 67 years, since Baskin (La.) saw its streak of 214 consecutive victories come to an end in 1953.
Stiles' daughter Jackie is a Kansas legend who owns the single-game, season and career scoring records at Claflin High School with 71, 1,252 and 3,603 points respectively.
