Sallisaw gets 2 Senior Night wins over Hilldale, NOAA Conference sweeps at Checotah, Poteau

After the Sallisaw Lady Diamonds fast-pitch team suffered a Senior Night loss to Pocola and the Black Diamonds football team fell in a heartbreaking loss to Ada on its Senior Night, the Sallisaw Lady Diamonds and Black Diamonds were trying to have successful Senior Night games in a Class 4A District Tournament preview with the Hilldale squads on Monday night at Paul Post Field House — and they did just that.

The Lady Diamonds used a strong second half to get past the Lady Hornets 57-39, then it was a strong fourth quarter by the Black Diamonds that rallied them from a third-quarter deficit as they stung the Hornets 46-41.

The same squads will meet to begin the Class 4A playoffs as they will face off Saturday night in the Class 4A District Tournament finals, with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. and the boys’ contest at 7:30 p.m.

A busy end to the regular-season got started with a pair of road NOAA Conference game sweeps against Poteau last Thursday night at Sherman Floyd Fieldhouse. The Lady Diamonds got a scare from the Lady Pirates before prevailing 40-35, then the Black Diamonds rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to claim a 64-54 victory.

Last Friday night, the Sallisaw teams got another pair of conference road sweeps at Checotah as the Lady Diamonds routed the Lady Wildcats 63-24. Coupled with Muldrow’s 38-32 home win last Friday night over Roland, the win gave the Lady Diamonds a share of the conference girls title with the Lady Rangers for the first time since the first years of the new millennium as both teams finished conference play at 8-2, with the Lady Bulldogs a game behind at 7-3.

The Black Diamonds completed the Checotah sweep with a 61-57 victory over the ’Cats.

MONDAY’S GAMES

GIRLS

SALLISAW 57, HILLDALE 39

Leading 21-20 at halftime, the Lady Diamonds (17-6) outscored the Lady Hornets (11-12) in the second half 36-19 — 20-12 in the third quarter and 16-7 in the final period — to win going away.

“It all starts with defense,” Sallisaw Lady Diamonds coach Greg Pratt said. “We got 21 points at the half, but we were having to work 5-on-5 against them the whole time (in the first half). We were able to come out (to begin the second half) and score six points in a couple of minutes, and that was off of turnovers. You could just see the energy pick up make a difference. You’re not just going to light the scoreboard up every night, but you can bring the communication, defense and rebounding — just the toughness — every single play. I thought we did those things a lot better in the second half. We still have some things to work on (before facing Hilldale in Saturday night’s Class 4A District Tournament title game). We haven’t really practiced in a week and a half (due to getting in all the rescheduled games). I think we’ve developed some bad habits, so we’ve got some work to do this week to get better and improve (before rematch with Hilldale for the district championship Saturday night at home).”

Pratt was glad the Lady Diamonds, who completed a perfect 9-0 home record, got their four seniors — Hannah Palmer, Emma Martin, Alayna Locust-Trammell and Sydney Weedon — a Senior Night victory as well as a few other achievements.

“This team was able to go undefeated at home,” Pratt said. “There’s been a lot of new things that have happened this season that haven’t happened in a while — like going undefeated at home, being co-(NOAA) conference champs. We’re not done. We’re not satisfied with that. There’s still a lot of really great things for this team to do.”

For the game, Palmer led the Sallisaw with a game-high 25 points, followed by Katelyn Carlton with 14 points, Martin and Locust Trammell with six points each and Weedon and Channing Wilson each with three points.

BOYS

SALLISAW 46, HILLDALE 41

Trailing 32-26 after three periods, the Black Diamonds (13-10) rode the hot hand of their lone senior, Tae Muskrat-Flynn — who scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Hornets (9-14) in the final eight minutes of the contest 20-9 to get the come-from-behind win.

“I thought Tae had a great fourth quarter,” Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Zac Rogers said. “He had a great second half. He had 13 points in the second half alone. Just what he brings to us, not just with his scoring but his defense, hIs communication and leadership has really been valuable to us. To come back like that, there’s a lot of toughness involved. We also had a great performance off the bench by Alex Gregory.”

On Senior Night, Rogers was glad the lone senior was the key player who helped fuel the rally.

“Tae is an exceptional player,” Rogers said. “Both years I’ve been the coach at Sallisaw, It’s been truly an honor to coach Tae. HIs work ethic is second to none. His abilities are obvious to everyone, but what people don’t see is his leadership and how hard he works behind closed doors. I’ve been honored to get to coach Tae these last two years. Hopefully, there will be quite a few more games (in the playoffs).”

For the game, Brodi Nickell scored a game-high 16 points and Muskrat-Flynn added 15 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Calvin Kilpatrick with five points, Grayson Griffey four points which included an alley-oop dunk off an assist from Brodi Nickell, Gregory with three points, Elijah Hill with two points and Rowdi Nickell with a free throw.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

GIRLS

SALLISAW 63, CHECOTAH 24

The Lady Diamonds doubled the Lady Wildcats 18-9 in the first quarter, then used a 16-4 second period to take a 3413 lead at halftime en route to a 47-22 advantage head into the fourth quarter.

For the game, Alayna Locust-Trammell scored a game-high 28 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Emma Martin with nine points, JoLee Curson with eight points, Katelyn Carlton with five points, Jaycie Cox, Hannah Palmer and Channing Wilson with three points each and Addison “A.J.” Johnson and Sydney Weedon with two points apiece.

BOYS

SALLISAW 61, CHECOTAH 57

Down 38-33 at halftime, the Black Diamonds (finishing the regular season at 5-5 in NOAA Conference play) used an 18-8 third quarter to take a 51-46 lead into the final period.

For the game, Brodi Nickell scored a game-high 24 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Tae Muskrat-Flynn with 16 points, Rowdi Nickell with 14 points, Asa Ulrich and Luke Warner with three points each and Grayson Griffey with a free throw.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

GIRLS

SALLISAW 40, POTEAU 35

Trailing 18-13 at halftime, the Lady Diamonds used a 23-6 third quarter to take a 36-24 lead into the final quarter.

The Lady Pirates tried to respond with a comeback of their own as they outscored the Lady Diamonds 11-4, but their rally fell short.

For the game, Hannah Palmer scored a game-high 11 points and Alayna Locust-Trammell added 10 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Jaycie Cox with seven points and Katelyn Carlton and Channing Wilson with five points apiece.

BOYS

SALLISAW 64, POTEAU 54

Trailing 50-40 after three periods, the Black Diamonds turned things on in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Pirates 24-4 to snatch away the win from the jaws of defeat.

For the game, Brodi Nickell scored a game-high 26 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Tae Muskrat-Flynn with 12 points, Luke Warner with eight points, Elijah Hill with six points, Grayson Griffey with five points, Rowdi Nickell with four points and Calvin Kilpatrick with two points.