The 2023-24 basketball season came to an end Thursday afternoon for the Gore Pirates as a fourth-quarter rally fell short in a 57-45 loss to the Drumright Tornadoes in the Class A Regional Tournament consolation quarterfinals at Gore Event Center.
The Pirates end the season at 15-11.
A basket by Burr Jaymes put Gore ahead 5-2 with 6:02 left in the first quarter, but the Tornadoes (23-4), ranked 15th in Class A, went on a 9-0 run, capped by one of five 3-point baskets by Drumright’s Joseph Bray, to put the visitors ahead 11-5 with 3:47 remaining in the period.
A Jaymes 3-pointer with 1:18 left in the period knotted the game at 11-all, and Tate Brooksher’s trey with seven seconds remaining in the quarter gave Gore a 15-14 lead after the opening eight minutes.
However, the Tornadoes stormed the Pirates in the second quarter with an 18-1 run to take a 32-16 halftime lead.
Drumright built as much as a 26-point lead at 43-17 with 4:05 left in the third quarter on a basket by Jonathan Chavez. The Tornadoes took a 48-25 lead into the fourth quarter.
The closest the Pirates got came in the waning seconds as a trey by Cain Cooper cut Gore’s deficit to 11 points at 5645.
Bray’s 20 points was good for game-high honors for Drumright.
In defeat, Jaymes led Gore with 16 points, followed by Cooper and Journey Shells with nine points each, Bryon McDuffie with four points, Brooksher with three points and Ayden Cox and Keeton Rowe with two points apiece.
