The Central Tigers won the Gore Tournament last Saturday night at Gore Event Center, beating the Oktaha Tigers 38-26 in the title game after defeating the host Gore Pirates 7350 in last Friday night’s championship semifinals.
The Lady Tigers finished third as they defeated the Hulbert Lady Riders 41-30 in last Saturday’s third-place game after opening the tournament with a 60-4 win over Braggs last Thursday afternoon before falling 30-26 in Friday’s championship semifinals to Chouteau-Mazie, coached by former Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Chadd Gehrke.
In the boys’ title game, Central (3-0) scored the game’s first 11 points en route to an 11-4 lead after a quarter en route to a 22-13 halftime advantage.
Oktaha cut its deficit to 24-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter but got no closer.
For the game, Noah Buzzard scored a gamehigh 10 points to lead Central, followed by Jake Woods with seven points, Gavin Randolph and Paitton Merrill with six points each, Josh Brunk with four points, Braxin Goodson with three points and Brycen Chandler-Eisman with two points.
Brunk, Buzzard and Merrill all made the alltournament team.
In the boys’ semifinals, the Tigers, who received a first-round bye, jumped out to a 15-7 lead midway through the first quarter, only to see the Pirates tie the game twice in the second period — the last time at 24-all on Tate Brooksher’s free throw with 5:18 left before halftime.
However, it was all Tigers from there as they ended the second quarter on a 16-7 run to take a 40-31 lead at halftime, which expanded to a 5240 advantage heading into the final period.
For the game, the Tigers put a trio of players into double figures, led by Brunk with a gamehigh 19 points, followed by Buzzard with 13 points and Goodson with 11 points. Randolph and Chandler-Eisman each scored nine points, followed by Merrill with seven points, Aiden Cawhorn with three points and Jake Woods with two points.
In the girls’ thirdplace game, the Lady Tigers (3-1) jumped out to a 10-8 after a period and enjoyed a 15-8 advantage midway through the second quarter, only to see the Lady Riders score seven unanswered points to tie the game at 15-all with just less than a minute left in the first half. Central led 17-16 at halftime and never lost the lead again.
For the game, Cambree Bair scored a gamehigh 22 points to lead Central, followed by Cheyenne Busch with eight points, Sara Williams with five points, Paris Campbell with four points and Sadie Huff with two points.
In the girls championship semifinals, the fourth quarter doomed the Lady Tigers, who took a 25-20 lead into the final period.
The Lady Tigers were outscored 10-1 by the Lady Wildcats.
In defeat, Williams led all scorers with a game-high 11 points to lead Central, followed by Bair with eight points and Busch with seven points.
In the girls’ openinground game, the Lady Tigers had a 24-0 lead after a period and scored the game’s first 34 points before the Lady Wildcats scored their first basket with 1:30 left before halftime.
From the second quarter on, the game saw a running clock utilized.
For the game, Bair scored a game-high 18 points, while Campbell added 14 points to lead Central, followed by Williams with nine points, Zoey Lattimore with five points, Sarah Buchanan with four points, Busch and Sadie Huff with three points each and Charlie Petree and Alivia Meadows with two points apiece.
Bair was named to the all-tournament team.
