Lawton High boys overwhelm Elgin

Last season Lawton High School boys earned the right to host a Class 5A Regional but Moore came to the Wolverines Gym and knocked off the home team and with that loss driving them this year, they’ve been tough to stop.

Friday night the Wolverines got off to a quick start and used their depth and pressure man defense to pretty much throttle Elgin, taking a 100-39 victory to move within one win of the Class 5A State Tournament.

The Wolverines go for that key victory Thursday against Carl Albert at a site and time to be determined by the OSSAA on Sunday.

Also in Class 5A boys action, MacArthur was bumped into the consolation bracket by Del City by a 66-49 score after the Highlanders we right on the heels of the Eagles at halftime. The Highlanders will now need to claim two victories to reach State and that first challenge will be against Midwest City. The site and time for that game will also be announced Sunday.

Elsewhere around the area there were some big games with Frederick boys nipping Hartshorne, 48-47, in overtime to advance to the 2A State Tournament Friday at Chickasha.

Sterling boys are also headed to the Big House after putting together a solid effort in beating Oklahoma Christian Academy, 58-51, before a big crowd at the Cache High School Gym in the title game of Class A Area II.

And also in Class A in Area III at Bridge Creek, Cyril boys punched their ticket to State with a 64-60 victory over Rattan. The Pirates got 28 points from Nash Harmon, 15 from Noah Martin and 12 from Bravyn Hajj. Each of those three scoring leaders produce a bucket in overtime while the Cyril defense limit Rattan to just a lone trey in the extra period.

Cyril’s girls, which came into the playoffs ranked No. 4, have a chance to join the boys when they meet Wright City at 6 p.m. at Bridge Creek.

There will be another area team at the Class B State Tournament but we won’t know until arch rivals Chattanooga and Geronimo meet at 6 p.m. at Noble High School for the consolation championship in Area III. Chatty lost to Hammon, 44-17, Friday night in the championship while Geronimo routed Forgan/Balko, 50-35.

The two Comanche County clubs also met in the regional semifinals with Chatty taking a 46-38 victory so this one should be another shootout.

LHS gets fast start

Pene Vasagote spurred the early surge with two treys that led to a 10-2 start before Elgin skipper Ryan Green called time to settle his club down.

It didn’t matter as LHS quickly pushed the lead to 23-9 after the first eight minutes and things never got any closer.

“We wanted to get off to a quick start and set the tempo and just keep our defensive intensity at the level we strive to maintain,” LHS coach Chevis Smith said. “We didn’t trap as much but the guys rebounded well and we were able to get out on the break and get some easy buckets.”

The scary news for opponents is this comment.

“I really think we can still get better,” Smith said. “For us this a day-by-day process of getting better in each practice. We have kids who work hard and I have a great group of assistants who really help get these guys ready.”

Smith was able to clear the bench early and often and for the final six minutes five talented freshmen took over and were able to push the lead from 63-36 to the final score with strong play as well.

“We are really proud of these young kids,” Smith said. “They work hard and listen and try to improve each practice. I feel our future is really good.”

Elgin never got back into the contest after the early surge.

“We just have to go regroup,” Green said. “We knew coming in that their pressure was coming but we just didn’t handle it very well. We have some good shooters but when you can’t get the ball across the half-court line it’s hard to shoot the ball.

“This is a good group of guys who practice hard and want to get better. We have good athletes but not the depth they have. We will get after it, have three good practices and get ready for the next one.”

That will be against John Marshall at a time and site to be determined Sunday by the OSSAA. John Marshall lost to Carl Albert Friday.

Pene Vasagote scored 17 to lead the Wolverines but he had plenty of help as 14 other LHS players put points in the scorebook.