Geronimo, Chatty girls hit finals

It takes a great deal of patience to play a zone in high school girls basketball but while Geronimo girls seemed to be eager to get out and press Sterling in the first half, coach Bryce Abbe kept holding them back, waiting for the right time to turn his pressure to full force.

Sure, the Bluejays were pressing the first half but when they got into their half-court defense it was a different story. His team fell behind 6-2 after one quarter and still trailed, 18-10, at halftime before he turned his quick hands team free and Sterling was unable to handle the pressure and in the end Geronimo had surged to a 39-25 victory to reach Saturday’s girls title game against Chattanooga, which beat Walters, 25-13, in Thursday’s final game.

It took Geronimo just a couple of minutes into the third quarter to pull in front on a nice jumper from Brooke Bolling on an inbounds play right under its goal. That made it 19-18 and after that the depth and pressure of the Blue Jays was too much for the Tigers to handle.

“We shot bad in the first half and we normally make more of those 3s,” Abbe said after the win. “I think we hit 3-of-14 in the first half but we didn’t make them tonight. But we knew our pressure would eventually take a toll on them. We’ve forced a bunch of turnovers all season and when we started getting those it just makes our offense just that much more effective. When you have Chrissa Gomez running that press you figure you’re going to get some good looks.”

The senior who has signed with Cameron only scored 10 points but she dished out numerous assists and had a big chunk of the steals.

But this is a balanced club according to Abbe.

“We have three seniors who have started for four years and two juniors who have started for three years, so they know what we expect,” he said. “That 2-3 zone is just something they’ve felt comfortable all season. Sterling hit a couple out there but we were content to stay back and force them to shoot from out there.”

The final game was a tight defensive battle as both teams were patient and worked for good shots. But Chatty was able to knock down a few more shots in the second half and was able to hit some big free throws late to seal the outcome.

Tonight the boys return to the Great Plains Coliseum for their next round of games beginning with the consolation bracket game at 4:30 between Geronimo and Tipton. Indiahoma and Fletcher boys meet at 5:50 in the other consolation contest. The semifinals begin at 7:10 p.m. with Chattanooga meeting Big Pasture and then Walters and Sterling boys in the 8:30 p.m. finale.

Caddo County Tournament

The key semifinals are scheduled tonight at Anadarko High School gym with Fort Cobb-Broxton girls and boys playing in the first two games. The Lady Mustangs meet top-seeded Cyril in the opener while the same two schools will meet in the boys semifinals. The other girls semifinals has Mt. View-Gotebo meeting Lookeba-Sickles at 6:30 p.m. and then Apache battles Binger-Oney boys in the final contest.

Stephens County

The favorites won in the first two games at the Stephens County Tournament with Marlow girls beating Ryan, 50-37, and then top-seeded Velma-Alma boys routing Central High, 75-46.

Empire girls also reach the finals in the Stephens County Tournament with a 51-36 victory over Empire.