Sallisaw splits Homecoming games with Stigler, conference games with Roland

The Sallisaw High School basketball teams are entering this week’s Pryor Invitational Tournament off a pair of home splits at Paul Post Field House.

On Monday night for homecoming, the Sallisaw teams split their games with Stigler as the Lady Diamonds ended up with a 56-24 win, while the Panthers rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to spoil homecoming for the Black Diamonds as Stigler left town with a 53-49 win.

On Friday night at home, the Sallisaw teams split with NOAA Conference and county rival Roland as the Lady Diamonds got their first win over the Lady Rangers since Jan. 13, 2023, when the current seniors were freshmen as Sallisaw prevailed 40-33, but the Runnin’ Rangers maintained their perfect record with a 79-48 win.

MONDAY’S GAMES

GIRLS

SALLISAW 56, STIGLER 24

The Lady Diamonds (9-5) jumped out to a 14-4 lead after a quarter and a 23-11 halftime lead.

However, the Lady Panthers (3-8) cut their deficit to 2314 with 7:06 left in the third quarter on a basket by Lexi Kates — which gave Stigler more points against Sallisaw than in the Lady Panthers’ 60-12 loss to the Lady Diamonds on Dec. 18 in Stigler. However, that was as close as the Lady Panthers got.

The Lady Diamonds closed out the period on a 21-7 run, capped by Jaycie Cox’s basket with six seconds left, to give Sallisaw a 44-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Most of the final period saw Sallisaw’s reserves see some game time as the Lady Diamonds built as much as a 33-point lead as Kaycie Girdner’s 3-point basket with 50 seconds left put Sallisaw ahead 56-23.

While it was a win, there were several things of concern that caught the eye of Sallisaw Lady Diamonds coach Greg Pratt.

“This was kind of one of those games where at the end of it, we won,” Pratt said. “As a coach, there were some things that you wanted to see that you were pretty disappointed in. I thought on the offensive end, we didn’t play together. I thought we really took some poor shots in the paint. We didn’t do a good job of finding the person who was open. Consequently, we took a lot of tough shots at the basket and missed them. I was disappointed about that on the offensive end. They had doubledigit rebounds, and we can’t allow that. We seemed a step slow and distracted, and we’ve got to get locked in and do a better job as far as the things we need to do as a basketball team on both ends to be successful.”

For the game, Emma Martin scored 13 points and homecoming queen Hannah Palmer added 11 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Girdner with eight points, Cox with seven points, Alayna Locust-Trammell and Katelyn Carlton with six points each, Sydney Weedon with three points and JoLee Curson with two points.

BOYS

STIGLER 53, SALLISAW 49

With the game knotted at 23-all at halftime, the Black Diamonds (7-7) outscored the Panthers 17-9 in the third quarter to take a 40-32 lead as Brodi Nickell, who missed Friday night’s Roland game with a shin injury but returned for the homecoming game, drove in and scored a lay-up at the buzzer.

A 3-point basket by homecoming king Tae Muskrat-Flynn gave the Black Diamonds their biggest lead of the night at 43-34 with 7:16 left to play.

The Panthers (5-6) clawed their way back to get the come-from-behind win as they ended the game with a 19-6 run, including keeping the Black Diamonds scoreless for the final 2:37 of the contest.

“I got to get them in better positions down the stretch to get in better opportunities to get better shots,” Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Zac Rogers said. “I wasn’t able to do that, so that’s kind of on me.”

In defeat, Muskrat-Flynn scored 12 points and Grayson Griffey added 11 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Brodi Nickell and Asa Ulrich with nine points each, Rowdi Nickell with six points and Elijah Hill with two points.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

GIRLS

SALLISAW 40, ROLAND 33

After a basket by Halle Freeman put the Lady Rangers (7-3 overall and 3-1 in NOAA Conference play after the loss) ahead 4-3 with 4:43 left in the first quarter, the Lady Diamonds (3-1 in conference play) ended the period with a 6-0 run to take a 9-4 lead after a period en route to a 22-10 halftime advantage and a 32-15 lead going into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Rangers tried to rally as they trimmed their deficit to 38-31 on a pair of Ryanne Nelke free throws with 1:01 left to play, but that was as close as they got.

“Credit to the kids,” Sallisaw Lady Diamonds coach Greg Pratt said. “They executed on both ends everything we had talked about in practice. We’ve gone through a rough stretch, and, for them to get locked in, we executed the game plan pretty well all night long.”

“We didn’t play our best game,” Roland Lady Rangers coach Scott Nelke said. “Give credit to Sallisaw.”

For the game, Hannah Palmer scored 15 points and Katelyn Carlton added 13 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Alayna Locust-Trammell with nine points, Channing Wilson with two points and Emma Martin with a free throw.

In defeat, Freeman had a game-high 19 points and Nelke added 10 points to lead Roland, while Lillian Cole had four points.

BOYS

ROLAND 79, SALLISAW 48

The Runnin’ Rangers (12-0 overall and 4-0 in NOAA Conference play after the win) scored the game’s first eight points en route to a 17-7 lead after a quarter, which became a 37-16 halftime advantage and a 60-33 lead after three periods.

The Runnin’ Rangers got their lead to as high as 32 points on a 3-pointer by Bryson Myers with 5:23 remaining in the game.

“We hit some shots early,” Roland Runnin’ Rangers coach Eddie Lewis said. “I thought we played pretty good defensively early. That helped us get a lead and hang on to it.”

“Roland is such a wellcoached team,” Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Zac Rogers said. “Those guys are such really talented players. I was proud of our guys. Rowdi (Nickell) did a good job running the point, but there were times where we had four freshmen out there (due to Brodi Nickell’s shin injury suffered in the Jan. 13 road game at Muldrow). Those guys played so hard. We may be the hardest playing team in Oklahoma. I thought we really fought and battled, but they are a really good opponent.”

For the contest, Damonte “Bubba” Owens led all scorers with a game-high 22 points to lead Roland, followed by Raidyn Knight with 15 points, Cade Shook with 13 points, Mason Kemp and Nathan Cheek with six points each, Myers and Tae Smith each with three points, Cason Perryman, Austin Benham and Josh Bower with two points each and Hunter Burris with a free throw.

In defeat, Rowdi Nickell led the Black Diamonds (2-2 in conference play) with 15 points, followed by Asa Ulrich with six points, Tae Muskrat-Flynn and Luke Warner with five points each, Austin Edgemon and Grayson Griffey each with four points, Zane McKinney with three points and Gauge Pack, Elijah Hill and Alex Gregory with two points apiece.