Both Muldrow High School basketball teams went 2-1 last week, with losses and wins against the same teams.
The week started off on a sour note as the archrival Roland teams swept the Lady Bulldogs and ’Dogs on Feb. 4 at Roger Sharp Activity Center as the Lady Rangers won 59-54 in overtime, followed by the Runnin’ Rangers completing not only the twinbill sweep on the night but the season sweep as well as they downed the Bulldogs 65-43.
However, the week ended on much brighter notes for both the Lady Bulldogs and ’Dogs as they swept a home NOAA Conference doubleheader from Poteau on Friday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center as the Lady Bulldogs routed the Lady Pirates 55-33, then the ’Dogs did likewise to the Pirates 66-39.
To top things off for the week, less than 24 hours later, the Lady Bulldogs and ’Dogs swept a pair of road games from Central on Saturday afternoon at the Central Gym. The Lady Bulldogs began the afternoon with a 50-38 victory over the Lady Tigers, then the Bulldogs bit the Tigers 64-35.
In the girls’ loss to Roland, the Lady Rangers rallied from a 36-28 third quarter deficit to get the game tied at 42all to force overtime, then outscored the Lady Bulldogs 17-12 in OT to get the come-from-behind victory to help Roland to a season sweep of its archrival.
In defeat, Jensi Fields scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs (13-8 overall, 6-2 in NOAA Conference play), followed by Kayla Ellingberg with 18 points, Kilah Ellingberg with eight points and London Hardin and Chloee Clark with four points apiece.
In the boys’ loss to Roland, the Runnin’ Rangers doubled up the Bulldogs (15-6 overall, 4-4 in NOAA Conference play) in the opening period 16-8, but the ‘Dogs outscored the Runnin’ Rangers 17-10 in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 26-25 at halftime. Roland outscored Muldrow 16-9 in the third quarter and 24-9 in the final period to earn the win, and get the season sweep of the Bulldogs.
In defeat, Jesse Kilinc scored 13 points and Teaguen Collins added 12 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Parker Sevenstar with eight points, DeShawn Willson with five points, Jermauree Palmer with three points and Keeshan Bukhari with two points.
In the girls’ win over Poteau, the Lady Bulldogs wasted little time in putting away the game, jumping out to a 20-6 lead after a quarter and were never headed.
For the game, Kayla Ellingberg scored a game-high 13 points and Maysi Fields added 12 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Kilah Ellingberg with nine points, Hardin with seven points, Danica Tune with five points, Jaydin Dean and Gracie Prewett with three points each, Cherish Atkerson with two points and Amarie Duran with a free throw.
In the boys’ win over Poteau, it pretty much was a duplicate of the girls’ contest as the Bulldogs clawed their way out to a 24-4 lead after a period to take full control of the contest.
For the game, Collins scored a game-high 17 points and Kilinc added 15 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Jaxson Anstine and D.J. Massey with seven points each, Jack Pyeatt and E.J. Zanders each with six points, Sevenstar with four points and Willson and Kendal Howell with two points apiece.
In the girls’ victory over Central, Prewett scored the opening period’s final three points to put Muldrow ahead for good at 16-13 after the first eight minutes.
A 7-0 run to open the second quarter for the Lady Bulldogs, capped by both a 3-point basket and a conventional hoop by Maysi Fields, put Muldrow ahead 2313 with 6:16 left before halftime.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the period with a 8-6 run to take a 3119 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
A free throw followed by a basket by Kilah Ellingberg to begin the third quarter gave Muldrow its biggest lead of the night at 34-19 with 6:33 left in the period.
The Lady Tigers made a run as a basket by Central’s Cambee Bair with 34 seconds left in the period capped a 13-3 run for Central to cut its deficit to 3732 after three quarters. However, that ended up being as close as the Lady Tigers would get.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Tigers 13-6 in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
For the game, Hardin scored a game-high 13 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Kilah Ellingberg and Jensi Fields with nine points each, Kayla Ellingberg and Maysi Fields each with six points, Chloee Clark with four points and Prewett with three points.
In the boys’ victory over Central, Muldrow led 14-8 after the end of the first quarter. However, that ended up being the last point of the game in which the content was a close one.
The Bulldogs bit the Tigers to the tune of 22-4 in the second quarter to take a 36-12 halftime lead en route to a 54-26 advantage going into the final period.
For the game, Kilinc continued his hot shooting as he connected on six 3-point baskets en route to a game-high 24 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Collins with 12 points, Anstine with seven points, Sevenstar and Massey with six points each, Pyeatt with four points, Brady Boshers and Zeeshan Bukhari each with two points and Willson with a free throw.
