Top-ranked Eagles dump Bulldogs

CACHE—Weatherford is still smarting after losing a hard-fought four-point loss to Oklahoma City Douglass in the Class 4A boys basketball championship game last March but fans who turned out Tuesday to watch the Eagles battle Cache saw plenty of the skills that make the Eagles the favorite to take that final step to a Gold Ball this school year.

The Eagles had little trouble beating the Bulldogs as CJ Nickson and the Sage twins, Tate and Ethan, dominated the paint and a variety of guards kept finding the bucket from long range in Weatherford’s 61-47 victory.

Head Coach Derrick Bull, who is the son of former Cameron player Ricky Bull, has led the Eagles to a 6-0 start and they have held all six teams to 45 points or less.

“These guys play so well together; they aren’t selfish in the least,” Bull said. “We have a great deal of athletic ability and because these guys are so unselfish it makes it tough on teams trying to defend us. We have those big guys and then we have some really good shooters and it’s hard to defend us.”

And the Eagles run as good a 1-3-1 zone defense as anyone in the seven state classifications. The Sage twins and Nickson clog the passing lanes at the top of the zone and make opponents work for every bucket.

Nickson is one of the top football players in Oklahoma with more than 25 offers from all the big Power 5 programs including Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. He is also a talented basketball player with offers in that sport as well.

Cache had 10 players score but none broke into double figures. Tyrik Love led the Bulldogs with nine while Nickson led the Eagles with 15 and Ethan Sage added 13.

In the varsity girls game. Weatherford started slow but took the lead late in the first quarter and earned a 48-30 victory.

Cache girls got off to a good start, building a 7-2 lead at the mid-point of the first quarter. But the Eagles started fighting back and eventually took the lead, 10-9, after a layup as the Bulldogs lost track of a Weatherford player cutting through the lane.

But that wasn’t the worst news for Cache fans as Alleiyah Mason turned the ball over and drew her second foul while trying to steal the ball back with one second remaining in first quarter.

Weatherford was able to sink both free throws for a 12-9 lead and with Mason sitting on the bench for the entire second quarter, it allowed the Eagles to build their lead to 21-9 before the Bulldogs were able to regroup and slice the deficit to seven at halftime, 26-19.

In the second half the Eagles just kept putting the defensive pressure on the Bulldogs and when Cache made mistakes, Weatherford made the Bulldogs pay by sinking layups or making free throws after drawing fouls.

“We knew what they were going to do; spread us out and then find open looks from outside,” Cache girls coach Rashelle Crowley said. “We get robotic on offense at times and don’t make good passes. That led to turnovers and we have to cut down on those because tonight they really hurt us.”

Young wound with 18 for the Cache girls and Mason added 11. Marley Teasley led Weatherford with 13 and Braelee Epp chipped in 11.

Mustangs hold off Tigers

There were a host of other games involving Lawton-area teams.

MacArthur girls beat Noble, 65-46, but as of press time the Mac boys score had not been reported.

Eisenhower lost both games on the road at Edmond Santa Fe, the girls losing, 78-43, and the boys falling, 74-4.

Elgin lost a pair of district games at Carl Albert as the girls lost 41-33 and the boys were on the short end of a 94-54 score.

Lawton High School boys held on to beat Putnam City West, 48-43.

Fort Cobb-Broxton boys earned a tense 55-49 win over Sterling behind a 29-point effort from Cray Rogers. Sterling was paced by Gavin Mansel with 18 and Kayden Wilson with 11.

Cyril costed to a sweep of Lookeba-Sickles with the girls winning by a 65-30 margin as Hadley Gibson scored 29 and Kinlee Goombi with 21 for the Pirates. In the boys game Nash Harman scored 28 as Cyril coasted to a 68-30 victory.