The postseason got started on the right paws for the Muldrow Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs as they swept the Stigler squads in the Class 4A District Tournament on Friday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center. The Lady Bulldogs began the night with a 4631 victory over the Lady Panthers, then the ’Dogs held off the Panthers for a 64-60 win.
That came on the heels of sweep Heavener in the Senior Night regular- season finales on Jan. 17 at home as the Lady Bulldogs routed the Lady Wolves 67-34 and the ’Dogs got past the Wolves 70-58.
Both the Lady Bulldogs (17-8) and the Bulldogs (19-6) will play one last week at Roger Sharp Activity Center as they will be the host teams for this week’s Class 4A Regional Tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs will play Locust Grove, which knocked off Muldrow 48-35 in the championship semifinals of the Checotah Crossroads Classic on Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. Thursday at Roger Sharp Activity Center in the Class 4A Regional Tournament championship semifinals, with the winner meeting the Sallisaw-Broken Bow winner for not only the regional title at 6 p.m. Saturday in Muldrow but also automatically earning a berth into next week’s area tournament in Okmulgee.
The Muldrow-Locust Grove loser will meet the Poteau-Wagoner winner at 1 p.m. Friday in the regional consolation semifinals in Muldrow, with the winner playing for the regional consolation championship at 1 p.m. Saturday in Muldrow for the right to advance to next week’s Class 4A Area Tournament.
The ’Dogs will meet Stilwell, which got the NOAA Conference sweep over Muldrow this season, in the Class 4A Regional Tournament championship semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Roger Sharp Activity Center, with the winner meeting the Wagoner-Broken Bow winner at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Muldrow for not only the regional championship but automatically will advance to next week’s area tournament in Okmulgee regardless of the outcome.
The Muldrow-Stilwell loser will meet the Sallisaw-Poteau winner at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the regional consolation semifinals in Muldrow, with the winner playing for the regional consolation title and a berth into next week’s Class 4A Area Tournament in Okmulgee.
In the district title victory over Stigler, the Lady Bulldogs broke a 5-all by ending the first quarter on a 9-1 run, capped by birthday girl London Hardin’s basket with 33 seconds left in the quarter, to put Muldrow ahead 14-6 going into the second period, which became a 28-16 halftime advantage.
A triple by Maddy Pruett cut Stigler’s deficit to 34-24 with 2:18 left in the third quarter, but that would be as close as the Lady Panthers (912) got.
A 6-0 run by Muldrow, capped by Maysi Fields’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer with threetenths of a second left in the period, gave the Lady Bulldogs a 4024 lead going into the fourth quarter.
For the game, Jensi Fields shared gamehigh honors with Stigler’s Caitlin Lovett with 11 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Maysi Fields and Kayla Ellingberg with eight points each, Danica Tune with six points, Hardin and Kilah Ellingberg each with five points, Gracie Prewett with two points and Chloee Clark with a free throw.
In the boys’ district championship win over Stigler, after the Bulldogs found themselves down 19-12 with 7:32 left before halftime, they went on a 16-0 run, capped by a basket by E.J. Zanders with 2:38 remaining in the first half, put Muldrow ahead for good at 28-19.
After a pair of free throws by Stigler’s Jackson McCarter cut his team’s deficit to 28-21 with 2:30 remaining before halftime, the ’Dogs ended the first half on an 8-0 run, capped by a conventional threepoint play by Teaguen Collins with 50 seconds left, put Muldrow up 3621 at the half.
The Bulldogs built as great as a 16-point lead twice in the third quarter, with the last time being 46-30 on a pair of Parker Sevenstar free throws with 39 seconds left in the period. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by DaVohn Hall with a second left gave Muldrow a 49-35 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
However, the Panthers (11-12) would not go down without clawing their way back into the contest. Three free throws by McCarter, who scored a game-high 31 points, with 40 seconds left capped a 25-14 run to cut Muldrow’s lead to 63-60, but Stigler got no closer.
For the game, Muldrow put a quartet of players into double figures, led by Collins with 16 points, D.J. Massey with 13 points, Sevenstar with 12 points and Hall with 10 points. Jesse Kilinc scored eight points, followed by Zanders and DeShawn Willson with two points each and Jaxson Anstine with a free throw.
In the girls’ Senior Night victory over Heavener, a 3-point basket by Heavener’s Julie Cook gave the Lady Wolves (7-19) a 3-2 lead with 6:10 left in the first quarter. It not only would be the only lead of the night for the visitors, but the last time the Lady Wolves ended up being in striking distance.
The Lady Bulldogs, who started all five seniors — Tune, Clark, Jensi Fields, Maysi Fields and Emmalee Short — for their Senior Night game, ended the period with a 19-7 run, capped by a buzzer-beater by Kayla Ellingberg, to give Muldrow a 21-10 lead after the first quarter.
The lead continued to swell for the Lady Bulldogs, who took a 40-20 halftime lead and had a 54-29 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
For the game, Maysi Fields scored a gamehigh 19 points and Kilah Ellingberg added 14 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Short with eight points, Tune, London Hardin, Gracie Prewett and Kayla Ellingberg with four points each, Emma Fields and Amarie Duran each with three points and Jensi Fields and Cherish Atkerson with two points apiece.
In the boys’ Senior Night win over Heavener, the Bulldogs trailed 31-30 with 1:25 left before halftime, but Hall hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining before halftime to give Muldrow a 33-31 halftime lead. After a basket by Heavener’s Canyon Ford tied the game at 33-all with 7:46 left in the third quarter, Muldrow went on a 14-3 run, capped by a conventional 3-point play by Sevenstar, to put Muldrow ahead 47-36 with 4:02 remaining in the period.
A conventional 3-point play by Heavener’s Zaid Rodriguez with three seconds remaining in the quarter capped a 10-4 run to cut the Wolves’ deficit to 51-46 going into the final period. However, that ended up being as close as the Wolves (1213) got.
The ’Dogs outscored the Wolves 19-12 in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
For the game, Muldrow put five players into double figures, led by Sevenstar and Massey with 13 points each, followed by Collins and Anstine each with 12 points and Kilinc with 10 points. Hall scored seven points, while Jermauree Palmer added three points.
