The Central High School basketball teams swept the Hulbert squads to capture the Class 2A District Tournament titles Friday night at the Central Gym after ending the regular season with a Big 8 Conference road sweep over Vian on Feb. 11 at B.J. Traw Gymnasium.
In Friday night’s district finals, the Lady Tigers routed the Lady Riders 60-38, then the Tigers got a buzzerbeater from Paitton Merrill to get past the Riders 45-43.
On Feb. 11, the Lady Tigers beat the Lady Wolverines 50-25, followed by the Tigers taming the Wolverines 59-38.
It will be a battle of Lady Tigers and Tigers on Thursday at the Class 2A Regional Tournament in Hulbert when Central’s teams meet Oktaha in the championship semifinals in Hulbert, with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. and the boys’ contest at 7:30 p.m.
The Central-Oktaha winners will not only make it to the regional finals at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Dale, but also automatically will qualify for next week’s Class 2A Area Tournament at McAlester.
The Central-Oktaha losers will be bumped into the regional consolation semifinals at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Friday against the winners of Thursday’s Mounds-Meeker regional consolation quarterfinal game, with Friday’s winners playing for the consolation championship and a trip to the Class 2A Area Tournament at 1:30 and 3 p.m. Saturday in Dale.
In the girls’ district title game, the Lady Tigers (18-5) led 9-8 after a quarter but used a 2310 second period to up their advantage to 3218 at the half. After the Lady Riders cut their deficit to 44-32 after three quarters, the Lady Tigers put away the game with a 16-6 final period.
For the game, Central put three players into double figures, led by Ayrland Jiles with a game-high 19 points, followed by Cambree Bair’s 14 points and Haley Cheek’s 11 points. Hadlie Woods scored nine points, followed by Ryleigh Pierce with four points, Paris Campbell with two points and Cheyenne Busch with a free throw.
In the boys’ district finals, Merrill’s buzzerbeater broke a 43-all tie to propel the Tigers (167) to the championship.
For the game, Braxin Goodson scored 14 points to lead Central, followed by Gavin Randolph with seven points, Hardy Buzzard and Noah Buzzard with six points each, Aidan Sainer and Josh Brunk each with four points and Merrill and Kiefer Bailey with two points apiece.
In the girls’ win over Vian, the Lady Tigers (2-2 in Big 8 Conference play) scored the game’s first five points en route to a 10-2 lead after the first quarter, which became a 21-8 halftime advantage and a 34-11 lead going into the final period.
For the game, Bair led Central with a gamehigh 17 points, followed by Cheek with nine points, Woods with six points, Jiles with four points, Pierce and Zoey Lattimore with three points each and Campbell, Busch, Alexxus Bolin and Kimberlynn Fahrman with two points apiece.
In the boy’s victory over Vian, the Tigers (3-1 in Big 8 Conference play) rallied from a 7-0 first-quarter deficit to take a 15-11 lead after the first quarter. The Tigers would not relinquish their lead the rest of the way as they led 26-20 at halftime and 40-27 going into the final period.
For the game, Bair led Central with a gamehigh 17 points, followed by Cheek with nine points, Woods with six points, Jiles with four points, Pierce and Zoey Lattimore with three points each and Campbell, Busch, Alexxus Bolin and Kimberlynn Fahrman with two points apiece.
In the boy’s victory over Vian, the Tigers (3-1 in Big 8 Conference play) rallied from a 7-0 first-quarter deficit to take a 15-11 lead after the first quarter. The Tigers would not relinquish their lead the rest of the way as they led 26-20 at halftime and 40-27 going into the final period.
For the game, Brunk scored a game-high 19 points and Hardy Buzzard added 11 points to lead Central, followed by Goodson and Noah Buzzard with nine points each, Sainer with six points and Merrill with five points.
