The Muldrow High School basketball teams each took the first step toward state championships as they swept Tulsa Central in the Class 4A District Tournament finals Saturday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center.

The Lady Bulldogs began the night with a 45-38 win over the Lady Braves, then the ’Dogs completed the districttitle sweep with a 70-59 victory over the Braves.

Both the Lady Bulldogs (16-8) and the ’Dogs (12-12) will advance to the Class 4A Regional Tournament on the winner’s-bracket side as they will be in Thursday night’s regional championship semifinals in Verdigris. The Muldrow girls will meet Verdigris at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by the Muldrow boys against Tulsa McLain at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The two winners will not only play in the regional finals at 6 p.m. (girls) and 7:30 p.m.(boys) Saturday in Cleveland, Okla., but also will earn a berth into the Class 4A Area Tournament, which will be Feb. 29-March 2 at Stroud. At the moment, both Muldrow teams are just three wins away from making state.

However, if either or both Muldrow teams lose Thursday night, they will be in the regional consolation semifinals at 6 p.m. (girls) and 7:30 p.m. (boys) Friday in Cleveland, with wins putting them into the regional consolation finals at 1 p.m. (girls) and 2:30 p.m.(boys) Saturday in Cleveland with victories sending the locals to the area tournament.

However, the Senior Night games on Feb. 13 at Roger Sharp Activity Center did not go in favor of Muldrow as the visiting Inola teams got a sweep. The Lady Longhorns downed the Lady Bulldogs 46-35, then the ’Horns defeated the ’Dogs 71-52.

In the girls’ district finals, a buzzer-beating 3-point basket by Tulsa Central senior Montay Davis, who has three college offers and scored a gamehigh 25 points, gave the Lady Braves (9-14) a 9-8 lead after the first quarter. However, that would their last and only lead of the night.

The Lady Bulldogs went on a 12-3 run to begin the second period as a basket by Kayla Ellingberg with 1:29 left before halftime gave Muldrow a 20-12 lead. The Lady Bulldogs took a 20-16 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

A pair of Cailey Grinstead free throws with 3:39 left in the third quarter upped Muldrow’s lead to 28-16, the largest lead of the night for the Lady Bulldogs. Muldrow took a 30-23 advantage into the final period.

A 3-pointer by Justine Rogers cut the Tulsa Central deficit to 30-26 with 7:50 left to play in the game, but that was as close as the Lady Braves got as Muldrow ended the game with a 15-12 run to keep the visitors at bay.

For the game, Grinstead led Muldrow with 14 points, followed by Claire Tabor with nine points, Ellingberg with eight points, Chloe Clark with five points, Katelynn Moore with three points, London Hardin and Kennady Moore with two points each and Heidi McGuire and Gracie Prewett with a free throw apiece.

In the boys’ regional final, a basket by Muldrow’s Parker Sevenstar with three seconds left in the opening period gave Muldrow an 11-10 lead going into the second quarter.

A basket by Tulsa Central’s Joseph Pigram to open the second period put the Braves (7-12) on top 12-11 with 7:52 remaining in the first half. It would end up being their last lead of the night.

A buzzer-beater by Trenton Irvan to end the first half capped a 16-8 run for the Bulldogs to give them a 27-20 halftime lead.

A conventional threepoint play by Sevenstar with 6:15 left in the game gave Muldrow its largest lead of the game at 54-39.

For the contest, Sevenstar scored a whopping 39 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Jesse Kilinc with 13 points, Kashan Bukhari with four points, Jermauree Palmer and Drew Prewett with three points each and Irvan, Teaguen Collins, Jaxson Anstine and Deshawn Wilson with two points apiece.

In the girls’ Senior Night loss, back-to-back baskets by Muldrow’s Kennady Moore and Tabor regained the lead for the Lady Bulldogs at 17-15 with 4:57 remaining in the first half. That proved to be the last lead for Muldrow as the Lady Longhorns took a 21-18 halftime lead en route to a 35-27 advantage going into the final period.

The Lady Bulldogs got to within six on two occasions in the fourth quarter, the last time at 39-33 on Ellingberg’s free throws with 4:56 left to play, but they got no closer.

In defeat, Kennady Moore and Grinstead each scored 11 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Tabor, McGuire and Maysi Fields with three points each and Ellingberg and Katelynn Moore with two points apiece.

In the boys’ Senior Night loss, the ‘Dogs had two leads in the opening period — 2-0 after Prewett’s basket at the 7:03 mark and 4-3 after Irvan’s basket at the 6:07 mark. The ’Dogs would never lead again as they fell behind 21-14 after a quarter. The ’Horns put away the game with a 16-3 second period for a 37-17 halftime lead.

In defeat, Wilson and Kilinc led Muldrow with 10 points each, followed by Collins with nine points, Irvan and Prewett each with seven points, Kenoy Releford with five points, Sevenstar with three points and Anstine with a free throw.