Lady Diamonds consolation champions at Bethel tournament; boys fall in consolation finals
SHAWNEE — The Sallisaw Lady Diamonds ended a twogame losing streak by winning their final two games of the First United Bank Classic, which took place last Thursday through Saturday at Bethel High School.
After losing a heartbreaking 37-35 opening-round loss to Pauls Valley on Thursday, the Lady Diamonds bounced back and beat Tecumseh 69-23 in Friday’s consolation semifinals and defeated Perkins-Tryon 67-43 on Saturday to win the consolation championship.
The Black Diamonds almost duplicated the same feat at their female counterparts. After losing 60-51 to McLoud in Thursday’s opening-round contest, the Black Diamonds beat the host Bethel Wildcats 65-62 in Friday’s consolation semifinals. However, they lost 50-43 to Eufaula in the consolation finals on Saturday afternoon.
In the girls’ consolation title game, the Lady Diamonds (3-2) jumped out to a 17-5 lead over the Lady Demons and were never headed.
For the game, Hannah Palmer, who was named to the alltournament team, scored a game-high 23 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Alayna Locust-Trammell with 19 points, Channing Wilson with 14 points, JoLee Curson with four points, Jaycie Cox and Sydney Weedon with three points each and Kaycie Girdner with a free throw.
In the girls’ consolation semifinals, the Lady Diamonds blanked the Lady Savages 16-0 in the opening period and never looked back.
For the game, the Lady Diamonds put a trio of players into double figures, led by Palmer’s game-high 14 points, followed by Locust-Trammell’s 12 points and Wilson’s 10 points. Curson scored seven points, followed by Emma Martin with six points, Weedon and Kynli Adams with five points each, Cox with four points and Girdner and Addison Johnson with three points apiece.
In the girls’ opening-round loss, trailing 30-27 after three quarters, the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Diamonds 10-5 in the final period to get the come-from-behind victory.
In defeat, Palmer scored a gamehigh 16 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Weedon with eight points, Martin with six points, Locust-Trammell with three points and Wilson with two points.
In the boys’ consolation championship, trailing 29-21 at halftime, the Ironheads outscored the Black Diamonds 29-14 in the second half to get the comeback win.
In defeat, Asa Ulrich led the Black Diamonds (2-3) with 12 points, followed by Brodi Nickell with eight points, Tae Muskrat-Flynn with seven points, Luke Warner with five points, Austin Edgemon with four points, Rowdi Nickell with three points, Elijah Hill with two points and Grayson Griffey and Alex Gregory with a free throw apiece.
In the boys’ consolation semifinals, trailing 34-33 at halftime to the host Wildcats, the Black Diamonds outscored them 32-28 in the second half to get the come-from-behind victory.
For the game, Brodi Nickell led Sallisaw with 21 points, followed by Muskrat-Flynn with 19 points, Griffey with 11 points, Rowdi Nickell with seven points, Hill with four points and Ulrich with three points.
In the boys’ opening-round loss, one bad quarter doomed the Black Diamonds, who trailed 16-12 after a quarter. In the second quarter, the Redskins outscored the Black Diamonds 17-5 to extend their advantage to 33-17 at halftime en route to a 47-30 lead going after three quarters. The Black Diamonds tried to rally in the final period, outscoring them 21-13, but their rally came up short.
In defeat, Brodi Nickell scored a game-high 21 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Muskrat-Flynn with nine points, Hill with seven points, Rowdi Nickell with five points, Ulrich and Griffey with three points each and Steven Vang with two points.
