In the swan song for Oklahoma City’s Jim Norick State Fair Arena, a.k.a. “The Big House,” which will be imploded this spring after 60 years of state basketball and wrestling tournaments, the Roland High School basketball teams lost their Class 3A State Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.
The Runnin’ Rangers lost 78-45 to No. 1 Oklahoma City Millwood on Thursday morning, then the Lady Rangers gave a scare to the No. 1 Washington Lady Warriors, who in the end held off Roland for a 47-41 victory Thursday afternoon.
In the boys’ game, the Falcons (20-5) flew out of the gates early as a basket by Javier Richards put Millwood up 12-0 with 2:41 left in the first quarter.
A basket and a pair of free throws by Damonte Owens got the Runnin’ Rangers (25-3) on the board as they trailed 12-4 with 2:24 remaining in the quarter. Unfortunately, that was as close as they got.
The Falcons scored the final six points of the quarter to take an 18-4 lead after the period.
A basket and a free throw by Braylon Goins gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the opening half as Millwood had a 21-4 lead with 6:07 left before halftime.
A 3-point basket by Owens and a basket by Cason Perryman cut the Roland deficit to 21-9 with 5:31 remaining in the first half.
The Falcons ended the first half with a 10-7 run to take a 31-16 halftime lead.
Back-to-back baskets for Roland by Mason Kemp and Buck Triplett cut the Millwood lead to 33-20 with 6:57 left in the third quarter, but the Runnin’ Rangers got no closer.
The Falcons ended the period on a 25-12 run to take a 56-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons got to as great as a 34-point lead in the final period as a basket by Johnathan Van Buren with 2:54 left to play put Millwood ahead 74-40.
In defeat, Owens and Kade Shook led Roland with 12 points each, followed by Triplett with eight points, Landon Fowler with five points, Kemp with four points and Perryman and senior Nate Criswell with two points each.
In the girls’ contest, Lillian Cole’s basket with 3:01 left in the third quarter put the Lady Rangers (22-6) ahead 31-29. It ended up being Roland’s last lead of the game.
The Lady Warriors (28-1) hit six straight free throws, four by Breanna Lindert and two by Preslee Johnson, to put Washington ahead for good at 35-31 with 1:40 remaining in the quarter.
Halle Freeman’s basket with 1:15 left in the period cut Roland’s deficiit to 35-33 going into the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back baskets by senior Haven Freeman, playing her final game in a Lady Ranger uniform, cut Roland’s deficit to 39-37 with 4:54 left to play. However, the Lady Rangers got no closer.
The Lady Warriors doubled the Lady Rangers 8-4 the rest of the way to survive the Roland scare.
The Lady Warriors scored the game’s first nine points en route to an 11-3 lead after a basket by Johnson with 4:08 left in the first quarter.
However, the Lady Rangers ended the period with a 15-1 run, capped by Ryanne Nelke’s 3-point basket with four seconds left in the quarter, to give Roland an 18-12 lead entering the second period.
Nelke’s 3-pointer to begin the second quarter gave Roland its biggest lead of the game at 21-12 with 7:37 left before halftime.
However, the Lady Warriors ended the first half with a 16-3 run, capped by a pair of free throws by Lindert with 11 seconds remaining in the first half, to put Washington up 28-24 at the half.
The Lady Rangers opened the second half with a 7-1 run, capped by Cole’s basket, to give Roland its last lead of the game, and for the season, at 31-29 with 3:01 left in the third quarter.
In defeat, Nelke shared game-high honors with Washington’s trio of Lindert, Johnson and Kelby Beller who all scored 15 points, while Halle Freeman added 11 points to lead Roland, followed by Haven Freeman with eight points, Cole with five points and senior Julianna Trujillo with two points.
