Cyril girls claim first state hoops title

OKLAHOMA CITY—Cyril girls found their shooting touch in the second half and broke out of an 18-18 tie to pull away for a 47-34 victory over Caddo to claim the Class A Girls State Championship Saturday at the Jim Norick Arena at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.

The Pirates earned the school’s first girls basketball state title after being among the highest-ranked teams in Class A throughout the season under coach Shane McLemore.

McLemore led Cyril boys to a hoops title in 2019 and the veteran coach had been leading both teams in recent years before Superintendent Ty Harman took over the the boys program to let McLemore focus on the girls program.

Cyril beat No. 6-ranked Quinton, 31-25, in the quarterfinals, the Pirates beat No. 5 Okarche, 56-34, in the semifinals and dispatched No. 2-ranked Caddo in the title game to finish 24-5 on the season.

Clearly defense was something the Pirates did well under McLemore’s leadership, with just one team scoring more than 37 points in the playoffs, that being Wright City which upset Cyril, 52-49, in the regional tournament. However, all that did was motivate the Pirates who then proceeded to rattle off six straight victories to earn a trip to State and claim the title.

The teams were patient in the first half as they worked the ball and tried to get good looks and after the first 16 minutes of the game they were deadlocked at 18-all.

But in the third quarter McLemore’s halftime adjustments got his girls more open looks and they drilled 9-of-14 shots from the field in the second half and that 64.3 percent shooting was what doomed Caddo.

For the game the Pirates connected on 18-of-35 shots from the field for 51.4 percent shooting and on defense Cyril limited Caddo to 13-of-34 shooting for the game, 38.2 percent. In the second half Caddo was able to sink just 6-of-19 shots for 31.6 percent as the defense for Cyril was sharp.

Cyril forced 18 turnovers and the Pirates converted 21 points off those mistakes. The Pirates also had success getting the ball inside, owning a 32-16 edge in points in the paint.

Khloe Goombi led the Cyril scoring chart with 13 points, Hadley Gibson chipped in 11, Averi Carlson scored 9 and Kenzie Raasch produced 8. Fans of the Lady Pirates are also excited that Goombi and Raasch both return next season along with several other underclassmen who saw action Saturday.

Goombi had a 3-point bucket with 4:30 left in the third quarter for a 40-31 Cyril lead but the Bruins quickly countered with a trey of their own. But Kylee Lawrence converted a layup for a 42-34 lead and Goombi extended the lead to 10 at the 2:59 mark of the third with a short-range jumper.

As Caddo started turning up the pressure in the backcourt, Cyril was able to sent Gibson deep behind the defense and she was hit by a long pass and converted a layup to run the lead to 46-34 and the Pirates’ fans started to sense this was their time.