The Central Lady Tigers and Tigers made it to the third-place games at last week’s Warner Eagle Classic.
The Lady Tigers handled the Haskell Lady Haymakers 35-12 in last Wednesday’s opening- round game, but they lost 45-34 to Oktaha in a battle of Lady Tigers in last Thursday’s championship semifinals.
The Lady Tigers were slated to meet the Westville Lady Yellowjackets in last Friday morning’s third-place game.
The Tigers also split their first two games of the tournament, beating the Wilburton Diggers 58-40 in last Wednesday’s game in the opening round before losing 82-71 to Westville in last Thursday’s championship semifinals.
The Tigers were slated to face a very familiar foe in last Friday morning’s third-place game as Central was to meet the Vian Wolverines for the fourth time this season — and the second time last week.
In the girls’ win over Haskell, the Lady Tigers (9-5) blanked the Lady Haymakers 11-0 in the first quarter en route to a 20-2 halftime lead and a 29-10 advantage going into the final period.
For the game, Cambree Bair scored a game-high 16 points to lead Central, followed by Charlie Petree with six points, Sarah Buchanan with four points, Sara Williams and Cheyenne Busch with three points each and Paris Campbell and Gracie Thompson with two points apiece.
In the girls’ loss to Oktaha, Oktaha jumped out to a 13-9 lead after a quarter, which became a 19-14 advantage at halftime and a 33-29 lead going into the final period — in which Oktaha outscored Central 12-5 to close it out.
In defeat, Williams scored 12 points and Busch added 10 points to lead Central, followed by Campbell with four points, Buchanan with three points, Petree and Sadie Huff with two points each and Brianna Taylor with a free throw.
In the boys’ victory over Wilburton, the Tigers (7-6) took control early, jumping out to a 15-4 lead after a quarter, but the Diggers cut their deficit to 29-22 at halftime. The Tigers took control once again, this time for good, as they outscored the Diggers 14-6 in the third quarter to take a 43-28 lead into the final period.
For the game, Central put a trio of players into double figures, led by Josh Brunk’s game-high 15 points, followed by Noah Buzzard’s 12 points and Gavin Randolph’s 10 points. Paitton Merrill and Brycen Chandler-Eisman had six points each, followed by Aiden Cawhorn with five points and Jake Woods and Kiefer Bailey with two points apiece.
In the boys’ loss to Westville, the ’Jackets stung the Tigers with a 24-15 opening period to take control of the game as they went on to take a 38-29 halftime lead and a 60-50 advantage to the fourth quarter.
In defeat, Buzzard scored 23 points to lead Central, followed by Randolph with 14 points, Brunk with 11 points, Woods with eight points, Merrill with four points, Cawhorn, Bailey and Kage Poindexter with three points each and Chandler-Eisman with two points.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day night, the Central teams split with the Vian teams as the Wolverines got their third win of the season over the Tigers as Vian posted a 54-47 victory, but the Lady Tigers got things started with a 4417 win over the Lady Wolverines for the Central girls’ third victory of the season over Vian.
In the girls’ game, the Lady Tigers (8-3) jumped out to an 11-2 lead after a quarter, which became a 23-5 halftime advantage and a 38-14 lead going into the final period.
For the game, Williams scored a gamehigh 20 points to lead Central, followed by Bair and Busch with 10 points each and Thompson and Alivia Meadows with two points apiece.
In the boys’ game, the Wolverines broke a 9-all tie after a quarter by outscoring the Tigers the rest of the way by a count of 45-38 as Vian enjoyed a 21-17 halftime lead and a 3828 advantage after three quarters.
In defeat, Brunk scored a game-high 18 points and Woods added 12 points to lead Central, followed by Merrill with seven points, Randolph with six points and Buzzard with five points.
