It was a bit of a tumultuous career for former Howe girls basketball standout Jalei Oglesby at Arkansas Tech. To say she persevered may be an understatement.
A two-time Great American Conference Player of the Week winner, including the last week where she averaged 28.5 points per game and 15.5 rebounds, Oglesby was named first-team GAC.
Last week, she earned D2CIA National Division II Women's Basketball Player of the Week honors.
Oglesby appeared in eight games (2019-20) her freshman year before suffering a season-ending injury. She played in 15 games during the condensed covid-19 season of 2020-21.
Oglesby missed all of the 2021-22 season due to an injury.
But this season Oglesby started and played in all 26 games for the Golden Suns, as well as played the most minutes at a 33.2 per game. Oglesby leads all scorers in the GAC with a 21.0 ppg average, which is the 12th highest nationally.
Oglesby has posted 25 double-doubles (points, rebounds or assists) and has scored 20 or more points on 15 different occasions.
The 5-foot-8 guard leads Tech and is second in the conference in rebounds with 240 rebounds, including 91 offensive boards.
Carroll off to hot start
The last thing Reed Carroll wanted this week was some spring rain.
The former Greenwood baseball standout has been swinging a hot bat at Carl Albert State College. He's been hitting home runs, too.
Carroll will carry a .424 batting average into this week's series with LaBette Community College. Through 12 games, the Vikings' shortstop is slugging .970 with five home runs and 14 RBIs.
Carroll went 4-for-7 with three homers and five RBIs during Carl Albert's Babe Howard JUCO Classic last week in Millington, Tenn.
Carroll, who will continue his career next season at Oklahoma Christian, leads the Vikings with a .524 on-base percentage. He's walked six times and has been hit twice.
Carl Albert hits the road this week for a short one-game set with Eastern Oklahoma, followed by a four-game set in Altus, Okla., with Western Oklahoma State College.
Shankle thriving at UAFS
Grant Shankle didn't necessarily take the easy road to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
But, as the sophomore left-hander from Van Buren reaches for his glove, he seems to be doing nothing but win baseball games. A lot of them.
Shankle went 11-7 during his two seasons at UA-Rich Mountain, where he struck out 98 hitters in 125 2/3 innings. Sure, the ERA was a tad high (5.80), but that's to be expected in league full of hitters.
This season, in his first year with UAFS coach Todd Holland, Shankle leads the Lions with two victories. He compiled his first-career Lions' complete game last week by allowing two earned runs and striking out three in UAFS' win over Lubbock Christian.
For the season, Shankle is 2-1 with a 3.12 earned run average. He isn't striking out a lot of hitters (just four in 17 1/3 innings), but he's allowing just a .206 batting average.
Shankle, who played two seasons at Alma before transferring to Van Buren in 2019, was set to pitch again this weekend against Angelo State.
McGhee scores 15 in win
Former Alma standout Zoie McGhee scored 15 points in North Ark's regular-season finale with UA-Cossatot River last week.
In addition, McGhee grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists in the Pioneers' 89-70 victory. North Ark (16-9) was scheduled to play in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 2 Tournament Saturday.
McGhee scored a career-high 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds during Feb. 18 win over Arkansas State Mid-South.
North Ark (15-9) is finishing strong as well, winning eight of its last nine games.
McGhee is averaging 13.6 points per game over her last six games. Meanwhile, the red-hot Lady Pioneers are 12-3 since Jan. 7.
McGhee, a sophomore, has stated she plans to retire from basketball following the 2022-23 season and will transfer to UCA to complete her degree.
Glass closes season strong
Crowder's Jaelin Glass (Greenwood) wrapped her first full season for the Roughriders on Thursday by scoring 10 points, grabbing three rebounds, and collecting four steals during a 64-57 loss to Jefferson College at the Region 16 Tournament in Neosho.
The Roughriders (12-19) finished the season with four straight losses, including back-to-back setbacks against Jefferson. Glass had 10 points and four boards during a Feb. 25 loss to the Vikings from Hillsboro, Mo.
Glass, a former Greenwood standout, started 15 of the 17 games she appeared in this season. She was second in scoring (12.1 points per game). Glass missed parts of two seasons with injuries
She's scored 10 or more points in nine of her final 11 games.
Glass had a career-high 22 points during the Roughriders' 56-52 win over Mineral Area College on Feb. 18.
Brewer, Dukes ready for tourney
Tevin Brewer scored 11 points and dished out three assists during Duquesne's 88-79 win over Massachusetts last week. Brewer and the Dukes (20-10, 10-7) were set to close out the regular season Saturday against Fordham.
Brewer's had a hot hand this month, averaging 9.8 points over his last five games. Overall, Brewer is fifth in scoring with 7.3 points per game. He leads the Dukes with 3.4 assists per game.
Brewer, a former Fort Smith Northside guard, has appeared in all but four of the team's 30 games this season. He had a season-high 17 points during a Feb. 8 win over George Mason.
A fifth-year senior, Brewer is a graduate assistant for Duquesne.
Martin dominating in circle
McKenzie Martin ran her record to 5-0 last week with another complete game win. She also lowered her earned run average to 0.44, striking out 32 hitters and allowing just 12 hits in her first 32 innings of work.
She hasn't been bad at the dish, either.
The former Alma standout is batting .448 with three homers and 12 RBIs, second only to Vian freshman Greenlee Wells (15). Martin is slugging .724, and her on-base percentage is .500, with three walks and just four strikeouts in 33 plate appearances.
The Mountaineers ran their record to 8-0 last week with a win over Bacone College, before three straight losses to UA-Rich Mountain and Crowder College.
Short Hops
Landrey Wilkerson (Van Buren) retired both hitters he faced this week during Louisiana's 5-4 loss to McNeese State. ... Bailey Mattingly (Fort Smith Southside) worked 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in Carl Albert's 4-1 loss to Indian Hills Community College last week in Tennessee. ... Trevor Johnson (Van Buren) allowed five runs (two earned) in three innings of work in UAFS' loss to Lubbock Christian last week. ... Chloe Ray (Fort Smith Northside) is batting .375 in seven games for UA-Rich Mountain Junior College. ... Brayden Johnson (Alma) allowed a season-high two earned runs but didn't get any run support while dropping a 3-0 decision to Lubbock Christian last week. Johnson's earned run average is tops on the team (1.08), and he has 31 strikeouts in 25 innings ... Tamaury Releford (Fort Smith Northside) had six points during Connors State's win over Northern Oklahoma-Enid last week. ... Tanner Callahan (Van Buren) is batting .350 (7-for-50) for UAFS with two doubles and three RBIs.. ... Colton Sagely (Greenwood) is batting .385 (5-for-13) at CASC.