Black Diamonds make home opener a winner

Warriors take a loss

SALLISAW 60, POTEAU 54

The Black Diamonds were able to make Poteau’s new coach and freshfrom- football players pay a heavy price Friday for their lack of time together while playing at Sallisaw’s Paul Post Fieldhouse.

Sallisaw head coach Chadd Gehrke was shocked at the Pirates’ shooting and defensive effort, which was able to make it a game after the Diamonds were up by almost 20 at the half.

“Poteau just got their basketball kids on Sunday and they have a new coach,” Gehrke explained. “So going into the game, the only thing we knew about them was what we saw at the junior high games the night before. Our plan was to throw a lot of different defenses at them and get after them.

“I never would have guessed they’d come out and make nine threes, since they’ve only been in the gym for five days. We got up almost 20 in the first half. Turnovers and their shooting got them back in the game.”

The assertive defense Sim Kilpatrick played helped him rack up 17 points, which complemented another good showing by Jackson Obregon, who registered 13 points, going seven of nine from the free throw line.

“This is Obi’s second game in a row where he has done well. Sim didn’t play well offensively against Westville, but he played great, a lot of which was fueled by his defense. Once again, the kids played really hard. They are leaving it all on the floor,” Gehrke said.

“I feel as though we corrected our issues from our last game, but I’ll have to watch the film to know for sure. We’ve gotta take better care of the ball, I know that. But all in all, it was a great first win.”

The Black Diamonds played at Spiro Tuesday, with another road game Friday at Stigler at 8 p.m.

BRAGGS 53, WEBBERS FALLS 39 Webbers Falls started strong at home Friday versus Braggs, but fell behind in the second stanza and the Warriors couldn’t catch up again as the game got further away from them.

New head coach Jim Glover is still working to install his program with his new charges, some of which had to be released from football, which the coach is not accustomed to.

With the season still young, experience is paramount. Luckily, the Warriors are getting irreplaceable, hands-on experience with every game they play, which makes them better basketball players.

The Warriors tipped off Tuesday in the Wilson Tiger Tournament, their first tournament of the year, against host Wilson (Henryetta).