The Lady Tigers rebounded from a setback at Hulbert and celebrated Senior Night by routing the Lady Mustangs and running their record to 18-4 overall and 11-3 in the league.
Head coach Scott Lowe was less than pleased with the team's overall performance on Tuesday, but was glad to see seniors Blair Haggard, Jennifer Ridinger, Lyndsey Sharp and Leslie Blackburn go out as winners in their final game in Central's gym.
"I'm always happy to get a win and to send the seniors out on a winning note," said Lowe. "We only lost one home game this season and this year has been all about the seniors. I'm proud that they were able to finish out their careers on a postive note."
The Lady Tigers suffered a hangover from the night before, falling behind 6-1 after the first eight minutes before getting going. A 15-5 run in the second quarter gave them a 16-11 lead at halftime and they pulled away after that.
Lowe said he would have liked to have seen the Lady Tigers put the Hulbert game behind them and play better against Okay.
"I told the girls I was disappointed with their maturity because this is something that could happen in the playoffs," said Lowe. "When you lose, you might have to bounce back the next day. We have to learn from this and take something from it."
Junior post Sarah Winans led Central with nine points on Tuesday. Ridinger added eight, Haggard seven, Kayla Lattimore six, Bunny Postoak five, Melissa Buckner three, Sharp two, Blackburn two and Lacey Wallace one.
Despite Monday's loss at Hulbert, the Lady Tigers still had a shot at finishing in a three-way tie for the Big Eight championship. A Warner win over Hulbert on Friday night would leave all three teams with three league losses.
Central could have won the title outright by winning at Hulbert on Monday, but saw a three-point lead evaporate in the closing seconds as Hulbert scored on a four-point play and added another free throw for a 37-35 win.
Central 54, Okay 33 (Boys)
The Tigers got burned by Jerron Ashley and Brandon Horton once before, but not on Tuesday night.
Central found a way to keep the Okay standouts in check and rolled to a 21-point victory over the Mustangs in the Tigers' regular season finale.
Ashley and Horton had combined for 49 of Okay's 57 points in a Jan. 31 win over the Tigers, but Central limited the duo to a combined 22 points on Tuesday, including just three field goals between them in the second half.
"After that first time we played, we threw a little junk defense on them and put the clamps on them," said Central coach Michael Wynne. "We were really chasing Ashley and tried to bracket Horton, keep him surrounded on the inside. Skyler Rogers and Tyler Kutil did a good job on Ashley and it was a combined effort on Horton. Really, the whole team did well on defense."
Central led by eight at halftime and pulled away in the third quarter with a 13-2 run that stretched the lead to 40-21. The Tigers improved to 11-11 with the victory, snapping a six-game losing streak in the process.
Senior guard Jeremy Cheater missed four of those losses with an ankle injury, but scored a game-high 15 points on Tuesday in his second game back. Skyler Rogers pumped in another 14 points and Andy Edwards was the third Tiger in double figures with 11. Jace Coffman added eight, Jake Goodwin three and Tyler Kutil three.
Horton, a 6-foot-3 junior, paced Okay with 14 points while Ashley finished with eight.
The Tigers were coming off a 61-47 loss the night before at Hulbert. Cheater, Kutil and Rogers each scored 11 points for the Tigers in that game.
