Lawton rallies, advances in State tourney

OKLAHOMA CITY—It may sound simple but Lawton High School head coach Chevis Smith had the simple reason his Wolverines found some inner strength in the second half to scratch out a wild 60-57 victory over Tulsa East Central Monday as the Class 5A State Tournament opened at the “Big House” on the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.

“We just had to settle down and get out of our own way,” Smith said. “We were obviously a little tense early in the game and once we figured out we could play with these guys we found a way to come back and win.”

LHS will return to the Oklahoma City area Thursday for a semifinal contest at 8 p.m. at Yukon High School. The foe will be the winner of Monday’s late game between El Reno and Tulsa Memorial.

The Wolverines had dug themselves into a deep hole, trailing 40-28 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. But Pene Vasiagote drilled a trey at the 1:50 mark of the third and after a steal and layup by Avry Young, the Wolverines were down seven, 40-33, and starting to gain momentum and get the large crowd of LHS fans out of their seats.

Braedon Burrell then made a huge play, throwing up a shot as he fell on his back to the floor. The ball settled into the net and when Nakell Adams hit a little hook shot seconds later, LHS was within four, 41-37, as the third quarter ended.

Neither team produced any points in the first 1:30 of the fourth quarter but Vasiagote drained a deep trey and Tavarious Deans sank a follow shot and the Wolverines had regained the lead, 42-41, with 6:33 left in the game.

The Wolverines were feeling the juice at that point and when Marcus Rucker grabbed a rebound and put in a point-blank shot the lead was seven, 48-41, and then came some clutch shots that managed to keep the Cardinals from getting back in front.

Young had another layup, Deans grabbed a rebound and sank a short jumper and then came big free throws to wrap it up. Brewer hit two charities with 28.9 seconds left for a 56-50 lead and Young hit two more with 19.5 remaining to keep the game a two-possession contest and Deans added two more with 10.3 seconds left to seal the outcome.

“We were able to make enough good plays and on offense we were able to take their big guy out of the action at times by executing the offense and getting good looks,” Smith said. “We just tried to force some things and when he’s locked in down there in the paint you have to execute and get him out of there.

“I think we did enough good things on offense in the fourth quarter to get him out of the paint and it allowed us to get some good looks in the middle. We hit some big shots there when we needed them the most.”

LHS played well defensively after the early troubles but it wasn’t over until the clutch free throws dropped.

The Wolverines wound up hitting a sizzling 14-of-15 for 93.3 percent and those were huge down the stretch.

Eight LHS players scored in the game with Deans getting 16, Vasiagote 12, Brewer 11 and Young 10 to provide great balance. LHS also won the battle on the boards, 47-31, with Deans hauling down 14.

The Wolverines also forced 16 EC turnovers with Deans, Vasiagote and Brewer each getting three steals.

The first half was not a thing of beauty as the teams combined for 16 turnovers, eight on each team. And while the Cardinals were making shots at a 41.4 percent clip the Wolverines struggled to get good looks and in the end they hit a miserable 20 percent, making just 7-of-35 in the first half.

The Wolverines actually shot better from long range, sinking 4-of-14 for 28.6 from beyond the 3-point line. LHS, despite having to contend with 6-7 post Rio Adams, won the rebounding edge in the first half, 27-19.

The first eight minutes were especially hard on both teams as it was 9-8 East Central after the first eight minutes. But Adams was able to slam down several from close range on lobs and led all scorers in the first half with 10 points. Six Wolverines scored in the first half but all of them struggled with turnovers with six LHS players committing at least one turnover in the first half.