Piedmont drops Owls in consolation title matchup

WEATHERFORD — Highly ranked Piedmont rolled past Elgin 72-49 in the consolation championship game of the Weatherford Classic last Saturday.

The Owls struggled from the beginning as the Wildcats hit four three-pointers in the first quarter and never relented, taking an 18-7 lead after one quarter. Piedmont extended its lead to 37-19 by halftime. The Wildcats led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter 50-28.

Piedmont’s outside shooting ability was uncanny as the Wildcats connected on three more treys in the fourth quarter to lead 68-42. Piedmont is ranked No. 9 in Class 5A.

Elgin 44, Lawton Eisenhower 31

A tied game quickly turned into a runaway for Elgin as the Owls outscored Lawton Eisenhower 16-3 in the third quarter and advanced to the consolation championship.

The game was tied 17-17 at halftime, but that changed when Jaylen Nettles, Christian Reed and Denton Glover went into action. Nettles, a point guard, scored eight of Elgin’s 16 third quarter points.

“In that quarter, we focused on blocking out and getting some rebounds and executed some sets and we got into that 1-2-2 with Jaylen out on top and that was forcing them into some quick shots,” Elgin head coach Ryan Green said.

Elgin’s stiff defense also held Lawton Ike to three points in the third stanza with a single three-point basket at the 6:33 mark that gave the Eagles the lead at 20-19. But Elgin tallied the next 14 points to give the Owls a 33-20 advantage heading into the final quarter.

In fact, Lawton Ike did not score in double digits for any quarter until the final eight minutes when the Eagles tallied 11 points. The Eagles connected on seven three-point buckets which accounted for 21 of their 33 points, but their post play was less effective as Elgin’s aggressive defense created turnovers and held Lawton Ike out of the lane.

Nettles was Elgin’s leading scorer with 15 points followed by Reed with 12.

Guthrie 57, Elgin 45

Elgin almost turned a 10-point deficit into a win last Thursday at the Weatherford Classic, but the Guthrie Blue Jays used timely three-point shooting and late free throws to post a 57-45 win.

The game was closer than the score indicates as the Owls cut a 14-point lead down to three with a barrage of treys in the third and fourth quarters and a pair of buckets by senior Christian Reed.

Down 39-25, Elgin used consecutive baskets by Reed, four three-pointers and strong defense to trail 43-40 with 4:50 to play in the game.

However, Guthrie outscored Elgin 9-5 the rest of the way as the Owls were forced to foul the Blue Jays to stop the clock. The Blue Jays hit five of six late free throws in the last minute to ice the win.