Entering the final minute of the first quarter of Thursday’s Class 4A area game against Okmulgee, the other Lady Bulldogs were breathing down Muldrow’s collective neck.
Enter Brandie Holt and friends.
Holt took a pass from Gentree Johnson and nailed a three-pointer with 27 seconds to go in the opening period. Fellow senior Debra Silva followed with a basket with 2.2 seconds to go, making it 15-8.
The momentum continued as Holt scored nine of her game-high 20 points in the second quarter, as the Muldrow girls pulled away to a 30-12 lead and an eventual 53-34 victory.
“We hit some big shots,” head coach Jana Armer said. “Brandie hit a couple of really big ones and got us going.”
The game also saw guard Fontana Tate return to the court. Tate, who was taken to a Wilburton hospital after being strapped to a body board following a collision in the regional finals against Broken Bow, played part of the first quarter. Armer said Tate did not seem to feel any ill effects from being back on the court, but that her limited playing time was “merely precautionary.”
The Lady Bulldogs (24-2) continued rolling in the second half, moving out to a 36-12 lead before Okmulgee made a short run. Muldrow led 38-17 when Armer gave all five starters a breather for the final 1:36 of the third quarter. The other Lady Bulldogs trimmed it to 39-25 by the end of the period, but got no closer.
In addition to Holt’s 20 points, Silva added 12 and Destiny Wilhite seven. Taylor James led Okmulgee (10-14) with 13 points.
The Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to face Stilwell (15-10) at 1:30 p.m. Friday with the winner moving on to Saturday’s consolation final at 6:30 p.m.
Roland 44, Mannford 36 (B)
After taking most of the night off, the Roland Rangers’ offense kicked into high gear in the fourth quarter Thursday. Trailing 25-19 to Mannford in their Class 4A area game, the Rangers erupted for 25 fourth-quarter points, to pull out a 44-36 win.
The Rangers, who like to run-and-gun, were stymied by the slow-paced Pirates much of the game. They trailed 16-5 with 3:02 to go in the first half, before a pair of Trey Chambers three-pointers got them into double digits. Still, they were down 18-11 at halftime and had not managed a 10-point quarter going into the final stanza. The highlight was a pair of back-to-back baskets by Dakota Weippert early in the third that closed the gap to 21-17.
The fourth quarter opened with Dougie Webster hitting a 14-footer. Mannford’s Isaac Medrano answered with a three-pointer, but the momentum would stay with the Rangers. Chambers made two big free throws, hit Trenton Castleberry for a basket with 6:36 to go, then nailed a three-pointer at the 6:12 mark to tie the score at 28-28.
After a Drake Boone basket gave Mannford a 30-28 lead, Webster put Roland on top to stay, nailing a three-pointer with 5:31 to go.
“I thought our seniors really stepped up and hit shots when we needed them,” head coach Ed Lewis said. “Dakota came through with some baskets that got us going, then Dougie and Trey stepped up and hit some threes.”
On the night the 22-5 Rangers got 11apiece from Weippert and Webster and 10 from Chambers. Webster hit three three-pointers, while Chambers had two and Weippert one.
Jordan Poulter and Drake Boone scored 11 and 10 points respectively for Mannford, who finished with a 13-14 record.
“We were getting some good shots earlier,” Lewis said. “They just weren’t falling. It helped when we went to the full-court press. We were able to get into an up-and-down tempo. We really like the tempo to get the game going. It’s to our advantage.”
For three quarters Mannford controlled the tempo and kept the Rangers out of their comfort zone.
“They had us in their game for a while, before we were able to get them into our game,” Lewis said.
The Rangers were scheduled to face Stilwell at 3 p.m. Friday.
A win in that game will put them in Saturday’s 8 p.m. consolation final at East Central University against the loser of Star Spencer and Broken Bow.
Stilwell 57, Rol. 39 (G)
Avenging a Feb. 9 defeat, the Stilwell girls knocked off the Roland Lady Rangers 57-39 in area play Thursday.
Stilwell jumped out to an 11-7 lead after the first quarter and then used a 13-4 run to build a 13-point halftime edge.
The loss closes the Lady Rangers’ season with a 17-11 mark.
The balanced Roland attack saw Samantha Barnes score nine points, while Katy Beakley, Shaely Williams, and Caitlin Goode each netted six points and Blazi Weippert and Summer Teehee had five apiece.
Bayleigh Miller led Stilwell with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Susie Means with 13 and Cara Fountain with 11 points.
