The Class 2A playoffs did not get off on the right set of paws for the Vian Wolverines or Lady Wolverines in last Thursday night’s district tournament title games at B.J. Traw Gymnasium.
The Vian teams suffered a pair of district championship game losses to visiting Central squads as the Tigers held off the Wolverines 67-61 and the Lady Tigers handled the Lady Wolverines 64-23.
The regular season came to an end on Feb. 17 at home as the Vian teams split their Senior Night games with Westville. The Wolverines rallied past the Yellowjackets 77-71 but the Lady Yellowjackets stung the Lady Wolverines 58-23.
In the boys district championship game, the Wolverines (12-9) never led, but kept getting within striking distance.
The Wolverines, who trailed 13-8 after a quarter and 31-21 at the half, cut the Central advantage to six points 31-25 with 6:32 left in the third period after back-toback baskets by Masyn Wright, but Vian ended up trailing 48-35 going into the fourth quarter.
After falling behind 12 points on three occasions in the final period, the Wolverines clawed their way back to within four points at 65-61 with 20 seconds left on Masyn Wright’s 3-point basket, but they got no closer.
In defeat, Masyn Wright scored a gamehigh 31 points to lead Vian, followed by Joe O’Neal, Rylan Lane and Trace Sanders with seven points each, Dee Antwine with five points and Jeremiah Marshall with four points.
In the girls’ district title game, Aliyah Tucker’s 3-pointer with 4:49 left in the first quarter cut Central’s lead to 7-3, but that was as close as the Lady Wolverines (119) got.
Central led 25-3 after a quarter, 43-7 at halftime and 54-13 after three quarters.
In defeat, Rayleigh Terrill led Vian with eight points, followed by Halli Russell with seven points, Gracie Buttery with five points and Tucker with three points.
In the boys’ Senior Night win over Westville, trailing 55-52 after three quarters, the Wolverines used a strong final period to earn the comefrom- behind victory.
After a basket by Westville’s Laderrius Stidum put the Yellowjackets ahead 57-54 with 6:38 left to play, the Wolverines went on a 20-9 run, capped by Ledger Folsom’s basket with 58 seconds remaining in the game, to put Vian ahead 7466.
The ’Jackets cut their deficit to four points at 75-71 on Lawson Meridith’s basket with 27 seconds left, but they got no closer.
O’Neal’s free throws with nine seconds left sealed the deal for the Wolverines.
For the game, O’Neal led Vian with 22 points, followed by Masyn Wright with 16 points, Marshall and Sanders with 12 points each, Dee Antwine with six points, Folsom and Lane each with three points, Trey Antwine with two points and Amos Wright with a free throw.
In the girls’ Senior Night loss to Westville, the Lady Yellowjackets, ranked 19th in Class 3A, scored the game’s first 11 points before a pair of free throws by Kiah Richardson with 3:08 left in the first quarter got Vian on the board, trailing 11-2. That proved to be as close as the Lady Wolverines got on this night.
A 3-point basket by Kori Eagleton with 32 seconds remaining in the period gave the Lady ’Jackets a 17-2 lead after a quarter, which became a 28-4 halftime advantage and a 49-13 lead going into the final period.
In defeat, Russell scored eight points to lead the Lady Wolverines, followed by Richardson with six points, Payton Crutchfield with five points and Terrill and Olivia Lovell with two points apiece.
The Vian teams will continue postseason play Thursday night in the Class 2A Regional Tournament consolation quarterfinals at Hartshorne where they will face the Haskell squads at 6 and 7:30 p.m. The Lady Wolverines and Wolverines are facing elimination from this point onward.
