Black Diamonds win consolation title at Shawnee tournament; Lady Diamonds finish 4th

SHAWNEE — The Sallisaw Black Diamonds basketball team won the consolation title at the First United Bank Basketball Classic, which took place Thursday through Saturday at Bethel High School.

The Black Diamonds defeated the host Bethel Wildcats 4435 in Saturday afternoon’s consolation championship after losing 70-57 to McLoud in Thursday’s opener but beating the Bethel junior varsity 73-42.

The Sallisaw Lady Diamonds went 1-2 in the tournament to finish fourth. They opened with a 26-20 win over Prague in Thursday’s opener, but got edged 31-30 by Tecumseh in Friday’s semifinals and lost 4137 to McLoud in the third-place game.

In the boys’ consolation championship, the Black Diamonds got out to an 11-6 lead after a quarter against the ’Cats, then Sallisaw’s 11-9 second period upped the Black Diamonds’ advantage to 22-15 at halftime. An 8-7 third quarter pushed Sallisaw’s lead to 30-22 going into the final period.

For the game, Sallisaw saw three players hit for double figures as Wes Rodriguez scored 13 points, Cooper Carter had 12 points and Cooper Cox added 10 points. Cooper Jackson added nine points.

In the boys’ consolation semifinals, the Black Diamonds (3-2) had a 15-10 lead over the Wildcats after a quarter, but a 23-8 second period for Sallisaw put the Black Diamonds ahead 38-18 at halftime.

For the game, Jackson scored a game-high 22 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Max Stump with 16 points, Rodriguez with 11 points, Cox with 10 points, Carter with six points and Kenyon Hill and Ish Patel with four points apiece.

In the boys’ openinground loss, Cox had 17 points, while Jackson and Stump each had 16 points to lead Sallisaw as the Black Diamonds put a trio of players into double figures. Patel and Kase Adams each had three points, while Brodi Nickell had two points.

In the girls’ third-place game, McLoud jumped out to a 15-6 lead after a period, but the Lady Diamonds (2-3) used a 1410 second period to cut their deficit to 25-20 at the break. A 6-3 third quarter for McLoud upped its advantage to 31-23 going into the final quarter.

In defeat, Kayli Macon scored nine points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Alayna Locust-Trammell with seven points, Abby Kate Qualls with five points, Molly Carver and Hannah Palmer with four points each, Allison Grimm with three points, Casey Brackett and Sydney Weedon each with two points and Emma Martin with a free throw.

In the girls’ championship semifinals, the Lady Savages rallied from a 26-23 third-quarter deficit as they outscored the Lady Diamonds 8-4 in the final period to get the come-from-behind win.

In defeat, Palmer led Sallisaw with eight points, followed by Macon with seven points, Carver with six points, Qualls with five points and Locust-Trammell and Addy Orendorff with two points apiece.

In the girls’ openinground victory, the Lady Diamonds pretty much led from start to finish, but by an ever-so-slight one-point lead throughout the first three quarters, such as a 4-3 lead after a period and a 12-11 advantage going into the final period. In the fourth quarter, Sallisaw outscored Prague 14-9 to keep the Lady Red Devils at bay.

Palmer had nine points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Macon with seven points, Qualls with five points, Carver with three points and Locust-Trammell with two points.