Muldrow teams sweep home conference games from Sallisaw
Three nights after both Muldrow High School basketball teams suffered rough losses to their archrivals from Roland in last Saturday night’s Sequoyah County Area Classic title games, they both got back into the win column against the Sallisaw squads Tuesday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center.
The Lady Bulldogs made two comebacks against the Lady Diamonds, with the second one getting them a 4340 victory over Sallisaw.
The Bulldogs ended up running away from the Black Diamonds in a 62-42 win.
GIRLS
MULDROW 43, SALLISAW 40
Trailing 36-31 after Sallisaw’s Emma Martin hit a 3-point basket with 6:15 left in the game, the Lady Bulldogs (5-5 overall, 2-1 in NOAA Conference play) ended the game with a 12-4 run.
Muldrow’s London Hardin hit a free throw with three seconds left to put the Lady Bulldogs ahead 43-40.
The Lady Diamonds (7-5, 2-1) had a chance to tie the game to force overtime, but Hannah Palmer’s shot missed the mark at the buzzer.
“We finally started to keep our composure,” Muldrow Lady Bulldogs coach Jana Armer said. “We knew they were coming to double team, and we were going spastic just like they were wanting us to do. We finally kept our composure and found an open person to get that open shot. I’m super proud of them for fighting through some adversity.”
Things did not go well for Muldrow in the first half or early stages of the third quarter.
The Lady Diamonds led 13-6 after a quarter, then used an 8-5 second period to stretch their advantage to 21-11 at halftime.
A 3-pointer by Palmer gave Sallisaw its biggest lead of the night at 30-15 with 5:49 left in the third quarter. Then, things started going the Lady Bulldogs’ way.
The Lady Bulldogs scored the game’s next 16 points, capped by Kilah Ellingberg’s basket with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter to put Muldrow ahead 31-30, which was its first lead since Kilah Ellingberg hit the first basket of the game for a 2-0 lead with 7:45 remaining in the first quarter.
Martin’s trey with 15 seconds left in the third period regained Sallisaw the advantage at 33-31 going into the fourth quarter.
For the game, Kilah Ellingberg scored a game-high 18 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Hardin with nine points, Kayla Ellingberg with seven points, Emma Fields with six points and Tae Williams with three points.
In defeat, Palmer led Sallisaw, which has lost a season-high three straight games, with 15 points, followed by Alayna Locust-Trammell with eight points, Martin with six points, Jaycie Cox and Channing Wilson with four points each and Katelyn Carlton with three points.
“It was at both ends of the court,” Sallisaw Lady Diamonds coach Greg Pratt said. “One, we couldn’t put the ball in the hole when it was crunch time. Credit to Muldrow they did. That was the difference in the game. We quit guarding them. We gave up 11 points at half, and we gave up 20 points in the third quarter. Regardless of who you play, that’s going to make it tough to win a basketball game.”
BOYS
MULDROW 62, SALLISAW 42
Trailing 22-17 with 3:10 left before halftime, the Bulldogs (7-3 overall, 3-0 in NOAA Conference play) ended the first half with a 9-0 run, capped by Jesse Kilinc’s basket with eight seconds remaining in the first half, to give Muldrow a 26-22 lead at the break.
From there, the ’Dogs just kept increasing their lead, which was 42– 27 after three quarters en route to the 20-point victory, which ended up being the largest lead of the game for Muldrow.
“I think we picked up our defensive intensity,” Muldrow Bulldogs coach Terry Collins said. “Usually when our defense gets going, our offense turns around. We started getting to the basket a little bit more and hit some shots.”
The first quarter saw four ties, with the last one being at 13-all on a pair of free throws by DeShawn Willson with 33 seconds left in the first quarter, which is where the score stood entering the second period.
Late in the first quarter, Sallisaw guard Brodi Nickell was fouled in attempting a shot, but seemed to have gotten the worse end of things as he injured his shin and was never at 100 percent the rest of the way.
“Brodi is an exceptional player for us,” Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Zac Rogers said. “Anytime we have to be out there without him, it’s a little bit difficult. I like what the rest of the guys did. They really stepped up and played well. I’m proud of them. Muldrow is just a talented team. Coach Collins does an incredible job with them. They’re really good.”
The Black Diamonds (7-5, 2-1) saw Tae Muskrat-Flynn hit a 3-point basket with 3:10 left before halftime to put Sallisaw ahead 22-17.
For the game, D.J. Massey led all scorers with a game-high 23 points for Muldrow, followed by Teaguen Collins with 18 points, Kilinc with nine points, Jermauree Palmer and E.J. Zanders with three points each and Willson, Trey Turpin and Parker Sevenstar with two points apiece.
In defeat, Asa Ulrich led Sallisaw with 17 points, followed by Muskrat-Flynn and Rowdy Nickell with seven points each, Brodi Nickell with five points and Grayson Griffey, Austin Edgemon and Luke Warner with two points apiece.
