The Lady Rangers' 49-37 win over Idabel clinched a trip to the state tournament and came on the heels of a close 61-58 loss to No. 2-ranked Fort Gibson the night before.
Head coach Bobby Walters said it was tough to bounce back so quickly from such a hard-fought game, but was pleased to see the Lady Rangers take advantage of their second chance.
"We were exhausted mentally because we had waited for that showdown against Fort Gibson all year. It was a tough loss to bounce back from and I thought the girls showed a lot of heart. I'm so proud of the kids," said Walters.
Roland had used relentless full-court pressure to rout Idabel 64-39 the previous week in the regional playoffs. However, the Lady Rangers had to change their strategy on Saturday night.
"We had spent so much energy against Fort Gibson. That was an exciting type game with a lot of pressure defense and getting up and down the floor. We didn't have a whole lot left, so we didn't do the things we did the first time against Idabel. We had a more conservative approach."
The Lady Rangers ran their record to 24-2 with a balanced attack led by senior forward Jenny Beshoner, who led all scorers with 13 points. Twin sister Katie Beshoner added 12 points and Ericka Edwards had 10. Jasmine Kirkwood scored six, Lauren Edwards four, Keondra Manager two and Jamie Morgan two.
Idabel was led by nine points from Princess Braxton while ending its season with a record of 15-9. The Lady Warriors had a bit of momentum after posting wins over Sallisaw and Bristow in the area consolation bracket, but fell behind early on Saturday night.
Roland took a 16-9 lead in the first quarter, but saw its advantage shrink as Idabel closed to within 24-22 by halftime.
"The wind kind of left us in that second quarter, but the girls showed a lot of heart and got through it," said Walters.
The Lady Rangers responded with a 10-4 run in the third quarter while taking an eight-point edge into the fourth period and they held on to notch their second win over Idabel in 10 days.
Walters admitted he didn't know how the previous blowout would affect his team as it played the Lady Warriors again.
"I didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing," said the coach. "With us being so exhausted, I thought it may have given us that confidence to know we'd win it if we just kept on. If the first game had been closer, we might not have had that confidence."
FORT GIBSON 61, ROLAND 58 (G)
Fort Gibson clinched its third-consecutive trip to the state tourney, but not before weathering a big challenge by the Lady Rangers on Friday night in the Class 4A area IV championship game.
Roland played the second-ranked Lady Tigers evenly for most of the night and was within 57-54 when Lauren Edwards sank a 3-pointer with 1:15 left.
A basket by Ericka Edwards and two free throws from Jasmine Kirkwood had the Lady Rangers within 60-58 with 11.4 seconds remaining. Fort Gibson hit a free throw to push its lead to three before Roland's 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Fort Gibson improved to 23-2 as freshman guard Carissa Crutchfield scored 19 points and sophomore Brennan Miller added 18.
Roland was led by Ericka Edwards, who turned in a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Katie Beshoner scored another 15 points and Lauren Edwards shook off a thigh injury to finish with 10 points. Jenny Beshoner added eight, Keondra Manager five and Kirkwood two for the Lady Rangers, who shot 52.2 percent (23-of-44) from the floor.
Fort Gibson led by as many as eight points in the first half, but Roland closed the second quarter with a 9-2 run.
Lauren Edwards scored five points and had an assist during the spurt, which was capped by Manager's 17-foot jumper at the buzzer to tie the game at 34-34.
Katie Beshoner had eight points in the third quarter to keep the Lady Rangers close at 50-46, but they were unable to regain the lead from the defending state runners-up in the fourth period.
