Central teams sweep Hulbert for district title; Tigers win on buzzer-beater

The Central High School basketball teams swept the Hulbert squads to capture the Class 2A District Tournament titles Friday night at the Central Gym.

In Friday night’s district finals, the Lady Tigers routed the Lady Riders 60-38, then the Tigers got a buzzer-beater from Paitton Merrill to get past the Riders 45-43.

It will be a battle of Lady Tigers and Tigers on Thursday at the Class 2A Regional Tournament in Hulbert when Central’s teams meet Oktaha in the championship semifinals in Hulbert, with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. and the boys’ contest at 7:30 p.m.

The Central-Oktaha winners will not only make it to the regional finals at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Dale, but also automatically will qualify for next week’s Class 2A Area Tournament at McAlester.

The Central-Oktaha losers will be bumped into the regional consolation semifinals at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Friday against the winners of Thursday’s Mounds-Meeker regional consolation quarterfinal games, with Friday’s winners playing for the consolation championship and a trip to the Class 2A Area Tournament at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Dale.

In the girls’ district title game, the Lady Tigers (185) led 9-8 after a quarter but used a 23-10 second period to up their advantage to 32-18 at the half. After the Lady Riders cut their deficit to 44-32 after three quarters, the Lady Tigers put away the game with a 16-6 final period.

For the game, Central put three players into double figures, led by Ayrland Jiles with a game-high 19 points, followed by Cambree Bair’s 14 points and Haley Cheek’s 11 points. Hadlie Woods scored nine points, followed by Ryleigh Pierce with four points, Paris Campbell with two points and Cheyenne Busch with a free throw.

In the boys’ district finals, Merrill’s buzzer-beater broke a 43-all tie to propel the Tigers (16-7) to the championship.

For the game, Braxin Goodson scored 14 points to lead Central, followed by Gavin Randolph with seven points, Hardy Buzzard and Noah Buzzard with six points each, Aidan Sainer and Josh Brunk each with four points and Merrill and Kiefer Bailey with two points apiece.