Lady Buffs win state title

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Staff photo by PORKY FALCON

March 15, 2010

The Lady Buffs defeated the top three ranked teams in 5A

By PORKY FALCON The McAlester News-Capital Mon Mar 15, 2010, 01:26 PM CDT

The last time the McAlester Lady Buffs won a state basketball title,

most of the current Lady Buffs weren’t born yet. For the first time in

18 years, the McAlester basketball program earned the gold ball,

winning the girls’ Class 5A State Championship, Saturday at the Mabee

Center against the No. 3 Tulsa East Central Lady Cardinals.

Tears flowed from the eyes of both benches, McAlester’s being joy and

the Lady Cards disappointment. The Lady Buffs (No. 7) earned the title

after they defeated Carl Albert Lady Titans (No. 1) 43-42 in the first

round of the playoffs at Supulpa High School, Thursday. McAlester moved

up to the semifinal match against No. 2 Memorial (Tulsa) and won 42-39

at the Mabee Center, Friday.

The Lady Buffs’ final game of the season ended with a win over the Lady

Cardinals 49-45 for the state title.

The Lady Buffs (25-3) ended the Lady Cardinals’ (24-5) eight game win

streak in front of a dominating McAlester crowd.

The win gave McAlester their third state title in program history.

McAlester was on the board first in all four quarters. They kept the

lead the entire game and only allowed East Central to tie three times,

once at the end of the third quarter 32-32.

In the first quarter, LaShanda Green scored the first of McAlester’s

points from the charity stripe with one minute off the game clock.

Green had game high honors with 17 points. She went 11-16 at the line

with three field goals.

The Cards tied the game 40 seconds later with their own free throw from

Ashlie Baker.

McAlester gained a five point lead the next two-minutes. They scored a

2-point shot from Keleshia Johnson and a trey from senior Lesley Huff.

Huff scored nine points in the contest hitting all threes. She went 3-7

behind the arc, had one foul and three rebounds.

The Lady Buffs controlled the tempo of the game with their defense

holding the Cards to only six points in the first quarter. They jumped

to an eight point lead, 14-6 after the first quarter.

The Lady Buffs’ Jami Steidley hit the first two points of the second

quarter and another 2-pointer with 6:31 left. Steidley, scored six

points for the Lady Buffs before she went out with a knee injury 5:52

left to play in the second quarter. She also had three rebounds.

Steidley allowed the Buffs to control a 10 point lead, 8-18, early in

the second then was forced to watch from the bench as her team lost

momentum. The Lady Cards clawed their way out and brought the game back

within four at the end of the half, 20-24.

McAlester senior standout Shay Griffin put the first point up for

McAlester with a free throw. Griffin scored four points for the Lady

Buffs with one rebound.

The Cards tied the ball game twice in the second half. The first 25-25

and 32-32 to close out the third quarter.

McAlester senior Whitney Anderson put the Buffs out front for the

fourth and final time in the game with a free throw with 32 seconds off

the game clock. Anderson scored six points for the Lady Buffs and

helped out with eight rebounds.

The Lady Buffs held on to their lead controlled by much needed free

throws and defensive plays by senior Kirsty Cook. Cook had five points

with two rebounds, one being her own rebound in the fourth quarter,

then making the basket that brought the Lady Buffs 48-43 with 30

seconds left to play.

The McAlester cheering section boiled over with excitement then erupted

with Griffin’s free throw that made the score 49-43 with seconds left.

The Lady Buffs allowed the Lady Cardinals’ Arial Williams to shoot two

free throws at the end of the game. The Buffs defeated the Lady

Cardinals 49-45 and were crowned the top team in girls’ Class 5A

basketball.

Contact Porky Falcon at pfalcon@mcalesternews.com

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