Roland had defeated Muldrow in overtime on Feb. 13, but the Lady Bulldogs shot a sizzling 59 percent (26-of-44) from the floor and turned in a superb overall effort while turning the tables on the Lady Rangers. The victory put seventh-ranked Muldrow (19-3) in the regional championship game and left head coach Jana Armer somewhat surprised at the 40-point margin of victory.
“Absolutely not, I never would have expected this,” said Armer. “Roland is still a great team and I’m just proud of my girls for coming back with more intensity and wanting to play. They carried out the gameplan to perfection. We can tell them what to do, but they still have to go out and do it. They’re very coachable kids and just a really good group.”
Seniors Sarah Martin and Brittnie Porter were two of the ringleaders for Muldrow on Thursday, combining for 36 points. Martin scored a game-high 19 and grabbed seven rebounds while Porter added 17 points, including 11 in the first half. Porter was injured in the last Roland game and Armer said having her on the court made a huge difference this time.
“She’s our quarterback and the one who makes us go. She pushes the ball up the floor and plays good solid defense,” said Armer. “We also came out with more of a bang tonight. Last time we got behind by 11 or so and had to struggle to catch up. Tonight we came out and played hard from the beginning.”
Muldrow jumped out to a 9-2 lead as Debra Silva netted four points, Porter sank a trey and Teala Cormier scored on a put-back. The Lady Bulldogs led 15-6 entering the second quarter and went up by 15 at halftime. Porter drove to the basket to score at the buzzer, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 32-17 lead at the break.
Martin scored seven points in the third period and Fontana Tate hit a buzzer-beater to end the stanza with Muldrow up 48-23. The Lady Bulldogs went on to hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor and 7-of-7 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Tate finished with nine points for Muldrow and Silva added eight points and seven rebounds. Brandie Holt scored six, Destiny Wilhite four and Cormier, Taylon Fowler, Lakin Hyatt and Candace Sanders all scored two each.
Roland saw a three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 16-7 while shooting 28 percent (14-of-50) from the floor. Ericka Edwards led the Lady Rangers with eight points. Brittany Hudson scored six, Jasmine Kirkwood and Caitlin Goode four each, Samantha Barnes three and Katy Beakley, Carlie Robertson and Blazi Weippert two apiece.
The Lady Rangers were scheduled to face Poteau in an elimination game at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Muldrow.
The Lady Bulldogs will play for the regional title at 6:30 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Idabel and Broken Bow. Armer said her team is focused on making a deep run in the playoffs.
“We‘ve lost three games this year by a total of six points and been in every single game we’ve played. That’s a credit to the girls because they know what the goal is. They want to get to the state tournament,” said Armer. “We fell one game short last year and ever since then, they’ve been working hard and been willing to do whatever I ask them to do.”
Roland 55, Hilldale 50 (B)
Thursday’s regional semifinal didn’t start well for Roland, but the Rangers overcame a double-digit deficit to advance to the championship game.
Hilldale scored the first 10 points of the game and went on to grab a 19-6 lead by the end of the first quarter before the Rangers turned things around to run their record to 20-3.
“The kids never give up and I’m proud of that,” said Roland head coach Eddie Lewis. “That‘s been our thing all year—they don’t give up and they play hard and good things will happen when you do that.”
Roland shot just 2-of-13 in the first quarter, but Lewis remained confident the Rangers could overcome the slow start.
“I was more worried about our execution on offense,” said Lewis. “We didn’t execute on offense real well, but give Hilldale credit for their defense because they got out in the passing lanes. Once we started getting the ball into the post area and taking it inside, we took a little of that pressure off and were able to do some things. ”
Gage Ramalho came off the Roland bench to score eight points in the first half and Levi Biggerstaff sank a jumper with 10 seconds left to pull the Rangers within 27-24 at halftime.
Ramalho netted two more baskets to open the third quarter and had two big blocks, the second of which led to a fastbreak basket by Dakota Weippert to give Roland a 30-27 lead.
The pivotal stretch for Roland came in the fourth quarter, when the Rangers used a 12-0 surge to grab a 51-39 lead. Biggerstaff sparked the run with five points and Dougie Webster buried a three-pointer to put the Rangers up by 12. Hilldale rallied to within six with 30 seconds left, but Webster sank 4-of-4 free throws to seal the win.
Biggerstaff led Roland with 17 points and seven rebounds. Ramalho, a 6-5 senior, gave the Rangers a big spark off the bench with 16 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.
“That was a huge lift,” Lewis said of Ramalho’s effort. “He got several good blocks, several good rebounds. He became a threat out there on offense and I really think he was the difference-maker tonight.”
Roland’s scoring was rounded out by Weippert and Webster with seven points each and Trey Chambers, Drew Roberts, Will Roam and Avory Taylor with two apiece.
Hilldale (14-9) was led by 22 points from Cameron Sikes.
Next up for Roland is Saturday’s 8 p.m. championship game against No. 4-ranked Hugo, a 53-48 winner over Broken Bow on Thursday.
“They’re big and physical and very deserving of the ranking they’ve got, but if we play hard and play together I think we may have a chance,” said Lewis.
Muldrow 45, Checotah 34 (B)
Balanced scoring and tough defense carried the Bulldogs past Checotah in a regional consolation bracket game on Thursday afternoon.
Muldrow limited the visitors to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters while taking a 25-20 advantage.
Donathan Caudill led Muldrow (11-12) in scoring with 10 points. Jake Peterson and Jamey Day added eight points each, Andrew Kalua seven, Tyler Hill five, Hunter Trammell five and Joe Fate Ransom two.
Muldrow was scheduled to play Broken Bow on Friday in a regional elimination game.
