Hartshorne boys and girls moves forward in Crowder Invitational

By JAYSON KNIGHT

Crowder’s Invitational Tournament was intense Monday night. Four games brought everything a basketball fan could ask for.

Coaches with ingenuity, standout players, nail-biting suspense, phenomenal defense, and rim-rocking excitement were the order of the day.

The first game was Central Sallisaw’s ladies taking on McAlester’s JV Lady Buffaloes. That game was entirely one-sided. The Lady Tigers of Central Sallisaw went on a tear early and never relented.

McAlester showed promised with Ashley Means blocking shots and playing aggressively enough that her height gave her an advantage often. It was too late by the time the Lady Buffs started getting her the ball. By the time she registered a steal and drove it to the goal on a fast break, the Lady Buffs were already down substancially.

The Lady Buffs never managed to match Central Sallisaw’s first quarter scoring and fell to the Lady Tigers 70-16. The game was a blowout, but none of the others were.

The next game was Hartshorne and McAlester’s JV Buffaloes. Fresh off of football season, the Miners looked a little rusty on offense, but relentless on defense. The Miners were quick to swarm the ball and keep passes pressured.

The entire Hartshorne team had to fight valiantly against the Buffs who would not go away. Dakota Cruce of the Buffs was one of the few players that even bothered to challenge Mario Harden’s vertical superiority.

Cruce found his way to the basket and created his own shot opportunities seemingly at will. He helped the Buffs finish ahead of the Miners for the first quarter, but that was as long as their lead would last.

Having practically walked into the gym from the football field, the Miners played as if they were still in pads.

Harden showed why he was the Miners safety by picking off passes and racing for paydirt with layups.

Caleb Collins swatted at least 10 passes out of bounds, looking much like the cornerback that picked off passes for Coach Bill E. Williams and the Hartshorne Miners football team.

Ross Rose sunk a three within miniscule playing time. Still nursing an injury from football season, the quarterback was still able to come in and drain a deep one.

CJ Nelson was aggressive down low and able to muscle his way around well enough to make the space he needed for multiple rebounds and putback layups. Just like he did playing halfback for the Miners as had to break apart defenses and find daylight. If there was none, he made it, just as he did as a playmaking runner.

Dylan Parker was the one who seperated the Miners from the Buffs though. Dylan, with a three as well as making good on a fast break layup, sent the Buffs five points back and from there the Miners stayed on their guard. Dominant offensive rebounding from Austin Wilson and Collins kept the ball on the Miners’ side of the court often and they were able to pull the win out 82-54.

The girls were at it again after that. This time the stage was set for Hartshorne’s Lady Miners to take on a very promising and pace-pushing program with a great deal of youth in the Canadian Lady Cougars.

One of the more aggressively-played matchups of the evening featured a vibrant freshman post player, Bethany Cox. The freshman was instrumental in the initial score for the Lady Cougars after a defensive rebound and an assist to fellow freshman Samantha Koedyker who hit her layup. Kayla Stiltner showed why the Miners gave her the number three when she busted a long-distance shot from beyond the arc to take the Miners up by one. The Lady Cougars’ Destiney Neill was the next to put points on the board going two-for-two from the free throw line. Keely Helterbrand of Canadian had a heads-up layup right before Tracy Tiger found her way to the goal by driving the baseline. Before Hartshorne could build any momentum, Helterbrand knocked down another jumper.

That was the last time the Miners would score in the first quarter until there was less than a second left in the quarter. From there, Cox took over and owned the first quarter. With a spin move off her dribble, and then a head fake, the standout was able to sink a layup despit being fouled. She sank her extra free throw and after teammate Koedyker bumped one off the backboard, the Lady Cougars were up by 10. One of only two seniors for Canadian, Rebekah Willis was able to get the ball to a wide open Cox who nailed another jumpshot. Without the Lady Miners scoring, she found herself driving to the hole again.

Only this time, the Miners were ready for her down low so she stopped and popped another jumper to further extend the Lady Cougars’ lead. That was when Stiltner banked a layup in right before the buzzer and the ladies started the first quarter 19-7, in favor of the Lady Cougars.

