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Five arrested in human trafficking operation in Idabel
OKLAHOMA CITY - Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Human Trafficking Response Unit, in conjunction with Skull Games Solutions and nearly a dozen other law enforcement agencies, arrested five individuals during a trafficking bust Thursday night at an Idabel motel.
The operation followed a two-day advanced human trafficking training session, led by Drummond’s office and Skull Games, in which 20 local law enforcement officers participated.
Five individuals were detained on complaints of solicitation of prostitution and violations of the Computer Crimes Act. The Idabel Police Department arrested Brian Farrell, William Chandler and Diego Canto Dereza. The Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police arrested Charles Wheat and the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lore Lewis.
“We appreciate the collaboration of our law enforcement partners across the state to stop human trafficking in its tracks,” Drummond said. “Training, action and meaningful partnerships are key to combatting the evils of human trafficking throughout Oklahoma.”
LeFlore County sports scores
Saturday
Basketball
Boys
Allen 95, Arkoma 30*
Pocola 54, Idabel 40
Talihina 73, Gore 47*
Rock Creek 57, Wister 47*
Girls
Allen 85, Arkoma 20*
Pocola at Idabel (no score reported)
Talihina 56, Gore 26*
Rock Creek 64, Wister 25*
To make a correction or addition, please CONTACT me.
LeFlore County sports scoreboard for Friday
Watch the Heavener and Hartshorne game HERE.
Basketball
Boys
Cameron 85, Red Oak 34*
Hartshorne 64, Heavener 54
Howe 59, Panama 47
Broken Bow 73, Pocola 58
Stilwell 49, Poteau 44
Westille 79, Spiro 52
Whiesboro 73, Haileyville 54*
Girls
Red Oak 86, Cameron 16*
Hartshorne 56, Heavener 28
Howe 48, Panama 35
Broken Bow 75, Pocola 33
Poteau 57, Stilwell 52
Westville 64, Spiro 57
Whitesboro 74, Haileyville 13*
*District games
Big second half pushes OU past Georgia
NORMAN — Trailing 49-42 two minutes into the second half, Oklahoma went on an 18-0 run to take control for good in a 94-78 win over Georgia at Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday. OU’s 94 points and .589 field goal percentage were its best marks in SEC play this season.The Sooners (13-12, 3-9) got 19 points from Tae Davis, a career-high-tying six 3-pointers and 18 points from redshirt freshman reserve Kuol Atak and four treys and 18 points from Nijel Pack to win their second straight game and improve to 9-4 at home. It marked the first time this season three OU players each scored at least 18 points.Georgia (17-8, 5-7) made 15 of its first 17 field goal attempts (88%) in taking a 33-30 lead but went 15 for 41 (37%) the rest of the way in losing for the fifth time in six outings. The Bulldogs shot 52% for the game.OU’s 44 bench points marked a season high. In addition to Atak’s 18, the Sooners got 13 from Dayton Forsythe (his most since Nov. 11), seven from Kirill Elatontsev and six from Jadon Jones. Atak’s six 3-pointers came on just seven attempts, as he improved to 25 for 46 (54%) from 3-point range in home games this season.Georgia took a 7-1 lead but Atak made his first three 3-point attempts to put the Sooners in front 28-25 with 8:50 left in the first half. The Bulldogs went on an 18-10 run to go ahead 43-38, only to see Atak hit his fourth triple right before the halftime buzzer to make it a two-point game at intermission.UGA opened with a 6-1 spurt in the second half to go up 49-42, but OU flipped the game with its 18-0 burst over a span of 4:30 and went up 60-49 after a Forsythe steal and layup with 13:37 remaining. After Georgia stopped the bleeding with a Blue Cain follow basket, the Sooners scored nine of the next 11 points take a commanding 69-53 advantage with 11:33 to go.OU maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the contest thanks largely to Davis, who scored 15 of his 19 in the game’s final 12:56. The senior was 7 for 10 from the field and 5 for 7 from the free throw line on the day, grabbed five rebounds and handed out three assists.Oklahoma had been outscored in the second half in 10 of its last 11 games entering Saturday, but posted a 53-35 advantage after halftime against the Bulldogs.Pack, who was 4 for 6 from behind the arc, pulled down a game-high six boards and added three assists, a block and a steal.Forsythe came off the bench to nail four of his six shots and drain all four of his free throws. He also contributed three rebounds, three assists and two steals without a turnover in his 20 minutes. The sophomore has scored 37 points over the last four games after totaling 13 points over his previous 10 outings.OU tied a season high with its 14 3-point makes on 25 attempts, good for a 56% performance. It also committed just seven turnovers on the day. The Sooners’ 13 games of single-digit turnovers this season are their most since at least the 1994-95 campaign.OU goes back on the road to face Tennessee (17-7, 7-4 SEC) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPN2.
