Muldrow, Roland teams get SCT opening-round wins at Gans

Both Muldrow High School and Roland High School basketball teams had easy opening-round wins in the 2024 Sequoyah County Tournament on late Tuesday afternoon and night at Gans High School’s Bryant “Big Country” Reeves Fieldhouse.

The second-seeded Muldrow Bulldogs ended up in a fairly competitive game with the seventh-seeded Gore Pirates as Gore’s strong second half helped the Pirates get into striking distance before the ’Dogs ended up winning 47-32.

The Roland Running Rangers, the top seed, had little problem with the eighth-seeded and sub-site host Gans Grizzlies as Roland prevailed 69-42.

On the girls’ side, the eighth-seeded Gore Lady Pirates put a scare into the top-seeded Muldrow Lady Bulldogs, who ended up winning going away by the score of 58-27.

The second-seeded Roland Lady Rangers corralled the seventh-seeded and sub-site host Gans Lady Grizzlies 52-7.

Both Muldrow and Roland teams advanced to Thursday night’s championship semifinals, which were played at Sallisaw High School’s Paul Post Field House.

On the girls’ side, the Lady Bulldogs faced the SCT host Sallisaw Lady Diamonds in one championship semifinal, while the Lady Rangers met up with the Stigler Lady Panthers. The two winners will meet for the SCT title at 6 p.m. Saturday at Paul Post Field House, while the two losers will meet for third place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Paul Post Field House.

In the boys’ championship semifinals Thursday at Paul Post Field House, the ’Dogs faced Central and the Running Rangers played Stigler. The two victors will meet in the SCT boys title game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Paul Post Field House, while the losers will meet at 3 p.m. Saturday for third place.

BOYS

MULDROW 47, GORE 32

The Bulldogs (4-5) looked as if they were going to make the Pirates (4-5) walk the plank as Muldrow raced out to a 13-1 lead with 1:35 left in the first period on a 3-point basket by Drew Prewett. A trey by Gore’s Burr Jaymes with 62 seconds remaining in the period cut Gore’s deficit to 13-4 entering the second quarter.

After another 3-pointer by Jaymes cut Gore’s deficit to 13-6 with 7:30 left before halftime. The ’Dogs ended the first half on an 11-1 run, capped by Prewett’s basket with four seconds remaining in the first half, to give Muldrow a 24-7 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs saw their lead get as large as 20 points in the third quarter as a basket by Parker Sevenstar with 3:56 left in the period gave Muldrow a 30-10 lead. Muldrow took a 32-19 lead into the final period.

However, the Pirates would not go away as they answered Sevenstar’s basket with an 11-2 run that ended in the early stages of the fourth quarter as a basket by Gore’s Tate Brooksher cut the Muldrow lead to 32-21 with 7:45 left in the game. However, that was as close as Gore got.

For the game, Sevenstar scored a game-high 14 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Teaguen Collins with nine points, Kashan Bukhari with seven points, Jaxson Anstine with six points, Prewett with five points, Deshawn Wilson with four points and Trenton Irvan with two points.

In defeat, Brooksher scored 13 points to lead Gore, followed by Cain Cooper with seven points, Jaymes with six points, Bryon McDuffie with four points and Journey Shells with two points.

ROLAND 69, GANS 42

The Running Rangers (9-1) jumped out to a 13-2 lead on a 3-point basket by Carson Wiggins with 4:38 left in the first quarter en route to a 23-8 lead after a period, which was punctuated by DaVohn Hall’s slam dunk at the buzzer.

A 3-pointer by Gans’ Mayson Clifton to open the second quarter cut the Roland lead to 23-11 with 7:29 left before halftime, but the Running Rangers went on a 17-0 run, capped by a pair of Buck Triplett free throws with 90 seconds remaining in the first half, to up Roland’s advantage to 4011. Roland took a 42-14 lead into the locker rooms at the break.

The Running Rangers built as much as a 32-point lead in the second half as a basket by Nate Criswell with 1:17 left in the third period put Roland ahead 53-21. Roland took a 5524 lead into the fourth quarter on a buzzer-beater by Paul Johnson.

The Grizzlies (3-5) did get the deficit to less than 32-points as a basket by Josh Brunk cut Gans’ deficit to 22 points at 6442 with 1:46 left to play in the game.

For the contest, Triplett scored a game-high 19 points and Wiggins added 11 points to lead Roland, followed by Criswell with nine points, Raesean Perryman with seven points, Mason Kemp with six points, Hall and KeJuan Youngblood with four points each, Asa Ulrich and Kayden Hartt each with three points, Johnson with two points and Cason Perryman with a free throw.

In defeat, Brunk scored 14 points and Clifton added 10 points to lead Gans, followed by Ashton Langston and Caleb Martin with six points each and Bryce Stevens and Nakota White with three points apiece.

GIRLS

MULDROW 58, GORE 27

The first good news on the late afternoon for the Lady Bulldogs (7-2) was their injured senior leader, Kennedi “Kiki” Wight, was back on the court for the first time since injuring her knee at the halftime buzzer of the homecoming game against Sallisaw on Dec. 15 at Roger Sharp Activity Center.

However, Wight’s return didn’t spark the Lady Bulldogs — at least early on.

The Lady Pirates (2-7) jumped out to a 9-4 lead on Oaklei Thornton’s 3-pointer with 2:25 left in the first quarter, but a 6-0 run by the Lady Bulldogs, capped by Wight’s basket with seven seconds left, gave Muldrow its first lead of the game at 10-9 to end the opening period.

Another Thornton 3-pointer and a basket by Emily Daily put Gore up 14-10 with 6:08 left before halftime. Unfortunately, that would be the last time Gore would lead.

The Lady Bulldogs ended the first half with a 21-4 run to take a 31-18 halftime lead.

The Lady Bulldogs amassed as large as a 34-point lead at 54-20 with 6:35 left in the game on a basket by Makynlee Morton with 6:35 left in the game.

A 3-pointer by Gore’s Kaitlyn Byrne with 1:48 remaining to play cut the deficit to 30 points at 5525.

For the game, Wight led all scorers with a gamehigh 16 points in her return to the hardwood for Muldrow, followed by Claire Tabor with nine points, Kayla Ellingberg with eight points, Cailey Grinstead with six points, London Hardin, Maysi Fields, Aubrey Luttrell and Gracie Atkerson with three points each, Morton, Katelynn Moore and Kennady Moore each with two points and Gracie Prewett with a free throw.

In defeat, Thornton led Gore with nine points, followed by Byrne with five points, Daily, Rayleigh Moore and Natalie Casteel with three points each and Ricki Huckbay and Paige Curran with two points apiece.

ROLAND 52, GANS 7

The Lady Rangers (8-2) came out of the shoots with all pistols firing as they had a 22-0 firstquarter lead and scored the game’s first 24 points before the Lady Grizzlies (3-6) scored their first points on a pair of free throws by K’Cee Osburn with 5:22 left before halftime. Roland had a 31-4 halftime lead and a 49-7 advantage going into the final period.

For the game, Halle Freeman scored a gamehigh 12 points and Lilly Medicine Bird added 10 points to lead Roland, followed by Ryanne Nelke with nine points, Jazzlynn Teehee with eight points, Julianna Trujillo and Haven Freeman with six points each and Lillian Cole with a free throw.

In defeat, Osburn led Gans with five points, while Brianna Burris added two points.