The second quarter did not have the same tempo however. Junior Kayla John scored the first points of the new quarter with a jumpshot. Lexy Huffstutlar kept the Lady Cougars in it with a very deep jumpshot. That was when Kirby Holt hit her stride. Offensive rebounds, jumpshots from all over the court, and the deepest three of the night from the “r” in the graphic of Crowder at center court were all on the senior’s resume for the night.

Helterbrand was able to tie it up again with a jumper late in the third to keep the Cougars in position to pounce.

After an assist by Tiger and a layup by John, the Miners pulled ahead again and after another three by John, the Miners never looked back. Although the game was as close as any fan, coach, or player wanted, the game was the Lady Miners’ to win and they did just that.

“The girls played extra hard. I was pleased with the team effort and I’m pleased to come away with a win,” Head Coach of the Lady Miners, Chad Ward, said after the game.

Despite excellent free throw shooting as well as an assist, Cox was relatively kept out of the game in the fourth quarter due to the Lady Miners keeping the ball away from the freshman playmaker.

The game ended 57-52 and the Miners advanced to play again again Wednesday against the winners of the Oktaha-Crowder JV game held today at 7:40p.m. The Lady Cougars will play the loser of that matchup and try to stay in contention for the consolation championship.

The last game of the night was the most intense, as far as back-and-forth scoring, and those that left early, left too early. Candian’s Cougars took on Wister in a game that was fought to the finish.

An offensive rebound that Shay Reynolds pulled down and immediately putin with a layup was the first score. Wister answered back though.

Then Dalton Brown of Wister forced a turnover with a steal and drove it the length of the court and after head-faking a Canadian defender, put it in for more points. That score got Wister rolling as the sophomore, Logan Warren, hit his next two jumpshots, one from behind the arc. Down eight points, the Cougars looked tame.

But that perception was not reality. Joey Hall of Canadian got the Cougars scoring again with a nice finger roll. He then followed that up with a suspenseful layup that didn’t drop until after the senior skidded along the hardwood and smashed into the wall behind the goal.

As hard as Wister hustled on defense, it was hard to believe that the Couagrs were generating any offense, but they did. Seemingly at will, Tyler Miller found plenty of teammates with tricky passes that, surprisingly, didn’t catch the Wister defense off-guard.

Jeremy Cox was able to benefit from an assist of Miller’s with a jumper. Miller continued to play well and hit a three for a first quarter lead and was able to show some remarkable handles and find his way to the goal again before Wister could score. With 11 unanswered points, the Cougars looked in control.

Cox came into the next quarter blazing and hit a fade away jumper to start the second quarter scoring. Reynolds continued throughout the game to sink his free throws and contest the ball on inbound passes.

With every defender in the game pressing his man and pressuring the offense, it was as if there were miniature miracles everytime a player scored.

With outstanding timing on a loose ball that Bubba Blanks dove on, Head Coach Daniel Lokey called a timeut to preserve the possession for the Cougars.

The game continued to stay close until the closing minutes. With under a minute to go and the Cougars down by four, Reynolds stole another inbound pass and took it to the hole.

Due to a few fouls towards the last seconds of the game, Wister was able to pull ahead and stay there. With the scoring close and the excitement building all the way until the end of the game, the last game of the night was the closest. The Cougars beat Wister in first-quarter scoring as well as third, but Wister won the second and fourth quarters and ultimately won out on the only score that mattered, the final score: 62-58.

Today will be a great day for Crowder fans. Tonight will be the second day of the tournament and Crowder will field a team in every game. Crowder’s girls, featuring the Tucker twins, Amy Blagg, Brittiany Smith and Kelsey Martin, will play first against Wister’s ladies. The second game will be between Crowder’s Demons and Central Sallisaw’s Tigers. The third and fourth games will have Crowder’s JV boys and girs facing Oktaha’s starting teams.

Don’t miss the action as all four games will feature standout playmakers and a high level of competitiveness.

For continued coverage of the Crowder Invitational, look to Wednesday’s edition of the Mcalester News-Capital.

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