Sallisaw teams split, Central boys win, Vian teams lose on Day 1 of SCT
The Sallisaw and Central high school basketball teams split their games in the first round of the 2024 Sequoyah County Tournament on Tuesday night at Sallisaw High School’s Paul Post Fieldhouse. Vian lost both of its opening-round games on Tuesday.
Three of the four games ended with the higher seed winning, Stigler girls were the only lower seed to win as they defeated Vian.
The fifth-seeded Sallisaw Lady Black Diamonds upset fourth seeded Central 32-24 in a game that featured only 15 made field goals combined. Central’s Koda Robbins gave the team their first field goal of the game with 1:52 remaining in the first. Each team had a player with three fouls at halftime. Central scored the first points by either team in the fourth quarter with 3:47 to go on a free throw.
The Sallisaw boys team, the No. 4 seed, lost to the fifth-seeded Stigler Panthers 63-62 on a buzzer beater in overtime. Sallisaw trailed most of the game, but the Black Diamonds picked up two technical fouls in the third quarter and that seemed to bring the crowd to life and give Sallisaw a true home-court advantage.
The sixth-seeded Central Tigers defeated third-seeded Vian 63-60. The first quarter had a run by each team of 10 or larger. Vian’s Masyn Wright ended a Central 5-0 run to give Vian their first points of the third quarter.
The Stigler Lady Panthers, the third seed, defeated the sixthseed Vian Lady Wolverines in the first game of the day 50-22. Vian led the entire first quarter, but after Stigler took the lead at 8-7 with seven minutes to go in the second quarter the Lady Wolverines never led again.
The Sallisaw and Stigler girls, Central and Stigler boys advanced to Thursday night’s championship semifinals at Sallisaw High School’s Paul Post Field House.
On the girls’ side, the Lady Diamonds met the Muldrow Lady Bulldogs in one championship semifinal after the Lady Panthers met up with the Roland Lady Rangers. 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, Central faced Muldrow and Stigler faced Roland. 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.
GIRLS
SALLISAW 32, CENTRAL 24
The Lady Diamonds (4-5) took care of business at the free-throw line to propel them to a victory against the Lady Tigers (5-3). Sallisaw went 14of-24 at the line, while Central went 8-of-16.
In the game, the Lady Tigers had eight field goals and the Lady Diamonds had seven, including none in the fourth quarter. At the end of one quarter, Sallisaw led 6-5 with Kayli Macon leading all scores with four points.
In the second quarter, scoring picked up on both sides as Sallisaw scored 10 and Central scored eight. Central’s Koda Robbins heated up in the quarter as she scored six. At the half, Sallisaw had a 16-13 advantage.
Thanks to a 6-0 run by Sallisaw, the Lady Diamonds had a 25-17 lead. The Lady Diamonds had a 26-19 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, more timeouts were called than field goals made, as four timeouts were called and Central had the only two field goals in the quarter. Even though the Lady Diamonds didn’t make a field in the quarter, they hit 6-of-12 free throws.
The leading scorer for Sallisaw was Macon and Hannah Palmer with 10 points each, followed by Molly Carver with five points, Alayna Locust-Trammell with four points, Sydney Weedon with two points and Abby Kate Qualls with a free throw.
Central’s leading scorer was Robbins with 14 points, followed by Hadlie Woods with four points and Ayrland Jiles, Cheyenne Busch and Haley Cheek with two points apiece.
BOYS
STIGLER 63, SALLISAW 62 OT
The Black Diamonds (45) played a hard-fought game with the Panthers (6-2) but fell in overtime after a late score at the end of regulation forced OT.
Trailing 41-40 after three quarters, Sallisaw took the lead with 5:40 left in regulation, then after that the lead changed on the next three possessions.
A lay-up by Sallisaw’s Max Stump with 11 seconds remaining sent the game into overtime tied at 54-all.
Kenyan Hill hit a 3-point basket to start the scoring in the overtime period. A Cooper Jackson layup gave Sallisaw a 6260 lead with 13 seconds remaining.
Stigler then hurried down the court, where Cade Parker hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Panthers the victory.
In defeat, Jackson led all scorers with a game-high 23 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Stump with 16 points, Cooper Cox with nine points, Hill and Brodie Cameron with six points each and Rustyn Romero with two points.
BOYS
CENTRAL 63, VIAN 60
The Tigers (4-4) upset the Wolverines (3-3) with the help of Devan Baggs as he scored 29 points.
For Vian, it was the second consecutive time to be upset in the first round of a tournament this season. Vian received the top seed in the Gore Tournament but fell 4542 in overtime to eighthseeded Quinton on Dec. 14 at Gore Event Center.
Central had a 10-0 run in the first quarter to put the Tigers up 12-2, then Vian went on a 11-0 run to help get the game tied at 15-all entering the second period.
In the second quarter, no team had a run larger than four points. Central took a 34-32 lead into halftime.
Central opened things up in the third quarter with Baggs scoring the first five points to give Central a 39-32 lead.
Vian’s Masyn Wright scored Vian’s first points of the second half with 3:40 remaining in the third quarter. Central had a 48-42 lead heading into the final quarter.
Clutch shots in the fourth allowed Vian to stay in the game but the Wolverines were never able to get closer than three points in the period — but still had a chance to force overtime.
Central missed two free throws with 1.8 left, which allowed Vian to make a last second heave at the basket that fell short.
For the game, Baggs scored 29 points to lead Central, followed by Noah Buzzard with 10 points, Cade Tucker with eight points, Aiden Sainer with seven points, Hardy Buzzard with five points and Cole Holcomb with four points.
In defeat, Yonsi Grass led all scorers with a game-high 31 points to lead Vian, followed by Wright with 21 points, Trace Sanders with four points and Jacob Brannick and Cash Collins with two points apiece.
GIRLS
STIGLER 50, VIAN 22
The Lady Wolverines (15) played with the Lady Panthers (7-1) for a little more than a quarter as Stigler took its first lead of the ball game with seven minutes to go in the second quarter.
In the first quarter, Vian was able to take advantage of a sluggish start by Stigler which allowed the Lady Wolverines to take a 7-6 lead after a period.
After Stigler took the lead in the second quarter, the Lady Panthers never looked back as they scored 17 points in the second period en route to a 23-10 halftime lead.
Stigler kept the offense rolling in the third quarter and had 23 points in the third quarter that ended with a Jordan Johnson 3-point basket at the buzzer for a 46-18 advantage going into the final period.
In defeat, Avery Wright had six points to lead Vian, followed by Rebel Simon and Maisie Wells with five points each, Skyelar Locust with four points and Kala Gibbins with two points.
