Chaynaya'ah Phillips passes the ball to a teammate. [Photo by Richard Marion]

OKEECHOBEE- The Okeechobee High School Brahman varsity basketball team is scheduled to host the Fort Pierce Westwood Panthers in the opening round of the district playoffs.

The Brahmans are ranked fourth in the district behind Rockledge, Satellite and Port St. Lucie and have a 13-10 record.

Okeechobee kicked off the second half of their season in January with three back-to-back wins over John Carroll Catholic, Fort Pierce Westwood, and Tradition Prep. Those wins in January secured season sweeps for the Brahmans over John Carroll and Tradition.

Okeechobee also just swept their district rival Bayside in January as well, beating the Bears 44-14 on Jan. 22 and 52-22 on Jan. 26. Senior Corey Wilkerson and sophomore John White led the Brahmans in scoring in the first match up, with both scoring 12 on the night.  White also had five steals and Wilkerson led the team with 12 rebounds.

Overall this season junior Oliver Saunders leads Okeechobee in scoring with 235 points in 17 games played. White has 154 points in 19 games played while junior Chaynaya'ah Phillips  has 147 in 20 games played. Saunders and White lead the Brahmans in rebounds as well with 135 and 130 respectively.

Oliver Saunders attempts a layup against Tradition Prep. [Photo by Richard Marion]

Fort Pierce Westwood will be in Okeechobee on Feb. 6 for the district quarterfinal game. Okeechobee has already swept Westwood in two games this season, but anything can happen in the playoffs. The Panthers nearly came back to defeat Okeechobee in their first natch with the Brahmans going on to take a 40-38 win. So, they aren’t a team to be overlooked.

The winner of that game advances to the district semifinal on Feb. 8.