Central girls, Stigler boys down Gore squads on Day 1
Being at home at Gore Event Center didn’t bring the sub-host Gore Lady Pirates or Pirates any luck on Monday night as they both lost their opening-round games in the 2025 Sequoyah County Classic.
The Central Lady Tigers used a strong third quarter to pull away for a 51-30 win over the Lady Pirates, then the Stigler Panthers got past the Pirates 58-47.
There were no opening-round games Monday at the Ranger Dome at Roland High School, this season’s host school, due to the Lady Rangers and Runnin’ Rangers getting opening-round byes into Thursday night’s championship semifinals.
Tuesday was slated to see the final four games of the opening round with Vian’s teams playing in Gore against the Stigler Lady Panthers and the Central Tigers, respectively, while it was an all Muldrow-Gans match-up at the Ranger Dome.
Due to the threatening snowstorm forecasted for Thursday, Thursday’s championship semifinals will be played Wednesday at the Ranger Dome, beginning at 4 p.m. with four games.
The championship semifinals will take place Wednesday at the Ranger Dome with the Central girls meeting Muldrow at 4 p.m., followed by the Stigler boys facing the Muldrow at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Rangers will meet Stigler at 7 p.m., followed by the Runnin’ Rangers meeting Central at 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday’s championship semifinal winners will play for the championships on Saturday night at the Ranger Dome, with the girls’ championship game at 6 p.m. and the boys’ title game at 7:30 p.m.
The two consolation semifinal games will still take place Wednesday at Gore, but it will begin two hours earlier than originally scheduled as the Gore teams will face the Gans teams beginning at 4 p.m. with the winners playing for the consolation championship at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ranger Dome.
The championship semifinals losers will play for third place at 2 p.m. (girls) and 3:30 p.m. (boys) Saturday at the Ranger Dome.
The Vian teams automatically got a bye into the consolation finals at 11 a.m. (girls) and 12:30 p.m. (boys) Saturday at the Ranger Dome.
There will be no games played Thursday or Friday due to the threatening snowstorm forecast for Thursday.
GIRLS
CENTRAL 51, GORE 30
The Lady Pirates (1-6) kept the game close, trailing only 13-9 after a quarter. Back-to-back baskets by Gore’s Ricki Huckbay and Rayleigh Moore cut the Gore deficit to 14-13 with 4:18 left before halftime. However, that was as close as the Lady Pirates got.
The Lady Tigers (6-2) ended the first half with an 8-3 run, capped by a pair of free throws by Cheyenne Busch with 44 seconds remaining in the first half, to give Central a 22-16 lead at halftime.
The Lady Tigers took control of the game with a 14-5 third quarter to increase their advantage to 36-21 after three quarters.
For the game, Central put three players into double figures, led by Cambree Bair’s game-high 14 points, followed by Haley Cheek’s 12 points and Paris Campbell’s 10 points. Busch scored six points, followed by Ayrland Jiles with five points and Hadlie Woods with four points.
In defeat, Huckbay led Gore with 10 points, followed by Kennedy Williams with seven points, Emily Daily and River Shoemake with four points each, Moore with three points and Hallie Brewer with two points.
BOYS
STIGLER 58, GORE 47
Thanks to a 5-0 start, the Pirates (4-3) got out to an 8-4 lead thanks to Cain Cooper’s 3-point basket with 5:49 left in the opening period.
A 3-pointer by Stigler’s Cade Parker capped a 7-3 run by the Panthers (5-3) to knot the game at 11-all with 3:29 remaining in the quarter.
The Pirates ended the period with an 8-5 run to take a 19-16 lead after the first quarter.
However, the Panthers outscored the Pirates 12-4 in the second quarter to take a 28-23 lead at halftime, then used an 11-6 third period to up their advantage to 39-29 after three quarters.
In defeat, Cooper scored a game-high 33 points to lead Gore, followed by Tate Brooksher with seven points, Duane Hunt with four points and Keeton Rowe with three points.
