At this moment, we will know whether the Roland Lady Rangers are prepping for the Class 3A State Tournament semifinals or lost their state quarterfinal game to Norman Community Christian School.

The Lady Rangers took the easiest path possible to state as they went through the district, regional and are tournaments undefeated, which was capped by Friday night’s Class 3A Area Tournament finals 49-41 win over Alva at Kellyville Event Center.

The Lady Rangers (20-6) were slated to meet Norman Community Christian School at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Class 3A State Tournament quarterfinals at Jim Norick State Fair Arena, a.k.a. “The Big House.” The winner will play in the state semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Yukon against the winner of Washington and Bethel. Friday night’s winner will play in the state finals at 6:45 p.m. Saturday at Jim Norick State Fair Arena.

“I’m proud of them girls,” Roland girls coach Scott Nelke said. “It’s not been easy for any of them. They’ve all stuck with it. They came in every day and did what they were supposed to do. This (making state) is what happens when you do what you’re supposed to do. The Running Rangers were not as lucky as they lost 43-38 to the Lincoln Christian Bulldogs in Friday afternoon’s Class 3A Area Tournament consolation semifinals at Kellyville Event Center after staving off elimination 24 hours before with a 65-55 win over Alva in the consolation quarterfinals. The Running Rangers ended the season at 21-6, but ended up losing five of their final seven games after enjoying a 13-game winning streak from Dec. 19 through Feb. 2.

In the girls’ area finals, the Lady Rangers built the lead to as great as a 15-point lead at 2712 after Halle Freeman’s basket with 4:45 left in the third quarter, which capped a 7-0 run starting the third quarter.

The Ladybugs (244), which defeated Tulsa Victory Christian 68-42 just 24 hours later on Saturday night to claim the consolation championship and a trip to state, made a furious third-and-fourth quarter run as they went on a 22-10 run, capped by Lakin Gaddy’s free throw with 5:28 left to play in the game to cut Roland’s lead to 37-34.

However, the Lady Rangers ended the game on a 12-7 run to not only keep the Ladybugs at bay, but win the area championship and punch their ticket to state.

“We’ve been in those situations before,” Nelke said. “We’ve been through some wars, and this was fun. For us, we don’t have a lot of numbers. It was good we did it (make state) that (easy) way. It would have been tough had we had to come back (in the area consolation finals), but they knew what they had to do — and they came and did it. I’m proud of them.”

For the game, Roland put a trio of players into double figures, led by Halle Freeman, Haven Freeman and Ryanne Nelke all with 12 points apiece. Lilly Medicine Bird had seven points, while Kynlei Earnhart added six points.

In the boys’ area consolation quarterfinals against Alva, the Running Rangers led wireto- wire, leading 16-8 after a quarter, 30-19 at halftime and 46-30 going into the final period.

For the game, Carson Wiggins led all scorers with a game-high 29 points, followed by DaVohn Hall and Mason Kemp with seven points each, Paul Johnson with six points, Kade Shook and Cason Perryman each with four points and Buck Triplett and Raesean Perryman with three points apiece.

In the boys’ consolation semifinals against Lincoln Christian, there seemed to be a lid on the basket. Case in point, the Running Rangers missed eight free throws as well as several closein shots.

“If we hit some of our free throws, we would have gotten some momentum,” Roland boys coach Eddie Lewis said. “We missed several shots at key moments. The kids played hard. I was pretty proud of the way they played. We had some kids come off the bench and play well, too. Our bench played hard. I was proud of the season. It was a good season. I wish we would have gotten one more game (the area consolation finals to have a shot at making state).”

Thanks to a slam dunk by Wiggins with 1:54 left in the first quarter, Roland had a 12-8 lead, which ended up being a 12-11 advantage at period’s end thanks to a 3-point basket by Lincoln Christian’s Isaiah Campbell with 34 seconds left in the quarter.

A 10-6 second period for Lincoln Christian put the ’Dogs ahead 21-18 at halftime, but a 3-pointer by Wiggins with 7:44 left in the third quarter tied the game at 21-all. However, the Running Rangers never regained the lead.

The Bulldogs went on a 13-7 run, capped by Chase Job’s 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the third quarter to put Lincoln Christian ahead 34-28. Hall’s basket with a second left in the period cut Roland’s deficit to 34-30 going into the fourth quarter.

A Wiggins free throw capped an 8-2 run by Roland to tie the game one last time at 38-all with 2:23 left in the game. However, that would be Roland’s final points of the season and Wiggins’ final point of his high school career.

The Bulldogs scored the game’s last five points to win the game.

In defeat, Wiggins shared game-high honors with Campbell with 13 points to lead Roland, followed by Hall, Johnson, Shook and Triplett with six points each and Raesean Perryman with a free throw.