The Central Tigers capped last weekend off by winning the Gore Tournament, which took place last Thursday through Saturday at Gore Event Center.

Central won a battle of Tigers against Oktaha 38-26 to win Saturday night’s tournament title after knocking off the host Gore Pirates 73-50 in Friday night’s championship semifinals.

The Central Lady Tigers took home the third-place plaque after they defeated Hulbert 41-30 on Saturday afternoon. They opened the tournament with a 60-4 win over Braggs on Thursday afternoon, but lost 30-26 in Friday afternoon’s championship semifinals to the Chouteau- Mazie Wildcats, coached by former Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Chadd Gehrke.

The Pirates lost a heartbreaking thirdplace game 71-67 in double overtime to the Stigler Panthers after opening with a 56-38 win over Hulbert on Thursday.

The Gore Lady Pirates won a thrilling consolation title game 41-40 over Stigler on Saturday afternoon after losing their 58-51 to Hulbert on Thursday.

In Saturday’s boys title game, Central (3-0) scored the game’s first 11 points en route to an 11-4 lead after a quarter en route to a 22-13 halftime advantage.

Oktaha cut its deficit to 24-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter but got no closer.

For the game, Noah Buzzard scored a gamehigh 10 points to lead Central, followed by Jake Woods with seven points, Gavin Randolph and Paitton Merrill with six points each, Josh Brunk with four points, Braxin Goodson with three points and Brycen Chandler-Eisman with two points.

Brunk, Buzzard and Merrill all made the alltournament team.

In the boys’ championship semifinals, the Tigers jumped out to a 15-7 lead midway through the first quarter, only to see the Pirates (3-3) tie the game twice in the second period — the last time at 24all on Tate Brooksher’s free throw with 5:18 left before halftime.

However, it was all Tigers from there as they ended the second quarter on a 16-7 run to take a 40-31 lead at halftime, which expanded to a 5240 advantage heading into the final period.

For the game, Central put a trio of players into double figures, led by Brunk with a game-high 19 points, followed by Buzzard with 13 points and Goodson with 11 points. Randolph and Chandler-Eisman each scored nine points, followed by Merrill with seven points, Aiden Cawhorn with three points and Jake Woods with two points.

In defeat, the Pirates put three players into double figures, led by Cain Cooper’s 15 points, followed by Brooksher’s 12 points and Keeton Rowe’s 10 points. Cruz Ward scored nine points, while Gabe Hefley added four points.

In the Central girls’ third-place game, the Lady Tigers (3-1) jumped out to a 10-8 after a period and enjoyed a 15-8 advantage midway through the second quarter, only to see the Lady Riders score seven unanswered points to tie the game at 15-all with just less than a minute left in the first half. Central led 17-16 at halftime and never lost the lead again.

For the game, Cambree Bair scored a gamehigh 22 points to lead Central, followed by Cheyenne Busch with eight points, Sara Williams with five points, Paris Campbell with four points and Sadie Huff with two points.

Bair was named to the all-tournament team.

In the Central girls’ championship semifinals, the fourth quarter doomed the Lady Tigers, who took a 25-20 lead into the final period.

The Lady Tigers were outscored 10-1 by the Lady Wildcats.

In defeat, Williams led all scorers with a game-high 11 points to lead Central, followed by Bair with eight points and Busch with seven points.

In the Central girls’ opening-round game, the Lady Tigers had a 24-0 lead after a period and scored the game’s first 34 points before the Lady Wildcats scored their first basket with 1:30 left before halftime.

From the second quarter on, the game saw a running clock utilized.

For the game, Bair scored a game-high 18 points, while Campbell added 14 points to lead Central, followed by Williams with nine points, Zoey Lattimore with five points, Sarah Buchanan with four points, Busch and Sadie Huff with three points each and Charlie Petree and Alivia Meadows with two points apiece.

In the boys’ thirdplace game, down 45-39 after three quarters, the Pirates outscored the Panthers 21-15 in the final period to force overtime as Brooksher hit a jump shot with 3.8 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 60-all.

After the game went into double overtime tied at 64-all, the Panthers outscored the Pirates 7-4 in the second OT to get the win.

In defeat, the Pirates put a quartet of players into double figures, led by Eli Munson with 18 points, Brooksher with 17 points, Cooper with 12 points and Hefley with 10 points. Rowe scored seven points, while Ward scored three points.

Cooper was named to the all-tournament team.

In the Gore boys’ opening-round game, thanks to a 14-0 beginning to the game, the Pirates jumped out to an 18-6 lead after a quarter, which became a 28-14 halftime advantage and a 41-26 lead after three periods.

For the game, Cooper scored a game-high 23 points to lead Gore, followed by Brooksher with 19 points, Munson with eight points, Ward with three points, Rowe with two points and Hefley with a free throw.

In the girls’ consolation championship, trailing 13-12 after a quarter, 24-16 at halftime and 29-26 after three periods, the Lady Pirates (2-3) rallied to take a 40-39 lead on Emily Daily’s basket with 1:08 left to play in the game.

With Gore leading 41-39, as the buzzer sounded, Stigler’s Maddy Pruett was fouled. Stepping to the freethrow line with no one around her, Pruett made her first free throw but missed her second to give the Lady Pirates the win, which snapped a three-game losing streak and giving them the consolation championship plaque.

For the game, Rayleigh Moore scored a game-high 17 points and Daily added 11 points to lead Gore, which survived a 4-of-19 (21 percent) freethrow shooting game. Sophie O’Connor scored nine points, while Kennedy Williams added four points.

Williams was named to the all-tournament team.

In the Gore girls’ opening-round game, what doomed the Lady Pirates was the fact they were 14-of-38 (37 percent) from the freethrow line. The Lady Riders led 22-10 after a quarter, 3522 at halftime and 46-32 after three periods.

The Lady Pirates made a run in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lady Raiders 19-12, but the rally fell short. While Gore hit 6-of-7 free throws in the final period, the Lady Pirates were only 8-of-31 for the first three quarters.

In defeat, Williams scored a game-high 25 points to lead Gore, followed by Moore with 13 points, O’Connor with six points, River Shoemake with four points, Alevia Reasnor with two points and Daily with a free throw.

Last week began for the Gore teams with a pair of Riverside Conference road losses to Porum on Dec. 8 as the Lady Pirates lost 68-31 and the Pirates fell 64–41.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Panthers took advantage of two of Gore’s players not playing in the game as they jumped out to a 24-7 lead after a period and were never headed.

In defeat, Williams led the Lady Pirates with 12 points, followed by Moore, O’Connor, Kylie “K.J.” McEver and Camdyn Dotson with four points each and Daily with three points.

In the boys’ contest, the Panthers had a 13-8 lead after a period, then used a 22-15 second quarter to stretch their advantage to 3523 at halftime. Porum doubled Gore 16-8 in the third period to take a 41-31 lead into the fourth quarter.

In defeat, Cooper scored 16 points and Brooksher added 14 points to lead Gore, followed by Munson with six points, Hefley with three points and Ward with two points.