Muldrow sweeps Heavener on Senior Night
It was a successful Senior Night for the Muldrow High School basketball teams Monday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center in the regular-season finales against Heavener.
The Lady Bulldogs started the night with a 67-34 romp over the Lady Wolves, then the ’Dogs got past the Wolves 7058 to end the evening.
GIRLS
MULDROW 67, HEAVENER 34
A 3-point basket by Heavener’s Julie Cook gave the Lady Wolves (7-18) a 3-2 lead with 6:10 left in the first quarter. It not only would be the only lead of the night for the visitors, but the last time the Lady Wolves ended up being in striking distance.
The Lady Bulldogs (16-8), who started all five seniors — Jensi Fields, Danica Tune, Maysi Fields, Emmalee Short and Chloee Clark — for their Senior Night game, ended the period with a 19-7 run, capped by a buzzer-beater by Kayla Ellingberg, to give Muldrow a 21-10 lead after the first quarter.
The lead continued to swell for the Lady Bulldogs, who took a 40-20 halftime lead and had a 54-29 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
“This is a great group (of seniors),” Muldrow girls coach Jana Armer said. “They’ve shown great leadership. They all deserved to have their name called (when the starting line-up was announced) and get that spotlight on them. They’re a great group of kids outside of basketball. This is one of the closest teams I’ve ever had. Their camaraderie is unreal. That’s all a testament to those seniors.”
For the game, Maysi Fields scored a game-high 19 points and Kilah Ellingberg added 14 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Short with eight points, Tune, London Hardin, Gracie Prewett and Kayla Ellingberg with four points each, Emma Fields and Amarie Duran each with three points and Jensi Fields and Cherish Atkerson with two points apiece.
The Lady Bulldogs are now entering the postseason, which will begin with in the Class 4A District Tournament against Stigtler at 6 tonight at home, probably playing their best basketball of the season.
“We were like 2-6 when we started, and now we’re 16-8,” Armer said. “From where we were at early on, the growth this team has made this year, I don’t think I’ve ever had a team grow as much and come as far as this team.”
BOYS
MULDROW 70, HEAVENER 58
The first quarter saw 11 lead changes, with the Bulldogs (18-6) grabbing the last lead of the period on a free throw by Teaguen Collins with 33 seconds left, to break a 14-all tie to put Muldrow on top 15-14 after the first eight minutes.
After a free throw by Heavener’s Isaac Cook cut his team’s deficit to 19-18 with 6:16 left before halftime, the ’Dogs — who started their four seniors on Senior Night, Zeeshan Bukhari, Brady Boshers, Jaxson Anstine and Kendal Howell, along with junior center Parker Sevenstar — went on a 9-0 run, capped by a slam dunk by Collins with 4:20 remaining in the first half, put Muldrow ahead 28-18.
However, the pesky Wolves (11-14) kept hanging around as they went on a 13-2 run, capped by a basket by Cook with 1:25 left in the first half, to put Heavener up 31-30.
However, a new face for the Bulldogs made his presence known as former Roland Runnin’ Ranger DaVohn Hall hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining before halftime to give Muldrow a 3331 halftime lead.
After a basket by Heavener’s Canyon Ford tied the game at 33-all with 7:46 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs went on a 14-3 run, capped by a conventional 3-point play by Sevenstar, to put Muldrow ahead 47-36 with 4:02 remaining in the period.
A conventional 3-point play by Heavener’s Zaid Rodriguez with three seconds remaining in the quarter capped a 10-4 run to cut the Wolves’ deficit to 51-46 going into the final period. However, that ended up being as close as the Wolves got.
The ’Dogs outscored the Wolves 1912 in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
“We got another win,” Muldrow boys coach Terry Collins said. “I’m not proud of how we got it, but a win is a win.”
Collins said the Bulldogs will need to get back to the way they played last Friday night at Sallisaw when they begin postseason play by entertaining the Stigler Panthers at 7:30 tonight at home in the Class 4A District Tournament.
“I thought we could have guarded a little better,” he said. “I thought they (the Wolves) were going to be tough because they have some decent guard play and a small bunch of guys who can do things with the ball. (Heavener’s) No. 3 (Rogelio Garcia) shot the ball — he hit seven 3s on us (for a game-high 21 points). We have to recognize he’s a shooter. We’ve added some pieces to our puzzle. We have to see what we need to work on. Just little things like that, so we’ve got to get things going.”
For the game, Muldrow put five players into double figures, led by Sevenstar and D.J. Massey with 13 points each, followed by Collins and Anstine each with 12 points and Jesse Kilinc with 10 points. Hall scored seven points, while Jermauree Palmer added three points.
