Lawton High rolls, faces Elgin tonight

Lawton High might have missed a big slam dunk on the tip-off but after a couple of minutes of shaky play the Wolverines exploded for an impressive 76-23 victory over Santa Fe South in a Class 5A Regional Tournament at the Wolverines’ Gym.

The Wolverines had perfect execution on the tip-off but they didn’t get the goal of a big slam dunk but there were plenty of those as they got warmed up.

“The first couple of minutes we just didn’t play like we are capable,” LHS Coach Chevis Smith said. “We started out in a man defense pressuring them and we did that to wake our guys up. It had been some time since our last game and that gets these guys going.”

The LHS stat crew was probably still counting the turnovers the Wolverines forced and after most of them they were converting with buckets. The Wolverines built a 40-10 halftime lead and then came out with a final flurry in the third quarter, going on a 10-0 run as Santa Fe South was unable to even get off a shot in the first minute of that quarter.

Tavaris Deans had a layup and then a quick steal and slam dunk, then he capped that run with another tomahawk dunk and the Oklahoma City crew quickly called time. During that break the Santa Fe coach said he’d agree to a running clock and that was when the younger players took over.

In fact, Smith had five freshman on the court for the final quarter and that talented group was able to extend the lead with some solid execution off their own.

“That freshman group is really talented and we didn’t even have our 6-7 kid out there tonight,” Smith said. “We feel like we have a bright future here with this program. We do lose six really good seniors but we have some talented coming up that excites us.”

The Wolverines will go for the regional title Friday night against area foe Elgin which beat Western Heights, 61-45 in Thursday’s final game.

The Owls found the venerable Wolverines’ Gym to their liking as they hit some big shots from long range and stopped enough of the Jets’ offensive threats to advance and face the LHS crew for the title.

Tres Lorah got the Owls started right by hitting three treys in the early minutes of the game as they bolted out to a quick 17-3 lead at one point.

After that early surge Lucas Young and Brody Morrison took over much of the scoring load as Young worked inside for 17 and Morrison and Lorah both added 14 more for the Owls.

“Elgin has some really good shooters, so we are going to have to play really good man defense to keep them from getting open looks,” Smith said.

And while those two will battle it out for a title in the LHS regional, MacArthur earned a trip to the finals of Class 5A Regional 4 where the Highlanders will meet the tourney host Del City.

The Eagles advanced with an impressive 87-43 victory over Guymon in the other game in that regional.

Area teams stay alive

The 2A, A and B Area Tournaments opened Thursday as well and there were mixed results for the Southwest Oklahoma teams.

Walters girls advanced in a 2A Are at Chickasha High School with a 28-20 win over Vanoss. The tight defensive game feature some key buckets by both clubs but in the end the Lady Devils’ defense was up to the challenge.

In Class A, Area II at Cache, Empire girls used their defense to shut down Sterling and advance with a 35-28 win. Empire returns today to face Alex.

Also at Cache, Central High boys saw their season end with a 58-46 loss to Thomas.

Cyril girls kept their title hopes going Thursday evening at Noble, routing Rattan, 56-36. But also at Noble, the Velma-Alma boys saw their season close out with a tough 56-51 loss to Allen.

In Class A, Area 4, Apache girls season ended with a 58-31 loss to Waukomis, thus ending their second-chance after their protest of a district outcome was overturned by the OSSAA.

Geronimo girls continued to scratch out tough wins, beating Canton, 43-37, to advance to an afternoon game today at Bridge Creek against Forgan/Balko in Class B, Area II at 1 p.m.

And Fort Cobb-Broxton won’t be making a trip to State after suffering a 54-40 loss to Granite Thursday evening. The Mustangs have been a fixture at State in the past decade but that ended last night.

For scores from the playoffs, see the Scoreboard, Page 3B.