The Huskies’ head coach honored for the second-consecutive year
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Edmond North girls' basketball coach Pete Papahronis. Courtesy of Edmond North athletics.
For the second year-in-a-row, Edmond North girls’ basketball head coach Pete Papahronis earns the Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference (COAC) Coach of the Year award.
After leading the Huskies to their third-straight Class 6A state championship game with a final record of 26-2, Papahronis was picked as the conference’s top coach for the 2023-2024 basketball season.
The Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference consists of 13 schools that all compete in Class 6A athletics, including four Edmond-area schools; Edmond North, Edmond Memorial, Edmond Santa Fe and Deer Creek. The conference also includes the districts from Moore, Mustang, Norman, Piedmont, Stillwater and Yukon.
Papahronis was hired to coach Edmond North in 2014 and has since turned the program into a juggernaut in Oklahoma 6A girls’ basketball. With the help of All-State caliber players such as Laci Steele, Allison Heathcock and his own daughter, Elle Papahronis, Papahronis has led the Huskies to the state championship match in each of the last three years and have won it twice (2021 and 2022).
The 10-year head coach won the Coach of the Year award last season as well after Edmond North posted a perfect 29-0 record and won the 2023 6A state title over Bixby.
Aside from Papahronis, Edmond North saw a plethora of conference honorees following the release of the COAC All-Conference awards. Senior forward Allison Heathcock and senior guard Kate Melton each made the 2024 All-COAC first team, while senior guard K.K. Peeler earned third team honors.
Heathock was also named COAC Offensive Player of the Year after averaging nearly 21 points per game this past season.
Sophomore forward Johari Hall won the COAC Sixth Woman of the Year award as the conference’s best bench player and was picked as an all-conference honorable mention along with Grace Jackson, Mallory Jackson and Kate Noller.
With Papahronis at the helm of a possible dynasty in the Oklahoma girls’ hoops landscape, it’s apparent that Edmond North isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.