After not playing in the Class 3A District Tournament last season, the Roland High School basketball teams got to play in one this season on Saturday night at the Ranger Dome where they emphatically swept the visiting Antlers squads.
The Lady Rangers routed the Lady Bearcats 56-12 in a game in which junior Haven Freeman scored her 1,000th career point.
Then, the Runnin’ Rangers took care of the ’Cats 77-36.
Last week started with the Roland squads sweeping Sequoyah-Tahlequah on Senior Night on Feb. 17 at the Ranger Dome as the Lady Rangers won 4827 to avenge the season- opening loss to the Lady Indians and the Runnin’ Rangers got a come-from-behind thrilling 60-57 victory over the Indians to give Roland boys coach Eddie Lewis his 700th coaching win.
Both the Lady Rangers (19-4) and the Runnin’ Rangers (22-1) will play in this week’s Class 3A Regional Tournament, where they will begin Thursday at the Ranger Dome as the Lady Rangers will meet Valliant at 6 p.m. and the Runnin’ Rangers will face Hugo at 7:30 p.m.
The Roland-Valliant girls winner will meet the Spiro-Kiefer winner for not only the regional title at 6 p.m. Saturday in Checotah, but also automatically will qualify for a spot in next week’s Class 3A Area Tournament at Seminole.
The Roland-Valliant girls loser will meet the Heavener Lady Wolves, who got a regional consolation quarterfinal bye, in the consolation semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday in Checotah, with the winner playing for the regional consolation title and a trip to the Class 3A Area Tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday in Checotah.
The Roland-Hugo boys winner will meet the Heavener-Kiefer winner for not only the regional title at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Checotah, but also automatically will qualify for a spot in next week’s Class 3A Area Tournament at Seminole.
The Roland-Hugo boys loser will meet the Spiro-Checotah winner in the regional consolation semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Checotah, with the winner playing for the regional consolation title and a trip to the Class 3A Area Tournament at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Checotah.
In the girls’ district title game, it was over early as the Lady Rangers jumped out to a 22-0 lead after a period, which became a 41-2 halftime advantage and a 48-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.
For the game, Ryanne Nelke scored a gamehigh 14 points and Haven Freeman added 13 points to lead Roland, followed by Halle Freeman and Molly Carver with eight points each, Julianna Trujillo with six points, Lilly Cole with four points and Danika Sevenstar with three points.
In the boys’ district championship game, the Runnin’ Rangers scored the game’s first nine points en route to a 28-10 lead after the first quarter en route to a 51-15 halftime advantage and a 65-28 lead after three periods.
For the game, Roland put five players into double figures, led by Buck Triplett and Kayden Hartt with 11 points each, while Kade Shook, Damonte Owens and Josh Bower scored 10 points apiece. Mason Kemp had nine points, followed by Nate Criswell with six points, Cason Perryman and Landon Fowler with four points each and Raesean Perryman with two points.
In the girls’ Senior Night win, the Lady Rangers jumped out to a 13-3 lead after a quarter en route to a 24-16 halftime advantage and a 37-20 lead going into the final period.
For the game, Nelke scored a game-high 18 points and Halle Freeman added 14 points to lead Roland, followed by Haven Freeman with seven points, Carver with six points and Cole with three points.
In the boys’ Senior Night victory, the Runnin’ Rangers rallied to tie the game at 57-all with just less than a minute to go on a pair of free throws by Triplett to set up Owens’ gamewinning 3-pointer with two seconds left to play.
For the game, Owens scored a game-high 26 points to lead Roland, followed by Shook with 14 points, Kemp with 11 points and Triplett with nine points.
