Sallisaw sweeps home NOAA games from Stilwell

While the end results were the same for the Sallisaw High School basketball teams in their NOAA Conference home games against the Stilwell squads Tuesday night at Paul Post Field House, the way the outcomes were produced were complete opposites.

The Black Diamonds saw a lead dissipate in the fourth quarter, fought back to force overtime and end the extra session on a 6-0 run to earn a hard-fought 66-60 OT win over the Indians.

On the other hand, the Lady Diamonds won going away as they defeated the Lady Indians 71-36.

BOYS

SALLISAW 66, STILWELL 60, OT

Trailing 55-51 with 1:58 left to play, the Black Diamonds (3-3 overall, 2-0 in NOAA Conference play) scored the last five points in regulation, with the game-tying point being scored on Brodi Nickell’s free throw with 12 seconds left.

It looked as if the Indians (2-5, 0-2) might have won the game as Remie Bogart possibly hit a game-winning 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded. However, two of the three referees met for about a minute, then one of them said the shot came after the buzzer, meaning four more minutes of basketball.

In the extra session, the Black Diamonds never trailed, though the Indians knotted the game on two occasions, with the last time at 60-all on a basket by Ryker Muskrat with 1:47 left in overtime.

However, the Black Diamonds kept the Indians scoreless for the final 1:47, while Sallisaw scored the game’s final six points to earn the victory.

“One of the things we talk about a lot is toughness,” Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Zac Rogers said. “This team is a really gritty team. They dug in there to beat a team that is as talented and well coached as Stilwell. It takes a lot of toughness, grit, a lot of heart and resiliency. I couldn’t be more proud of their effort.”

The Black Diamonds scored the game’s first six points en route to a 14-6 lead after a quarter.

Sallisaw got as high as a 14-point lead in the second quarter as they upped its advantage to 20-6 on a 3-pointer by Asa Ulrich with 6:02 left before halftime.

The Indians responded with a 12-2 run, capped by a pair of free throws by Brayton Carter with 1:51 remaining in the first half, to cut their deficit to 22–18.

However, a pair of free throws by Brodi Nickell and another basket by Ulrich put Sallisaw ahead 26-18 at halftime.

Thanks to a 10-8 run, capped by Rowdi Nickell’s basket, the Black Diamonds built a 10-point lead at 36-26 with 2:17 left in the third quarter.

However, the Indians ended the period with an 8-2 run, capped by a pair of Chase Benham free throws with three seconds remaining in the quarter, to cut the Sallisaw advantage to 38-34 going into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, it seemed as if all the breaks were going the way of the Indians as they went on a 21–13 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Benham, to give Stilwell a 55-51 lead with 1:58 remaining in regulation, setting the stage for Sallisaw’s last-minute comeback to force OT.

For the game, Brodi Nickell scored a game-high 24 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Ulrich with 13 points, Rowdi Nickell with 12 points, Tae Muskrat-Flynn with 10 points, Grayson Griffey with five points and Elijah Hill with two points.

GIRLS

SALLISAW 71, STILWELL 36

Despite the Lady Indians (1-6 overall, 0-2 in NOAA Conference play) taking three leads in the first quarter, with the last one at 6-5 on Mady George’s basket with 1:49 left in the period, the Lady Diamonds (4-2, 2-0) closed the quarter on a 5-2 run, capped by Hannah Palmer’s 3-point basket with 17 seconds left in the period, to give Sallisaw a 10-8 lead after a quarter. The Lady Diamonds would not trail again, but the Lady Indians kept hanging around for the rest of the first half.

Three free throws by George when she was fouled attempting a 3-point basket cut Stilwell’s deficit to 1211 with 6:36 left before halftime. It was as close as Stilwell got the rest of the game.

Sydney Weedon’s basket with 2:12 remaining in the first half gave Sallisaw a 25-19 halftime lead, its biggest advantage of the first half.

In the second half, the Lady Diamonds turned up their defensive pressure, which seemed to be a catalyst on the offensive end.

The Lady Diamonds outscored the Lady Indians 46-18 in the second half, with the largest margin enjoyed coming in the waning seconds with reserves in the game as one of those reserves, Cherokee Davis, hit a basket with two seconds left to play to give Sallisaw its final 35-point margin of victory at 71-36.

“I think that’s one of the advantages to the way we play,” Sallisaw Lady Diamond coach Greg Pratt said. “If we’re struggling offensively, which we were early, we might convert some easy baskets (off defensive steals) and kind of get your confidence going. Then, we started hitting some shots from the perimeter. I thought towards the end of the second quarter, we started looking a little bit better — especially defensively — and we just carried it on. I was really proud of them for how they came out in the second half and did the things they needed to do to pull away.”

For the game, Palmer scored a game-high 29 points, followed by Channing Wilson with eight points, Kaycie Girdner and JoLee Curson with six points each, Katelyn Carlton with five points, Weedon, Jaycie Cox and Alayna Locust-Trammell each with four points, Emma Martin with three points and Davis with two points.

The Sallisaw teams were slated to end the 2025 portion of their season with Thursday road games at Stigler.