The Central High School basketball teams swept their road games Dec. 12 at Gans after suffering a pair of losses the day before to Warner at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center, the home of the National Basketball Association’s Oklahoma City Thunder.
At Bryant “Big Country” Reeves Fieldhouse in Gans, the Central Lady Tigers beat the Gans Lady Grizzlies 43-13, then the Tigers clawed the Grizzlies 52-13.
On Dec 11 in OKC, both CHS teams suffered losses to Warner as the Lady Eagles flew past the Lady Tigers 51-26 and the Eagles nipped the Tigers 49-48.
In the girls’ win over Gans, the Lady Tigers (4-1) jumped out to a 17-2 lead after a quarter and never looked back.
Cambree Bair led all scorers with a gamehigh 16 points, followed by Haley Cheek with eight points, Ayrland Jiles with seven points, Hadlie Woods and Alyssa Harris with three points each, Alyvia Warner and Ryleigh Pierce each with two points and Gracie Thompson and Paris Campbell with a free throw apiece.
In defeat, Melania Paniagua led the Lady Grizzlies (3-4), followed by Brighton Dorsey with four points, Brianna Burris with two points and Reina Gaona and K’Cee Osburn with a free throw each.
In the boys’ victory over Gans, the Tigers (3-2) had a 13-6 lead after a period, but a 22-2 second quarter put away the game for them as Central enjoyed a 35-8 lead at halftime.
For the game, Devon Baggs led Central with a game-high 12 points, followed by Noah Buzzard and Jace Mendenhall each with nine points, Aiden Sainer with six points, Cade Tucker with five points, Nathan Vann with four points, Coy Blackburn with three points and Joseph Lee and Braxin Goodson with two points apiece.
In defeat, Josh Brunk scored five points to lead the Grizzlies (2-4), followed by Ashton Langston with four points and Nakota White and Jarrett Frazier with two points each.
In the girls’ loss to Warner, the Lady Eagles led 15-10 after a quarter, but Warner’s 17-5 second period upped its advantage to 32-15 at halftime. The Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Tigers 19-11 in the second half.
In defeat, Koda Robbins led Central with seven points, followed by Jiles with six points, Bair with five points, Woods with four points and Cheyenne Busch and Autumn Cernicek with two points apiece.
In the boys’ loss to Warner, the Eagles flew out to a 16-12 lead after a period, which became a 26-19 halftime advantage and a 39-32 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Tigers outscored the Eagles 1610 in the final period, but their rally came up short.
In defeat, Baggs scored a game-high 20 points, followed by Tucker, Mendenhall and Isaac Rogers each with six points, Buzzard with four points and Lee and Connor Walters with three points each.
After the games, that night the Central teams and fans who purchased tickets were able to return to Paycom Center and watch the Thunder’s home game against the Utah Jazz, won by OKC 134-120.
Editor’s Note — Look for the details about Friday’s road games against Westville as well as Tuesday night’s home games against Howe in next week’s edition.