TCU beats OSU in overtime
STILLWATER - David Punch had 19 points, Xavier Edmonds posted a double-double and TCU never trailed but had to work overtime before beating Oklahoma State 95-92 on Saturday.
Punch and Micah Robinson both scored four, and Jayden Pierre hit a 3-pointer to help the Horned Frogs (16-9, 6-6 Big 12 Conference) prevail in the extra period after Parsa Fallah tipped in a missed 3-pointer by Jaylen Curry at the regulation buzzer for the Cowboys (16-9, 4-8) to tie it 84-all.
See the whole story HERE.
Arkansas gets payback win over Auburn Final Stats
FAYETTEVILLE – Billy Richmond III scored a career-high 25 points and Darius Acuff Jr. matched his career high with 31 points, adding seven assists with one turnover, to lead #21 Arkansas to an 88-75 victory over Auburn Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena.
The win avenged a 95-73 loss at Auburn last month and puts the Razorbacks at 19-6 overall, 9-3 in the SEC.
Arkansas, up six at halftime, started the second half on a 15-2 run thanks to Acuff making three straight 3-pointers and dishing out two assists. Overall, Acuff scored 20 points in the second half and had five assists in the second half.
Richmond was 12-of-15 from the field as he scored 25 points, 10 points better than his previous best of 15. He had three steals and electrified the crowd with five dunks, tying the most by a Razorback this season.
Trevon Brazile continued his strong play with 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Also, freshman Meleek Thomas led the Hogs with a career-high 10 rebounds.
A key stat in the win for the Razorbacks was that the Hogs scored 52 points in the paint. With that, Arkansas shot 67.5% (27-of-40) from 2-point range. Overall, Arkansas, which leads the league in field goal percentage, increased its average two tenths from 50.2% to 50.4% by shooting 57.4% from the field for the game.
Also, Arkansas had 19 assists with just five turnovers. In the second half, Arkansas had 10 assists with zero turnovers while adding eight blocked shots.
Tahaad Pettiford led Auburn with 29 points (11-of-18 FG, 4-of-7 3PT) and seven assists. KeShawn Murphy added a double with 22 points and 12 rebounds (six offensive). However, the Razorbacks limited Murphy to just four second-half points.
The Razorbacks return to the road to face Alabama on Wednesday (Feb. 18). Tipoff is set for 6 pm (CT) and the game will be televised on ESPN.
Sooners cruise in Bedlam baseball
ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 19/RV Oklahoma continued its hot start with a 10-1 win over Oklahoma State on the second day of the season-opening Shriners Children’s College Showdown.
In his OU debut, junior right-handed pitcher LJ Mercurius impressed, going 5.1 innings and striking out a career high-tying 12 batters. The UNLV transfer surrendered just one run on three hits with two walks. It was the second straight game an OU starting pitcher eclipsed 10 strikeouts after opening day starter Cameron Johnson struck out 11 in Friday’s win over Texas Tech. Sooner pitchers fanned 17 OSU batters on the day, allowing just four hits.
The OU (2-0) offense picked up where it left off, scoring 10 runs on 12 hits with five extra-base hits including a home run from senior Trey Gambill. It was Gambill’s second in as many games as the outfielder went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBIs in Saturday’s win over the Pokes (0-2).
