Vian tops Stigler to move on to area tournament at Ada

VIAN HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL

The Wolverines outscored Stigler 26-11 in the final eight minutes of Saturday afternoon’s Class 3A regional consolation championship game at Roland to defeat the Panthers 61-50 and advance to this week’s area tournament at Ada High School.

Vian (15-9 overall) plays No. 10 Lindsay (20-6) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in an area consolation quarterfinal contest at Ada.

In Saturday’s game inside the Ranger Dome the Panthers led 10-5 at the end of the first quarter. Yonsi Grass hit a 3-pointer for Vian in the period.

Vian erased (15-10) the deficit in the second stanza and with 5:08 to go Masyn Wright’s inside jumper gave the Wolverines their first lead (12-10) of the game. Desean Mays (5 points), Diego Ramos and K’den Richardson each made a 3-pointer for Vian in the period while Stigler freshman guard Jackson McCarter registered eight of his game-high 34 points. The score was tied 20-all at the half.

Grass’ 3-pointer and Ramos’ inside basket early in the third quarter put the Wolverines ahead 25-20 and Vian stayed in front until McCarter’s pair of treys and foul shots gave the Panthers a 39-31 advantage. Wright recorded eight of Vian’s 15 points and McCarter (14 points) knocked down four 3-pointers for the Panthers, who took a 3935 lead to the fourth.

Stigler led 46-43 with 6:06 remaining in the fourth frame before a 9-0 run put the Wolverines in front for good. Mays (9 points) and Ramos (6) each made three 2-point field goals, Richardson and Wright both went 4-for-4 at the foul line and Grass hit his third trey of the contest.

Scoring for Vian in the game were Mays (16 points), Wright (14), Ramos (13), Grass (9), Richardson (7) and Elijah Stewart (2).

Trailing McCarter in scoring for Stigler (15-11 overall) were Jayden Gould (8 points), Jamarion Warren (4), Will Rose (3) and McKade Peery (1).

Vian head coach John Mays was proud of his team’s performance Saturday.

“Oh my gosh, that was so hard-fought between two really good teams right there,” Mays said after the game. “I’m pretty happy right now but that (Jackson) McCarter kid is good and he shot lightsout today and we were guarding him too. But I’m more proud of our kids, the way they fought back three games in a row and never got down and kept working. Doing good things. Proud of them.”

Before beating Stigler the Wolverines defeated Heavener on Friday and Eufaula on Thursday in their regional consolation opener.

Vian boys 42, Heavener 36 (Friday) Vian (14-9 overall) overcame an early deficit by outscoring No. 19 Heavener (18-7) in the second and fourth periods Friday night at Roland to win its regional consolation semifinal contest.

K’den Richardson hit a 3-pointer in the opening frame for the Wolverines but the Wolves led 9-5 at the end of the quarter.

In the second stanza Vian’s Diego Ramos made a pair of 3-pointers and registered 10 of his game-high 19 points and teammate Yonsi Grass (5 points) also hit a trey to help the Wolverines erase (16-9) the deficit and lead 21-18 at the half.

Each team scored seven points in the third quarter and Masyn Wright (5 points) knocked down a 3-pointer for Vian, which took a 28-25 lead to the fourth.

Ramos scored five of Vian’s 14 points in the final period and Grass went 4-for-4 at the foul line. Richardson and Ramos each made both of their free-throw attempts in the frame.

Trailing Ramos in scoring for Vian were Grass (9 points), Wright (7), Richardson (5) and Desean Mays (2).

Landon Thurman led Heavener in scoring with 12 points.

Vian boys 51, Eufaula 38 (Thursday) The Wolverines’ Desean Mays and Yonsi Grass scored a combined 43 points and Vian’s defense limited Eufaula to less than 10 points in each of the first three quarters Thursday afternoon at Roland as the Wolverines (13-9) defeated the Ironheads (8-14) in a Class 3A regional consolation quarterfinal contest.

In the first stanza Mays knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his game-high 24 points and Grass also hit a trey. Vian led 14-5 with 2:40 remaining but Eufaula registered the final four points of the period.

The Wolverines led 26-17 at the half after increasing its advantage (12-8) in the second frame. Grass (two 3-pointers) led Vian in scoring and Mays added a pair of 2-point field goals.

Grass and Mays recorded five and four points, respectively, in the third quarter as the Wolverines padded (10-8) their lead.

In the final eight minutes Mays (6 points) went 4-for-6 at the foul line, Grass (4) was 3-for-4 and K’den Richardson made both of his free-throw attempts.

Trailing Mays in scoring for Vian in the contest were Grass (19 points), Masyn Wright (4) and Diego Ramos and Richardson (2 each).

Scoring for Stigler were Riley Morgan (11 points), Talon Weaver and Jentry James (8 each), Jake Parish (6), Landon Mills (4) and Keaton Parish (1).