Class B girls basketball: Pittsburg, Buffalo Valley, Hammon, Lomega advance to state semifinals

The Class B girls basketball state tournament started Thursday at State Fair Arena. Here's a look at what happened:

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Pittsburg 49, Lookeba-Sickles 44

Camryn Graham knew she had one job.

Coming out of a timeout the guard from Pittsburg was given simple instructions as they held a 3-point lead with 30 seconds left to play.

“We’d rather give them a two than a three, just run them off the 3-point line,” Pittsburg coach Jim Jenson told his players. “Take a step out farther, nothing deep."

Graham did more than she was asked. Instead of just defending a deep shot, the senior reached her hand out and stole the ball near Lookeba-Sickles' 3-point line.

“I never dreamed she’d get a hand on it,” Jenson said. “She picked the right time to pick one off there.”

Graham knocked down both free throws after being fouled to put the game out of reach and Pittsburg took down Lookeba-Sickles 49-44 in the quarterfinals. The Class B defending state champions advance to the semifinals.

Pittsburg (26-4) went on a magical run last season, earning its first state tournament win and the Class B state championship. And it took some more magic to pull out a win on Thursday.

“Right now, I’m just happy to be, ‘One more game,’” Jenson said. “That’s all that matters right now.”

After a first quarter with single-digit scoring by both teams, Pittsburg outscored Lookeba-Sickles 21-13 in the second quarter. From there, the Panthers never gave the lead up but Lookeba-Sickles (24-6) made it a close game.

Aby Mashaney led Lookeba-Sickles with 14 points, followed by Ellie Willard with 12. But they were outlasted by Pittsburg’s Akiera Hawk, who had 17, Keely Couch (15) and Graham (12).

Both Hawk and Couch had to sit out last year after transferring.And they played a big role in the win.

“Keely (Couch) has been playing that way off the bench for three or four weeks now,” Jenson said, “and she’s just gotten better and better. That was big for us, her off the bench. Honestly, that changed the game right there.

“Everybody contributed tonight and we got the defensive stop on defense. And tonight, it worked for us.”

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Buffalo Valley 63, Varnum 29

Raelea Johnson ran the floor looking for another score.

Johnson took the bounce pass in stride and then laid the ball up through contact.

As the shot fell through the cylinder and the whistle blew for a foul, Johnson clapped her hands emphatically with her teammates. She converted the and-1 and Buffalo Valley’s run extended.

Buffalo Valley went on several runs to help catapult the Buffaloes to a 63-29 win over Varnum to advance to the state semifinals for the first time in school history. Buffalo Valley was 0-4 in its four state tournament appearances in 1967, 1996, 1997 and 2014.

“These young women made a breakthrough and got a first win in the state tournament,” Buffalo Valley coach Matt Henry said. “I can’t describe the feeling right now.”

Buffalo Valley opened the game on a 15-3 run. Varnum made a push in the second quarter bringing the game within nine points. But that’s where Buffalo Valley made its final run. The Buffaloes held Varnum scorers from the 5:13 mark of the second quarter until the three-minute mark of the third. By then, Buffalo Valley’s lead was over 30 points.

“We wanted to just speed that tempo up today,” Henry said, “and chase and the girls came out and did a phenomenal job at staying in front of their man. We didn’t have to slide over and help a ton today. We forced a lot of contested shots and did a good job on the backside on the rebound and forced a lot of turnovers.”

In the win, Buffalo Valley forced Varnum into 26 turnovers.

Buffalo Valley’s Mykayla Hayes led all scorers with 18 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Raelea Johnson, who had 17 points of her own.

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Lomega 78, Calvin 55

Darcy Roberts wasn’t going to let anything alter her shot.

The senior guard from Lomega had already knocked down a pair of 3-pointer in the contest. So, when she saw an opening, she let it fly one more.

The ball fell through the net and Roberts clapped her hands and smiled. It was happening again. Lomega was making its inevitable run.

With a dominant third quarter, Lomega took down Calvin 78-55 to once again advance to the state semifinals. Roberts made four 3-pointers in the contest to turn in 27 points.

It was a battle of two of the best scorers in Class B with Calvin’s E’Niyah Holmes and Lomega’s Roberts taking the floor. The pair did not disappoint individually. Holmes, who averages 25.0 points per game, turned in 19 while Roberts, who averages 17.0 had one of her best games of the season.

In the first half, Calvin was doing what most teams have historically not been able to do against Lomega and that was to survive Lomega’s full-court press. It resulted in just a six-point halftime deficit as freshmen E’Niyah and Eryanna Holmes were making shot after shot, combining for 25 of Calvin’s 33 first-half points.

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But Lomega (28-2) adjusted at halftime and its pressure defense suddenly looked like the days of past. Lomega allowed just five third-quarter points. The run knocked off all the momentum Calvin (23-9) had gained in the first half and Lomega coasted to a victory.

Following E'Niyah,Eryanna Holmes scored 16 points and Mena Harrison turned in 15. It just wasn’t enough to overcome Roberts and Lomega.

Roberts was followed in scoring by Abby Swart, who had 24 and Sydni Walker, who had 12.

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Hammon 82, Leedey 23

Justice Espinosa drove to the lane with options.

Espinosa the guard from Hammon, had 6-foot-4 forward Henley West standing in the paint, but she also had sharpshooter Harlee Benkley behind the 3-point line. Both stars had it going, but Espinosa chose the sharpshooter.

She flung the pass to Benkley, who fired another 3-pointer that fell through the cylinder to extend Hammon’s lead.It was just one of her five made 3-pointers on the night.

Hammon routed Leedey 82-23 to advance to the state semifinals for the second consecutive season.

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Hammon got off to an 8-0 lead to start the game and the rest of the shooting barrage snowballed from there. Hammon entered halftime with three scorers in double figures, West, Benkley and Mariah Espinosa.

Benkley finished the game as the leading scorer with 21 points while West followed with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Mariah also turned in 13 points alongside Quinby Rainey, who had 12.

Defensively, Hammon (23-5) held all Leedey (20-12) scores to single digits.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSSAA Class B girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal scores