In this decade, the Roland Rangers have had a monopoly on the Armstrong Bank Sequoyah County Area Classic.
The Rangers have won the annual tournament every year since 2010 and 13 of the 18 tournaments since it reformed in 2000. Roland's closest call in their span of eight straight SCAC championships came the last time the tournament was held in Muldrow, two years ago, when the Rangers defeated the Bulldogs on a buzzer-beating shot for the title.
But when the 19th annual SCAC returns to the main site of Muldrow beginning today, there are several boys teams that feel this could be the year a new champion is crowned.
"It's going to be a tough tournament," Vian coach Anthony Porter said. "You've got about four or five teams that can win the tournament and every night, you're going to have a tough ballgame. Everybody's got to come in and try to be ready and prepare for each team.
"Everybody's kind of like the same right now, and everybody's been winning and they've got a good record. Yes, I think it's going to be the best tournament that they'll put on, and every game should be really good."
The Rangers are still the top seed in the boys division, as they come in with a record of 6-2. But there are some serious challengers.
Muldrow comes in at 5-3, but the Bulldogs won at Roland last month, 48-44. Then there's the Vian Wolverines, who are 7-1 and just came off of claiming the Bill Frye Invitational title in Mansfield this past weekend.
"I feel really good about it because we were able to work on some things for this tournament and I think we've gotten better," Porter said. "So I feel good about the kids; I think we'll go out and play really well in this tournament."
On the girls side, the Muldrow Lady Bulldogs are seeking to repeat as SCAC champs. They have won a record seven county titles.
Muldrow also comes in as the consensus favorite. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked No. 4 in 4A, have an 8-1 record and are coming off an impressive showing in last week's Tournament of Champions in Tulsa, when they beat Tahlequah and Victory Christian before falling short in the title game against 6A Owasso.
Another contender is Roland. The Lady Rangers have a record of 6-2, with one of the losses coming to Muldrow.
Today's SCAC will feature four first-round games at Muldrow and four first-round games at Central, which is this year's sub-site. The four semifinal games will take place at Muldrow beginning at 4 p.m. Thursday. Then the championship games will be in Muldrow on Saturday, with the girls at 6:30 p.m. and the boys at 8 p.m.