One of Oklahoma’s oldest high school basketball tournaments tipped off here a day earlier than planned due to inclement weather in the forecast.

The 54th annual Heart of Oklahoma tournament tipped off at 10 a.m. Wednesday with Bethany and Dickson’s girls at The Reimer Center.

In addition to the Dragons, also in the tournament field on the girls side are Enid, OKC Knights, Bethany, Dickson, Anadarko, Byng and Elgin.

Purcell and Anadarko played Wednesday night at 7 p.m. tonight.

Bethany’s girls are ranked No. 9 in Class 4A. They won the Heart title last year, knocking off Purcell, 54-43 in the finals.

Anadarko’s girls are ranked No. 6 in Class 3A.

On the boys side of the bracket, Purcell tangled with Byng at 8:30 p.m. in their tournament opener. Also in the tournament are Anadarko, Enid, Dickson, Elgin, OKC Knights, Bethany and Byng.

Anadarko’s boys are ranked No. 15 in Class 3A. They won the championship last year, defeating Yukon, 38-35.

Bethany’s boys are ranked No. 12 in 4A.

The Heart is the second oldest basketball tournament in the state only behind  the Bishop McGuinness tournament.

Both Matt Lohn and Toney Cooper report their teams are looking forward to the challenges of the tournament.

“We are excited for this year’s HOOT. We have a good field of teams coming this year,” girl’s head coach Cooper said.

“We open with Anadarko, which is always a challenge. Our game in December was extremely competitive and our kids played well enough to win that game.

“The front side of our schedule had us on the road entirely. “We are so excited to have some games on our floor, in front of our crowd,” the coach continued

“Our team is still learning how to sustain success over the course of a game. They have shown we can compete with some of the best teams in 4A, we just have to finish.

“This tournament will give us more opportunities and we need to take advantage,” Cooper concluded.

“It’s a sign that basketball season is in full swing, and it’s always nice to be home for a weekend,” Dragons head coach Matt Lohn said.

“We are so blessed to have one of the long-standing tournaments in the state, and the community does a great job of showing up to support the Dragons. This year the boys’ field is stacked, with ranked teams Bethany (4A #12), Dickson (3A #10), and Anadarko (3A #15) coming to town.

“Add to that traditional attendee Byng and a class 6A competitor in Enid and it’s easy to see how the competition on the floor can get pretty intense,” Lohn continued.

“Our team is excited to compete for the crown, as we have already secured a runner up and third place finish at Madill and Ada.

The HOOT is simply another opportunity to learn about ourselves and get better as we look to the playoffs, and I cannot wait to see what these kids do,” Lohn concluded.

Complete brackets can be found in this week’s Purcell Register.