Sallisaw basketball teams sweep home games from Central

For the first time in greater than a week, both the Sallisaw and Central high school basketball teams got to play games — and did so against one another for the first time in recent memory, not counting past Sequoyah County Tournament games.

It was a satisfactory Saturday for the Sallisaw squads as they swept the Central teams, with the Lady Diamonds beating the Lady Tigers 45-30, followed by the Black Diamonds holding off the Tigers 69-62.

GIRLS SALLISAW 45, CENTRAL 30

After the Lady Tigers (8-5) took a 4-0 lead on a pair of Sara Williams free throws with 3:30 left in the first quarter, the Lady Diamonds (11-5) scored the period’s final six points, with a pair of Hannah Palmer free throws with 15 seconds breaking a 4-all tie, to put Sallisaw ahead 6-4.

Williams hit a 3-point basket to regain Central the lead at 11-9 with 4:13 left before halftime.

The Lady Diamonds responded with an 11-3 run, capped by Sydney Weedon’s basket with 1:06 remaining in the first half, to put Sallisaw back ahead 20-14. Central’s Courtney Bair hit a basket with 43 seconds left before halftime to cut her team’s deficit to 20-16 at halftime.

The Lady Diamonds started to pull away in the third quarter, building as much as an 11-point lead at one point as a 3-pointer by Sallisaw’s Katelyn Carlton put Sallisaw ahead 28-17 with 5:19 left in the period.

Another basket by Williams cut Central’s deficit to 30-23 with 1:02 remaining in the quarter, but the Lady Diamonds ended up with a 33-23 lead going into the final period.

Sallisaw built its biggest lead of the afternoon in the fourth quarter as a 6-0 run to open the period, capped by Carlton’s basket, put the Lady Diamonds ahead 39-23 with 6:19 left in the game. Central never got its deficit less than double digits the rest of the way.

“(Assistant) Coach (Eric) Carr, hit the nail on the head,” Sallisaw Lady Diamonds coach Greg Pratt said. “It was a ‘mature win.’ You can do all the shooting in practice you want. The speed of the game and the game atmosphere were the main things. We’ve shot the ball really well at home this season, and they didn’t fall. Other than that, the layoff didn’t really affect us. I thought their energy level was great. I thought they did a great job of not letting missed shots dictate the rest of their game. We had double-digit rebounds on the offense end.”

“In a sport like basketball, it’s a rhythm sport,” Central Lady Tigers coach Jay Ray said about his team’s eight-day layoff due to the winter storm aftermath. “Us being not 100 percent healthy is as big a factor as anything right now. It’s just going to take some time. The girls are working and giving the effort. I can’t ask for anything more out of them.”

For the game, Sallisaw put a trio of players into double figures, led by Carlton’s game-high 15 points, followed by Alayna Locust-Trammell’s 11 points and Weedon’s 10 points. Palmer scored seven points, while Channing Wilson added two points.

In defeat, Williams scored 13 points and Bair added 12 points to lead Central, followed by Paris Campbell with three points and Alivia Meadows with two points.

BOYS SALLISAW 69, CENTRAL 62

After a 3-point basket by Noah Buzzard put the Tigers (8-7) ahead 5-2 with 6:33 left in the first quarter, the Black Diamonds (9-7) went on an 18-7 run, capped by Tae Muskrat-Flynn’s 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining in the period, to give Sallisaw a 20-12 lead.

The Tigers ended the quarter with a 7-2 run, capped by Aiden Cawhorn’s trey with 41 seconds left to cut Central’s deficit to 22-19 after the first eight minutes.

After an 8-7 second quarter for Sallisaw put the Black Diamonds ahead 30-26 at the break, Sallisaw got its lead to as high as 13 points on two occasions in the third period, the last time coming at 49-36 on Luke Weaver’s basket. Sallisaw took a 50-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

Sallisaw’s biggest lead of the afternoon came at the 5:23 mark of the final period when Muskrat-Flynn’s trey with 5:23 left to play put the Black Diamonds on top 58-41.

However, the Tigers refused to go away and hibernate on a chilly Saturday afternoon outside.

The Tigers cut their deficit to seven points on four occasions in the fourth quarter, the last time at 69-62 — the final score — when Buzzard hit a basket with 13 seconds remaining to play.

“It was kind of interesting in how we handled that situation (winter-storm layoff),” Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Zac Rogers said. “They were cancelling games short notice on us where we were preparing for this team or that team. I think our guys just came in focused every single day. They were really able to switch gears to getting ready for Checotah, then that game got out and we had to get ready for Oologah (in the Pyor Invitational Tournament), then that game was out, then it was Poteau. We just kept switching gears. They were unbelievable at staying focused.”

“You never like to be off that long (eight days due to the winter storm aftermath), but I’m not going to make excuses,” Central Tigers coach Caleb Cawhorn said. “Everybody else was off, so I’m not going to say that was a factor as far as the way this game turned out. We didn’t take care of the basketball very well. We made little runs where we cut it to single digits, then we’d make two or three turnovers in a row. They (Sallisaw) did a great job of capitalizing, either hitting a big 3 or a bucket. My hats off to them. They played a heck of a ball game.”

For the game, Muskrat-Flynn scored a game-high 24 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Asa Ulrich with 11 points, Brodi Nickell with nine points, Calvin Kilpatrick with eight points, Rowdi Nickell with seven points, Grayson Griffey with four points — two of those coming on a slam dunk — and Warner, Elijah Hill and Alex Gregory with two points apiece.

In defeat, Central put a trio of players into double figures, led by Gavin Randolph with 19 points, followed by Josh Brunk with 15 points and Buzzard with 13 points. Cawhorn had nine points, followed by Jake Woods with four points and Paitton Merrill with two points.