The Roland Runnin’ Rangers find themselves just a win away from a return trip to the Class 3A State Tournament.
The Runnin’ Rangers defeated Tulsa Victory Christian 63-52 to win the Class 3A Regional Tournament last Saturday night at Keys after winning their regional championship semifinal in a thrilling 74-72 overtime win over Westville on Feb. 24 at the Ranger Dome.
The Runnin’ Rangers will meet Chandler at 7:30 p.m. this Friday in Okmulgee for the Class 3A Area Tournament title and a trip to state. However, if they lose, they can still make state by winning the area consolation championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Okmulgee.
The Lady Rangers, who routed Westville 40-26 in their regional championship semifinal on Feb. 24 at the Ranger Dome, lost their regional title game 37-27 to the host Keys Lady Cougars on Saturday night.
The Lady Rangers are facing elimination for three straight days if they want to make it back to state for a third straight season. Roland will meet Chandler at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Class 3A Area Tournament consolation quarterfinals in Okmulgee, and they will need to win this game as well as the consolation semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday and the consolation title game at 6 p.m. Saturday.
In the boys’ regional title game, the Runnin’ Rangers (22-1) led 14-4 after a quarter, 29-16 at halftime and 42-39 after three quarters, but it was a 21-13 final period that helped seal the deal for Roland.
For the game, Damonte “Bubba” Owens scored a game-high 32 points to lead Roland, followed by Kade Shook with 11 points, Raidyn Knight with seven points, Cason Perryman with six points, Landon Fowler with four points and Mason Kemp with three points.
In the boys’ regional championship semifinals, the Runnin’ Rangers blew a 20-point halftime lead as the Yellowjackets rallied to force overtime with the game tied at 63all.
In fact, the Yellowjackets, who feature former Roland player Buck Triplett, took their first lead of the entire game as baskets by Eli Clinton and Aliyah Miller gave the the 67-63 lead with 2:34 left in the extra period.
The Runnin’ Rangers tied the game at 72-all on Raidyn Knight’s 3-point basket with 45 seconds left in overtime.
The Yellowjackets had the ball with less than a minute to go, but Owens stole an inbounds pass with about 25 seconds left to give Roland the final possession of the extra session.
With about five seconds left, Owens started to drive the lane. As a double team was approaching, Owens found a wide-open Fowler under the basket, who shot the lay-up. As the ball went through the nylon, the buzzer sounded and the Runnin’ Rangers survived.
For the game, Owens scored a game-high 39 points, with 24 of those coming in the first half, to lead Roland, followed by Knight with 11 points, Fowler with nine points, Shook with seven points, Perryman with six points and Tae Smith with two points.
In the girls’ regional championship semifinal, the Lady Rangers (166) rallied from an 18-17 halftime deficit as they used a 14-6 third quarter to put the Lady Rangers ahead 31-24 heading into the final period.
For the game, Roland put a trio of players into double figures, led by Ryanne Nellie’s gamehigh 12 points, followed by Halle Freeman’s 11 points and Molly Carver’s 10 points. Lillian Cole had five points, while Adriana Moya scored two points.
There was no more information reported on the girls’ championship game by press time.
