HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
The Vian girls and the Gore boys won their respective consolation semifinal contests Wednesday night inside Vian’s Traw Fieldhouse to advance to Friday’s consolation title games at Muldrow.
VIAN GIRLS 47, GORE 41 (WEDNESDAY AT VIAN)
Behind the scoring of Maci Smith the Lady Wolverines held off Gore’s Lady Pirates Wednesday night inside Vian’s Traw Fieldhouse to advance to Friday’s Armstrong Bank Sequoyah County Area Classic consolation championship game at Muldrow.
The Lady Wolverines take on Central at 6:30 p.m. for the consolation title and the loss eliminated Gore from the tournament.
In the opening period Vian jumped out to a 20-6 advantage after scoring the first 14 points of the contest. Smith, who led all scorers with 20 points, hit two 3-pointers in the quarter and Rebel Simon added four points for the Lady Wolverines while Andi Summerlin registered four points for the Lady Pirates.
Gore’s Emily Daily started the second-stanza scoring with a corner 3-pointer before Summerlin’s two foul shots and Kennedy William’s inside basket led to a 7-0 run to make the score 20-13. Vian went in front 26-15 with 1:41 remaining following two foul shots apiece by Smith and Rayleigh Terrill before a field goal and a free throw by Gore’s Oaklei Thornton trimmed three points off the lead. Lindsey Pierce’s 3-pointer from the wing and Aspyn Cearley’s pair of foul shots with no time showing on the clock ended the first-half scoring for the Lady Pirates, who trailed 27-23 at the intermission.
In the third quarter Pierce’s steal and layup at the 3:55 mark gave Gore its first lead (30-29) of the game but Vian used an 8-0 run to go in front 37-30 with 46.4 seconds to go. Six of Vian’s eight points came at the foul line (two each by Smith and Terrill and one apiece by Simon and Kala Gibbins) and Avery Wright’s jumper in the lane started the run.
An inside basket by Gore’s Kima Wells following an offensive rebound made the score 41-38 with 4:36 remaining in the final frame before Skyelar Locust’s twopoint field goal widened Vian’s advantage. In the final four minutes Gibbins’ four foul shots helped seal the win for the Lady Wolverines. Pierce registered four of her teamhigh 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Trailing Smith in scoring for Vian in the game were Wright (8 points), Gibbins (7), Simon (6), Terrill (4) and Locust (2).
Trailing Pierce in scoring for Gore were Summerlin (8 points), Daily (7), Cearley and Thornton (3 each) and Wells and Williams (2 each).
GORE BOYS 55, CENTRAL 38 (WEDNESDAY AT VIAN)
The Class A No. 18 Pirates pulled away in the third period by outscoring the Tigers 19-6 as Gore moved on to the Armstrong Bank Sequoyah County Area Classic consolation championship game with the consolation semifinal victory over Central. Gore takes on Stigler at 8 p.m. on Friday at Muldrow in the consolation title contest and the loss eliminated Central from the tournament.
In the first eight minutes the Pirates led 13-9 after Noah Cooper’s inside basket with 2:21 remaining. Central’s Devon Baggs’ two-point field goal followed seconds later but Gore closed out the period with a 7-0 run on Jackson Duke’s free throw, wing 3-pointer and reverse layup to put the Pirates on top 19-11. Duke, the game’s leading scorer with 19 points, registered 11 in the first stanza and Central’s Aidan Sainer recorded five of his team-high 15 points.
Each team scored nine points in the second quarter and Gore led 28-20 at the intermission. Gore’s Journey Shells (3 points) and the Tigers’ Sainer (4) and Baggs (3) were the top scorers in the period.
The Pirates added 13 points to their advantage in the third frame. Aidan Dickerson and Cooper (5 points each) and Duke each made a 3-pointer and Shells added four points for Gore in the period while Connor Walters, Joseph Lee and Sainer scored two points apiece for Central. Sainer hit a pair of foul shots to start the final stanza before Gore answered with Dickerson’s put-back, Duke’s 3-pointer and Keigan Reid’s inside basket with 5:48 to go. Noah Buzzard and Sainer scored four points each for the Tigers in the fourth.
Trailing Duke in scoring for Gore in the game were Cooper (11 points), Shells (9), Reid (8), Dickerson (7) and Bryson Thouvenel (1).
Trailing Sainer in scoring for Central were Baggs (5 points), Walters and Buzzard (4 each) and Isaac Rogers, Cade Tucker, Lee, Hunter Pack and Cole Holcomb (2 apiece).
