Muldrow wins tournament battle against county rival

JIM CAMERON

SPORTS WRITER

MULDROW – The Muldrow Bulldogs’ defense was on fire in Tuesday’s first round of the Armstrong Bank Sequoyah County Tournament, limiting cross-county rival Central to less than 20 points on the night, as the hosts advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 34-18 victory.

Both defenses were on display all night, but Muldrow won that contest when the Bulldogs managed to nearly shut out Central in the fourth quarter, keeping the Tigers to just one bucket while doubling their lead from eight points at the end of the third quarter to 16 points at the end of the game.

It was obvious from the start that this was going to be a hard-fought game of attrition. Central’s Aiden Sainer made five points, nearly matching the six points the Bulldogs registered, with the majority of those coming from a Trenden Collins bucket and Drew Prewett’s trey.

Muldrow got untracked in the second stanza, as the Bulldogs went on a scoring spree led by Collins’ seven points, which made up half of the 14 points Muldrow recorded to swell its growing lead. The young Tigers weren’t able to keep up, scoring only four points in the frame and falling behind by 11 points going into the locker room at intermission.

But Central returned to the court with some new ideas. The Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 7-4 in the third stanza, but Muldrow shut the door on Central in the final period, advancing to Thursday’s tournament semifinals.

The win improved Muldrow’s record to 8-1, while Central slipped into the tournament’s consolation bracket with a 3-5 record.

MULDROW 6 14 4 10 – 34

CENTRAL 5 4 7 2 – 18

MULDROW – Trenden Collins15, Andrew Lutrell 4, Parker Sevenstar 3, Drew Prewett 3, Kenoy Releford 3, Kashan Buhkari 2, Gibson Price 2, Jaxson Anstine 1, Maliki Albertson 1.

CENTRAL – Aiden Sainer 10, Isaac Rogers 4, Cade Tucker 2, Joseph Lee 2.

Jim Cameron | Times

Muldrow’s Trenden Collins steals the ball from Central’s Aiden Sainer in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s opening round of the Armstrong Bank Sequoyah County Tournament. The Bulldogs won 34-18, advancing to Thursday’s semifinals, while Central slipped to the consolation bracket.