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By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer | Posted: Saturday, March 14, 2015 12:00 am
Aaliyah Wilson had 35 points and 19 rebounds and Jada Ford and Trena Mims scored key overtime points as No. 1 Muskogee survived a determined No. 6 Choctaw 67-64 Friday to reach the final of the Class 6A girls basketball state tournament.
Choctaw sophomore Ana Llanusa poured in 36 points in a marquee matchup with Wilson. They are generally regarded as two of the state’s best players.
“They’re definitely great players,” said Choctaw coach Ryan Maloney, whose Yellowjackets lost a semifinal heartbreaker for the second straight year.
Choctaw led by as many as seven and appeared to be the better team for much of the day, but Muskogee rallied behind Wilson’s 28 second-half points and erased a 53-46 deficit over the final 3:29 of regulation.
“We know what our girls were capable of. We told them to just stay close, keep believing, and we’ll be successful in the fourth quarter,” Muskogee coach Doyle Rowland said.
The Roughers turned the tide with a trapping full-court press that kept the Yellowjackets from running their offense and producing easy shots for the explosive Llanusa, a University of Oklahoma commit.
Wilson was named Gatorade’s Player of the Year for Oklahoma on Thursday, but some on social media wondered if Llanusa didn’t deserve the award just as much.
“I think mine is in the top one or two,” Rowland said. “But (Llanusa’s) definitely a handful. She was hard to stop today.”
The Roughers (25-3) advanced to play in the state final for the first time since back-to-back runner-up finishes under Lucky Tarkington in 1982-83.
They play at noon Saturday against defending champion Broken Arrow. The No. 8 Tigers outlasted Southmoore 58-51 in the other semifinal.
The Roughers and Tigers split two earlier meetings. Broken Arrow won 58-57 at Muskogee on Feb. 3, giving the Roughers their only Frontier Conference Valley loss. Muskogee rallied from a 16-point deficit to win 63-56 in the area tournament.
Choctaw (21-6) lost painfully in the semifinals for the second straight year. The Yellowjackets fell to Broken Arrow 65-63 last year when the Tigers’ Toree Thompson scored the final five points and hit the winning layup in the closing seconds.
“We had the advantage a couple of times, but we made too many turnovers, too many mistakes and had too many missed foul shots,” Maloney said.
Choctaw led 53-46 with 3:29 left, but Mims and Ford breathed some life by scoring the next five points. Muskogee tied it at 57 on Wilson’s 3-pointer with 1:21 left, but she missed a heavily contested shot from left of the lane that would have won the game in the closing seconds of regulation.
She scored Muskogee’s first four points of the overtime and the Roughers led 61-58, but Llanusa’s driving three-point play tied it and the Yellowjackets eased ahead on Jessica Hurley’s free throw with 1:10 left.
Mims rolled one in from the lane with 55 seconds left, Llanusa missed on a contested drive and Ford made two free throws with 22.4 seconds left to make it 65-62.
“I’d been missing a few, so I took extra time because I knew we needed those,” she said.
Maci Hanson’s free throws with 12 seconds left trimmed the deficit, but the Yellowjackets lost valuable time before fouling Mims with 3.3 seconds left.
Mims made both free throws and Llanusa took the inbounds pass and barreled toward the basket, apparently not knowing she needed three points to tie. As she neared the basket, she bobbled the ball and slung up a wild shot as time expired.
Final/OT 1 2 3 4 OT1 Total
Choctaw 13 14 14 16 7 64
Muskogee 7 17 16 17 10 67
Scoring Summary
Muskogee: (25-3): Wilson 35, Mims 20, Ford 12.
Choctaw: Choctaw (20-6): Llanusa 36, Hanson 12, White 9, Golden 2, Saxton 2, Sievert 2, Fairley 1.
Aaliyah Wilson had 35 points and 19 rebounds and Jada Ford and Trena Mims scored key overtime points as No. 1 Muskogee survived a determined No. 6 Choctaw 67-64 Friday to reach the final of the Class 6A girls basketball state tournament.
Choctaw sophomore Ana Llanusa poured in 36 points in a marquee matchup with Wilson. They are generally regarded as two of the state’s best players.
“They’re definitely great players,” said Choctaw coach Ryan Maloney, whose Yellowjackets lost a semifinal heartbreaker for the second straight year.
Choctaw led by as many as seven and appeared to be the better team for much of the day, but Muskogee rallied behind Wilson’s 28 second-half points and erased a 53-46 deficit over the final 3:29 of regulation.
“We know what our girls were capable of. We told them to just stay close, keep believing, and we’ll be successful in the fourth quarter,” Muskogee coach Doyle Rowland said.
The Roughers turned the tide with a trapping full-court press that kept the Yellowjackets from running their offense and producing easy shots for the explosive Llanusa, a University of Oklahoma commit.
Wilson was named Gatorade’s Player of the Year for Oklahoma on Thursday, but some on social media wondered if Llanusa didn’t deserve the award just as much.
“I think mine is in the top one or two,” Rowland said. “But (Llanusa’s) definitely a handful. She was hard to stop today.”
The Roughers (25-3) advanced to play in the state final for the first time since back-to-back runner-up finishes under Lucky Tarkington in 1982-83.
They play at noon Saturday against defending champion Broken Arrow. The No. 8 Tigers outlasted Southmoore 58-51 in the other semifinal.
The Roughers and Tigers split two earlier meetings. Broken Arrow won 58-57 at Muskogee on Feb. 3, giving the Roughers their only Frontier Conference Valley loss. Muskogee rallied from a 16-point deficit to win 63-56 in the area tournament.
Choctaw (21-6) lost painfully in the semifinals for the second straight year. The Yellowjackets fell to Broken Arrow 65-63 last year when the Tigers’ Toree Thompson scored the final five points and hit the winning layup in the closing seconds.
“We had the advantage a couple of times, but we made too many turnovers, too many mistakes and had too many missed foul shots,” Maloney said.
Choctaw led 53-46 with 3:29 left, but Mims and Ford breathed some life by scoring the next five points. Muskogee tied it at 57 on Wilson’s 3-pointer with 1:21 left, but she missed a heavily contested shot from left of the lane that would have won the game in the closing seconds of regulation.
She scored Muskogee’s first four points of the overtime and the Roughers led 61-58, but Llanusa’s driving three-point play tied it and the Yellowjackets eased ahead on Jessica Hurley’s free throw with 1:10 left.
Mims rolled one in from the lane with 55 seconds left, Llanusa missed on a contested drive and Ford made two free throws with 22.4 seconds left to make it 65-62.
“I’d been missing a few, so I took extra time because I knew we needed those,” she said.
Maci Hanson’s free throws with 12 seconds left trimmed the deficit, but the Yellowjackets lost valuable time before fouling Mims with 3.3 seconds left.
Mims made both free throws and Llanusa took the inbounds pass and barreled toward the basket, apparently not knowing she needed three points to tie. As she neared the basket, she bobbled the ball and slung up a wild shot as time expired.
Final/OT 1 2 3 4 OT1 Total
Choctaw 13 14 14 16 7 64
Muskogee 7 17 16 17 10 67
Scoring Summary
Muskogee: (25-3): Wilson 35, Mims 20, Ford 12.
Choctaw: Choctaw (20-6): Llanusa 36, Hanson 12, White 9, Golden 2, Saxton 2, Sievert 2, Fairley 1.
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