Roland boys fall to No. 1 Millwood in state quarterfinals
OKLAHOMA CITY — The good news was the Roland Runnin’ Rangers got a chance to be a part of the final Class 3A State Tournament at Oklahoma City’s Jim Norick State Fair Arena, a.k.a. “The Big House” — which is being imploded this spring after 60 years of service.
The not-so-good news was the Runnin’ Rangers had to face Class 3A’s top-ranked Oklahoma City Millwood Falcons in Thursday morning’s state quarterfinals.
The Falcons showed why they’re No. 1 as they defeated the Runnin’ Rangers 78-45.
The Falcons (20-5) flew out of the gates early as a basket by Javier Richards put Millwood up 12-0 with 2:41 left in the first quarter.
A basket and a pair of free throws by Damonte Owens got the Runnin’ Rangers (25-3) on the board as they trailed 12-4 with 2:24 remaining in the quarter. Unfortunately, that was as close as they got.
The Falcons scored the final six points of the quarter to take an 18-4 lead after the period.
A basket and a free throw by Braylon Goins gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the opening half as Millwood had a 21-4 lead with 6:07 left before halftime.
A 3-point basket by Owens and a basket by Cason Perryman cut the Roland deficit to 21-9 with 5:31 remaining in the first half.
The Falcons ended the first half with a 10-7 run to take a 31-16 halftime lead.
Back-to-back baskets for Roland by Mason Kemp and Buck Triplett cut the Millwood lead to 33-20 with 6:57 left in the third quarter, but the Runnin’ Rangers got no closer.
The Falcons ended the period on a 25-12 run to take a 56-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons got to as great as a 34-point lead in the final period as a basket by Johnathan Van Buren with 2:54 left to play put Millwood ahead 7440.
“We missed a lot of shots and we turned the ball over too much,” said Roland boys coach Eddie Lewis, whose team committed 21 turnovers and only hit 32 percent of its shots (15-of-47) for the game. “When you do that, you put yourself in a little bit of a hole.”
In defeat, Owens and Kade Shook led Roland with 12 points each, followed by Triplett with eight points, Landon Fowler with five points, Kemp with four points and Perryman and senior Nate Criswell with two points each.
“I’m very proud of our season,” said Lewis, whose team made it to state for the second time in three years and the sixth time in the last 11 seasons. “We accomplished a lot of things. If you’re not here (at ‘The Big House’), you don’t have a chance to play for it (state title).”
