The Roland High School basketball teams find themselves just a win away from making the Class 3A State Tournament.
The Runnin’ Rangers and the Lady Rangers each beat Kiefer to win the Class 3A Regional Tournament on Saturday night in Checotah as the Runnin’ Rangers routed the Trojans 6836 right after the Lady Rangers got past the Lady Trojans 49-44.
Both Roland teams won their Class 3A Regional Tournament championship semifinals Thursday night at the Ranger Dome, with the Runnin’ Rangers routing Hugo 57-32 and the Lady Rangers routing Valliant 52-17.
Both the Runnin’ Rangers (24-1) will play the Tulsa Cascia Hall Commandos at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Seminole for the Class 3A Area Tournament title, with the winner qualifying for state. The loser will have one more shot at making state by winning the area consolation title game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Seminole.
The Lady Rangers (21-4) will get a third shot at the Sequoyah-Tahlequah Lady Indians in Class 3A Area Tournament finals at 6 p.m. Friday in Seminole, after each team got a win on their home court over the other this season. Friday night’s loser will have another shot at making state by winning the area consolation finals at 6 p.m. Saturday in Seminole.
In the boys’ regional final, the Runnin’ Rangers jumped out to a 12-8 lead after a quarter and a 28-20 halftime advantage and a 40-31 lead after three periods. However, Roland put away the game with a 28-5 fourth quarter.
Damonte Owens led all scorers with a gamehigh 31 points to lead Roland, followed by Landon Fowler with 12 points, Cason Perryman with 10 points, Mason Kemp with six points, Kade Shook with four points, Kayden Hartt with three points and Raesean Perryman with two points.
In the boys’ regional championship semifinals, the Runnin’ Rangers raced out to a 14-4 lead over the Buffaloes after a quarter en route to a 26-16 halftime advantage. Roland doubled Hugo 18-9 in the third quarter to increase its lead to 44-25 going into the final period.
For the game, Owens led Roland with a gamehigh 23 points, followed by Buck Triplett with 11 points, Kemp with 10 points, Shook with eight points, Fowler with three points and Raesean Perryman with two points.
In the girls’ regional title game, the Lady Rangers rallied from a 10-7 first-quarter deficit by outscoring the Lady Trojans 42-34 over the final three quarters to get the come-from-behind victory.
For the game, Ryanne Nelke scored a gamehigh 18 points and Halle Freeman added 17 points to lead Roland, followed by Lilly Cole with nine points and Haven Freeman with five points.
In the girls’ regional championship semifinals, the Lady Rangers put away the game early, leading 10-2 after a quarter, 24-6 at halftime and 38-13 after three periods.
For the game, Nelke scored a game-high 17 points and Halle Freeman added 12 points to lead Roland, followed by Haven Freeman with nine points, Danika Sevenstar with five points, Cole and Julianna Trujillo with four points each and Molly Carver with three points.
