Central (1-1) built a 13-point lead by halftime and put away Tushka with a 16-5 run to close the game and move into the semifinals.
The Lady Tigers will meet Indianola, a 71-44 winner over the Oktaha junior varsity, at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday.
“We got everybody in the game in the first half,” said Central head coach Scott Lowe. “We gave a lot of effort and the full-court pressure started to get to them because we kept sending people out to hound them.”
Freshman Hayley Tanner led Central with 11 points. Brittany Callahan added nine, Maegan Goodwin eight, Lindsey Woody seven, Cydney Dillard seven, Jacklyn Jiles five, Jessica Ruark three and Brenda Branham three.
Five of Central’s scorers are either freshmen or sophomores and Lowe was encouraged by the way they’ve started the season.
“We still have a lot we need to work on,” said Lowe. “But, hopefully, because we’re so young and inexperienced, there’s a window for us to improve that most other teams don’t have.”
Tushka was paced by 12 points apiece by Amanda Tomlinson and Kelsey Kelly.
Crowder 51, Central 48 (B)
The Tigers battled tournament host Crowder down to the wire, but the Demons emerged with the first-round win on Monday.
Central trailed by eight at the start of the second quarter, but used a 13-2 run to grab a 24-21 halftime advantage.
Crowder battled back to take a 37-36 lead after three periods of play and held off Central to drop the Tigers to 0-2.
J. Johnson led all scorers with 21 points for Central, while teammate Kyler Ekberg joined him in double figures with 11. Trey Rogers scored eight, Kolton Remy four, Colton Coleman two and Brandon Shockey two.
Crowder, which played at the Class 2A state tournament last season, was led by 6-foot-5 senior Brandon Webber with 14 points. Kaleb Swaboni added 12 and Gary Romine 10 for the Demons.
Next up for Central is a 6 p.m. Thursday consolation bracket game against the McAlester junior varsity.
