Vian basketball teams split home openers with Central, road games at Heavener
The Vian High School basketball teams had a pair of games to welcome the 2026 portion of their schedule.
In Monday night’s home openers against Central at B.J. Traw Gymnasium, the Vian teams split the games, with the Wolverines rallying in the fourth quarter for a 63-61 win over the Tigers, but the Lady Tigers spoiled the Lady Wolverines’ home opener with a 60-27 victory.
On Saturday afternoon at the Heavener Gym, the Vian squads split their contests with Heavener as the Wolverines got new coach Randy Ragland his first win with his new team as they held off the Wolves 5650, but a third-quarter rally by the Lady Wolverines ended up coming up short in the long run in a 65-44 loss to the Lady Wolves.
MONDAY’S GAMES
BOYS
VIAN 63, CENTRAL 61
With the game tied at 51-all with 2:26 left to play in the game, the Wolverines (2-1) went on a 7-0 run, capped by a pair of Masyn Wright free throws, to put Vian ahead 5851 with 47 seconds remaining.
From there, both teams pretty much held serve to preserve a two-point victory for the Wolverines — and hand the Tigers (4-1) their first loss of the season.
The first quarter saw five lead changes and three ties, with the Tigers taking a 1511 lead after the first eight minutes.
The Tigers took as great as an eight-point lead as Noah Buzzard’s free throw with 2:47 left before halftime gave Central a 25-17 lead.
However, the Wolverines ended the first half with a 6-2 run, capped by Joe O’Neal’s basket with 21 seconds remaining in the first half, to cut Central’s advantage to 2723 at halftime. The Tigers took a 40-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the final period, thanks to a 7-0 run to start the quarter, the Wolverines took their first lead since the first period as a free throw apiece by Masyn Wright and O’Neal put Vian ahead 42-40 with 6:30 left in the game.
The Tigers went on a 9-2 run, capped by Josh Brunk’s conventional three-point play, to give Central a 49-44 lead with 4:22 remaining to play.
The Wolverines countered with a 7-2 run, capped by backto- back baskets by Jeremiah Marshall to knot the game at 51-all, setting up the Vian game-ending rally.
For the game, Wright led Vian with a game-high 20 points, followed by Marshall with 12 points, O’Neal with 10 points, Dee Antwine with nine points, Rylan Lane with six points, Trace Sanders with four points and Ledger Folsom with two points.
GIRLS
CENTRAL 60, VIAN 27
After Vian’s Kiah Richardson hit two free throws to tie the game at 4-all with 6:36 left in the first quarter, the Lady Tigers (5-1) ended the period with an 11-2 run, capped by Brianna Taylor’s basket with eight seconds remaining, to give Central a 15-6 lead after a quarter.
It was the second period where the Lady Tigers put separation between them and the Lady Wolverines (0-3) as Central outscored Vian 23-7 in the quarter to take a 38-13 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Lady Tigers built as much as a 34-point lead on two occasions, with the last time at 59-25 on Sarah Buchanan’s basket with 3:03 remaining in the game.
For the contest, Cambree Bair scored a game-high 24 points to lead Central, followed by Paris Campbell with 13 points, Sara Williams with nine points, Cheyenne Busch with six points, Taylor with four points, Buchanan with two points and Charlie Petree and Sadie Huff with a free throw apiece.
In defeat, Richardson led Vian with nine points, followed by Shelbie Glass with six points and Olivia Lovell, Gracie Buttery, Aliyah Tucker and Emry Smith with three points apiece.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
BOYS
VIAN 56, HEAVENER 50
The Wolverines jumped out to a 10-6 lead on Jeremiah Marshall’s basket with 3:53 left in the first quarter en route to a 20-11 lead with 43 seconds remaining in the period on a basket by Trace Sanders. Heavener’s Julian Sanchez hit a bucket with five seconds left in the quarter to cut Vian’s advantage to 20-13 after the first eight minutes.
After Heavener’s Saul Silva hit a free throw with 6:14 remaining in the first half to cut Heavener’s deficit to 21-16, the Wolverines ended the first half on a 9-2 run, capped by Trey Antwine’s basket with 2:13 left before halftime, to give Vian a 30-18 halftime lead.
The Wolverines built as great as a 17-point lead as Rylan Lane’s basket with 5:28 left in the third quarter put Vian ahead 37-20 en route to a 4226 advantage heading into the final period.
The Wolves made things interesting in the fourth quarter as they cut their deficit to two points at 50-48 on a basket by Brandon Sanchez, but the Wolverines ended the game with a 6-2 run to prevail.
For the game, the Wolverines put a trio of players into double figures with Marshall leading the way with a gamehigh 16 points, while Lane and Dee Antwine had 10 points apiece. Masyn Wright scored nine points, followed by Sanders and Trey Antwine with four points each and Joe O’Neal with three points.
GIRLS
HEAVENER 65, VIAN 44
It looked as if it was going to be a rout from wire-to-wire as the Lady Wolves jumped out to a 17-0 en route to a 24-8 lead after a quarter en route to a 36-19 halftime advantage.
The Lady Wolverines came out on cylinders in the third quarter as they opened the period with a 13-1 run, capped by Gracie Buttery’s basket with 3:37 left in the quarter to cut Vian’s deficit to 37-32. However, the Lady Wolverines would not get any closer.
The Lady Wolves ended the period with a 9-2 run to take a 46-34 lead into the fourth quarter, where Heavener outscored Vian 19-10.
In defeat, Shelbie Glass scored 16 points and Olivia Lovell added 10 points to lead Vian, followed by Kiah Richardson with six points, Aliyah Tucker and Emry Smith with four points each, Buttery with three points and Bostyn Rodgers with a free throw.
