Perinovic in his first year as head coach for Newcastle
The Newcastle Racers girls team is back from a trip to Arkansas where they began a new basketball season with wins against North Little Rock and Earle in Jacksonville.
They begin their regular season games against Chickasha at 6:30 p.m. December 10. A game scheduled with Elk City was cancelled.
Coach Jim Perinovic was hired by Newcastle Public Schools last year after basketball season. He is in his first full year at the helm.
Perinovic comes to Newcastle after a six-year stint at Classen SAS where his teams won a State Championship and had five State Tournament appearances. He has also coached at Redlands Junior College, as an assistant for the Piedmont and Carl Albert boys teams, and as Director of the OK Swarm.
He has coached more than 100 players who have gone on to play in college, and he’s coached multiple All-State players, Super 5 players, and one McDonald’s All American.
This year’s Racer Girls return six players from the 2023-24 team, when they finished as District Champions but lost at Regionals to Purcell, 51-34, and to Bishop Mc-Guiness, 60-43.
Coach Perinovic said he has 10 players who play a big role this year. Starters are expected to be Whitney Wollenberg, Raegan Greenroyd, Lilly Taliaferro, Kalani Kindred, and Ziyah Sims.
Rotating in will be Brylee Scott, Emerson Marble, Kaelin Horton and Jailiana Salas. Returner Bella Allen is healing from a broken hand, and is expected to be out for about six to eight weeks. And, senior Zarayia Sims will also see some playing time, but is awaiting eligibility through the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletic Association.
Perinovic said he has pretty good size for Oklahoma basketball. Both Zarayia and Ziyah Sims are six foot, three inches, and Kalani is six foot, one inch in height.
Perinovic said the Racers intend to play an aggressive style of full-court basketball, and they’ll emphasize playing tough defense in the preseason.
He added that they’ll keep fresh players rotating in.
“They are working remarkably hard,” Perinovic said.
The Racers continue this year playing in Class 4A. It’s a tough Class with teams such as Lincoln Christian, Douglass, Bethany and Glenpool.
Other Racer coaches include Carol Craven, Johnny Bonds, Taylor Wollenberg, and Ranada Sims. The team managers are: Jordan McFarland, Aubree Nix, and Makayla Gonzalez.
