The first-round victory ran Roland’s record to 3-0 and puts the Rangers in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday against Okmulgee.
The Rangers blew the game open in the third quarter when they opened the second half with a 15-0 run to take a 43-16 run. The Tigers chipped away and pulled within 10 in the fourth quarter, but Roland sank 11-of-14 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to seal the win.
“I thought we played good in spurts,” said Ranger head coach Eddie Lewis. “We got up by 20-something and made some substitutions and they came back on us a little, but I thought we did a good job of finishing the game.”
One of the players instrumental in sealing the victory was Trey Chambers, who sank nine free throws in the fourth period to end up with a team-high 15 points for the Rangers. Avory Taylor added 12 points and eight rebounds for Roland, while Will Roam scored 10, Levi Biggerstaff nine, Kevinn Castleberry nine, Dakota Weippert six and Gage Ramalho two. Castleberry grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to help the Rangers to a 34-21 edge on the boards.
Roland also held the Tiger JV to 32.7 percent shooting from the floor and took advantage of a six-minute scoring drought at the start of the second half to build a sizable lead.
The Rangers led 28-16 at halftime, but Roam dropped in six points to spark the decisive 15-0 run. Weippert drove to the basket for two points and passed to Taylor for another bucket before Chambers sank a trey to make it 43-16 with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
“I thought we got some good shots during that time and we were able to hit some,” said Lewis.
Broken Arrow hit eight three-pointers, including three apiece by Branden Haynes and John Gaynor. Haynes led the Tigers with 19 points and Gaynor finished with 14.
Lewis said he was pleased with Roland’s start to the season.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “I see a lot of potential in our team. We’ve talked about how anybody can beat us on any given night, but we’re getting better and we think we can beat anybody else too.”
Roland 75, Okmulgee 43 (G)
The Lady Rangers got a game-high 28 points from Ericka Edwards in a first-round win over Okmulgee on Tuesday night.
Roland jumped out to a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter and used a 20-8 run in the third period to open up a 58-33 lead.
Samantha Barnes added 14 points for Roland (3-0). Jasmine Kirkwood and Caitlin Goode had eight points each, Katy Beakley and Blazi Weippert five apiece, Brittany Hudson three, Carlie Robertson two and Shaely Williams two.
The Lady Rangers were set to play in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday against Stilwell, which beat Northwest Classen in the first round.