Sophomore Michael Catalano relieved Mercurius in the sixth, making his first appearance of the season and striking out four to tie his career best. Senior righty Reid Hensley finished the game in the ninth, putting the Pokes down in order with one K.
Pitchers of Record
Win: LJ Mercurius (1-0)
Loss: Mario Pesca (0-1)
Statistical Snapshot
Trey Gambill | 3-for-3, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB
Brendan Brock | 3-for-4, 1 2B, 3 R
Jaxon Willits | 2-for-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 R
Dayton Tockey | 1-for-3, 2 RBI
LJ Mercurius | 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K
Notes
RHP LJ Mercurius struck out a career high-tying 12. The junior struck out the side in two of his 5.1 innings pitched and registered two or more K’s in four innings.
Through two games, OU is outscoring the opposition 20-4.
The Sooner pitching staff struck out 17, the most since fanning 17 vs. Texas last season (5/16/25). The staff has a combined 30 K’s in OU’s first two games and has allowed just 10 hits.
Oklahoma’s offense has combined for 20 runs on 21 hits through two games.
Senior Trey Gambill tied his career high with three hits.
Freshmen Alec Blair and Connor Larkin made their collegiate debuts with Blair registering his first hit on an RBI single in the eighth.
Up Next
OU concludes the Shriners Children’s College Showdown Sunday evening vs. No. 10 TCU at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game can be seen via subscription on FloCollege and heard on 99.3 FM/1400 AM. Tickets for the weekend are available via CollegeBaseballSeries.com.
Cooler temperatures expected again Sunday
Weather forecast for Sunday is for cloudy skies early with clouds clearing away later in the day with cooler temperatures for Heavener, LeFlore County, southeastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas.
The high is forecast to be 63 degrees with a low of 40 degrees.
Sunrise was 7:04 a.m. Sunset is 6:01 p.m.
See the whole story HERE.
Today in history
1898
The USS Maine explodes in Cuba’s Havana Harbor
A massive explosion of unknown origin sinks the battleship USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor on February 15, 1898, killing more than 260 of the 350-plus American crew members aboard. One of the first American battleships, the Maine weighed more than 6,000 tons and was built at a cost of more than... read more
1960s
1965
1968
21st Century
2003
Arts & Entertainment
1950
Sports
1953
1961
1998
2002
U.S. Presidents
1837
1903
1933
World War II
1942
Harold Winford Ray obituary
Harold Winford Ray of the Haw Creek community was born Aug. 5, 1950 in Heavener to Philemon and Elva (Lord) Ray. He went home to be with the Lord on Feb. 12, 2026 in Fort Smith, Arkansas at the age of 75.
Funeral service is 2 p.m., Monday at the Big Creek Baptist Church in Heavener with Brother Philip Jones officiating. Burial will follow in the Ray Family Cemetery, under the care of Dowden-Roberts Funeral Home of Heavener.
Harold was a long-time resident of the area and mechanic on small engines. He attended Heavener High School and was a member of Haw Creek Fire Department. Harold loved fishing, hunting, westerns, and spending time with his family. He loved to be in the outdoors. Harold will be greatly missed.
Survivors are his wife, Christina Ray, of the home; three daughters Leslie Terry and husband Joseph of Wister, Zaliah Ray of the home and Carla Ray of the home; two sons Calvin Smith and wife Jackie of Howe, and Philemon Ray and wife Ashley of the Haw Creek community; special daughters-in-law Diana Ross and Lorisa Pearl; 19 grandchildren; 34 great-grandchildren and one on the way; one great-great-grandchild; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, other loved ones, and friends whom loved him very much.
He was preceded in death by his parents; one daughter, Gayla White; one son, Carl Smith; two sisters Maxine Luce and Gayla Heflin; two brothers D.L. Ray and Eddie Ray; and one granddaughter, Kassandra Thurman.
Pallbearers are Darrel Smith, Harold Smith, Carl Ray, D.L. Ray, JR, Joseph Terry and Martin Ray.
Viewing is from 1 until 6 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. until noon Monday at the funeral home.
The family will visit with friends on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the funeral home.
To sign Harold’s online guestbook please visit www.dowdenrobertsfuneralhome.com.