Gore jumped out to a 23-14 advantage by halftime, but had to weather a third-quarter surge by Okay before securing the victory. The Mustangs used a 19-8 run to grab a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
"We knew the run would come and we just wanted to keep up with them," said Gore head coach Robert Lancaster. "They helped us a little by pulling it out and stalling with a one-point lead in the fourth quarter."
Freshman Devan Rineheart pulled down several defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and his outlet passes led to lay-ups on the other end of the court for Nick Humphries, Zach Pool and Lee Pruitt. Those baskets put Gore over the top in the closing minutes.
"We played good defense and got the rebounds. We had guys leak out and we hit them with outlet passes, so we were able to catch them sleeping," said Lancaster.
Pool, a junior guard, finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals. Junior forward Humphries also netted 12 points while grabbing six rebounds. Pruitt added eight points and Rineheart dished out six assists.
Lancaster credited the Pirates' defense for the victory.
"It was, by far, the best game we've played defensively. We didn't have any cheap fouls, we blocked out and we got some easy lay-ups at the end to keep the pressure on," said the Pirates' first-year coach. "We were horrible at the free throw line. We shot 4-of-11 and missed the front ends of one-and-ones three times. We could have gone up by more, but defense is what it boiled down to."
Okay was led by Chris Young's game-high 19 points.
The win was the Pirates' second in four games since the county tournament and Lancaster said a 67-58 victory over Central on Jan. 16 has sparked the Gore boys.
"We were down the whole way in that game and then we outscored them 31-14 in the fourth quarter. From that point on, we've started to click," he said. "Other than the Vian game, we've been playing better and we're starting to build some confidence."
GORE 46, OKAY 34 (G)
OKAY - The Lady Pirates picked up a win on the road Tuesday night as Caitlin Cawhorn and Paige Mannon both scored in double figures.
Cawhorn hit four 3-pointers while tallying a game-high 17 points and Mannon was 3-of-4 from 3-point range and finished with 12 for the Gore girls.
Gore trailed by a point entering the second quarter, but used a 15-6 spurt to grab a 24-16 halftime edge. The Lady Pirates held on after the break to improve their record to 7-9 overall.
Kaylene Megehee shot 4-of-6 from the floor while adding eight points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots for Gore.
Okay was led by Rachel Yochum with 11 points.
VIAN 69, HULBERT 36 (B)
HULBERT - The Wolverines staggered Hulbert with a 16-4 run in the first quarter and never looked back while picking up a Big Eight Conference win on Tuesday night.
Vian continued to pull away in the second quarter, stretching its lead to 19 points by halftime.
Londell Taylor led Vian with 14 points, while Seth Sloan had 13, Zach Rogers 13, Tyren Knight eight and Phillip Wright eight.
Hulbert was led by Dillon Brown's 13 points.
HULBERT 43, VIAN 33 (G)
HULBERT - Jessica Henson scored a game-high 18 points for Hulbert on Tuesday night as the Lady Riders downed Vian.
The visiting Lady Wolverines were up by two after the first quarter, but Hulbert outscored them in each of the final three periods to collect the win.
Tara Smith led Vian with 13 points and Jessica Brunson added 10 points.
PORTER 34, GANS 33 (B)
PORTER - The Pirates avenged an earlier loss to Gans by edging the Grizzlies by a point on Tuesday night in Riverside Athletic Conference action.
DeAndre Ogans led Porter with 11 points and Adrian Mosley had 10.
Gans was led by Kameron Pastore's 14 points and Nick Woodruff's 12.
PORTER 52, GANS 45 (G)
PORTER - A 14-6 run in the second quarter gave Porter the lead and the Lady Pirates went on to down Gans on Tuesday night.
That surge had Gans down seven at halftime, but the Lady Grizzlies battled back to within 37-35 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Lacy Allen scored 15 points to lead Gans, while Shawna Blake and Jessica Taylor both had eight points.
