Lomega girls take state; miracle comeback puts Goldbugs in state; CHS, HHS fall

Mar. 7—OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lomega girls capped off a perfect season and defended their title on Saturday night in a 67-60 win over Kiowa in the Class B girls state championship at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds.

The win gives Lomega a record 14 girls basketball state championships and seven for head coach Kevin Lewallen.

The Lady Raiders were tied 32-32 going into the break after shooting just 37% from the field while allowing the Cowgirls to knock down 46% of their attempts.

"This is a great group of kids," Lewallen said after the game, "They've worked their butts off this year just to get here to play. They had two goals in mind when we started this season. They wanted to go undefeated this season and they wanted to go back-to-back, and we did them both."

Sophomore point guard Darcy Roberts stepped up big for the Lady Raiders, knocking down nine of 16 from the field and three of five from the three point line to finish with a game-high 24 points and four rebounds.

"She kind of makes us go, she makes the game easier for everybody else," Lewallen said.

Senior forward Emma Duffy added 18 points and was three of seven from deep. The team's other senior, Ady Wilson, also made an impact in her 32 minutes of action. She scored six points and had six assists to go along with four rebounds.

"They've had great careers," Lewallen said of his senior class. "Probably as good as anyone I've coached in a while."

ALVA 53,

METRO CHRISTIAN 51 (B)

HENNESSEY — Alva came back from a 25-5 deficit to beat Metro Christian, 53-51 in the Class 3A Area I losers bracket finals at Hennessey High School Saturday.

The Goldbugs scored the game's final 13 points to finish off one of the most memorable comebacks in both school and area history. Jackson Feely led the attack with 21 points.

"Unbelievable," said Alva coach Shane Feely. "We played so pitiful in the first quarter, I was thinking there was no way we could come back, but we kept chipping away. There was an avalanche of points in the fourth quarter."

Kyler Penco scored a layup with 27 seconds left to put Alva up 52-51. Brady Cox missed a layup for Metro Christian on the next possession. Austin Reed was fouled with 12.4 seconds left. He made the first but missed the second.

"We switched up things a lot," said coach Feely about the fourth quarter which saw Alva outscore the Patriots, 25-7. "We did not let them get in a groove. The big thing was we kept rebounding. That was humongous. We played physical enough to hold on."

Feely had eight points in the final period. Kyler Penco had all of his eight points in the final eight minutes, including two threes. Reed had all of his five points in the fourth quarter. Freshman Dylan Malone had eight points overall.

"I don't think we have ever come back this far ... just unbelievable," coach Feely said.

Alva led only once in the first half — 1-0. Metro Christian answered that run with a 25-4 run to go up 25-5. Alva did cut that lead to 31-18 at halftime but trailed 44-28 after three periods after Cox hit a late three.

"This group has played hard all year," Feely said. "They have done whatever we have asked of them. They didn't pout when they got behind. They kept digging and rebounding and taking it to the rim."

Alva is in the state tournament for the first time since 2006 — a big turnaround from last year's 6-20 season.

"I saw a lot of depressed faces last year," said coach Feely. "This group has earned it. They deserve to be down there. We understand this is not the state championship yet. If you're good enough to get there, you are good enough to win it. We're enjoying our time together on the bus right now. It was pure joy when the horn went off."

PERRY 48, CHISHOLM 39 (G)

HENNESSEY — Perry's defense shut Chisholm's girls down the final two and a half quarters as the Lady Maroons defeated the Lady Longhorns, 48-39 in the Class 3A Area I losers bracket finals Saturday at Hennessey High School.

Perry (21-5) punched its ticket to the state tournament for only the third time in school history. Chisholm (12-9) was seeking its first trip since 2016.

The Lady Longhorns led 19-10 midway through the second period, only to see the Lady Maroons end the half on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 19-19. Chisholm senior Courtney Petersen, who had 14 points, sat out the final four minutes after drawing her third foul.

The Lady Longhorns' offensive problems would continue in the second half, being outscored 14-7 in the third period and 15-13 in the fourth. Petersen didn't score again until she hit a three with 1:57 left to make it 41-33. Petersen would foul out with 1:14 remaining.

"They couldn't stop her early, but after I had to take her out, she was worried about picking up more fouls and stuff," said Chisholm head coach Tana Gragg. "They were definitely keying on her. She was settling on outside shots instead of attacking the rim which is her game."

Alice Watkins, who had 11 points, connected on a trey to make it 45-39 with less than a minute remaining, but Josey West would hit three free throws to put the game away.

Sophomore Maebry Shields led Perry with 13 points while Braylee Dale had 11, nine of which came in the second half.

Dale gave Perry the lead for good, 25-23 with an old-fashioned three-point play. Dale scored a layup at the end of the quarter to make it 33-26.

Chisholm couldn't get any closer than five points (33-28 after a layup by Brinidy Wilson to open the fourth quarter scoring) in the final period.

Regi Pasby, who had 22 points in a loss to Kellyville Friday, could manage only a free throw Saturday.

"These girls fought through a lot of tough times this year," Gragg said. "I was extremely proud of the four seniors that started tonight (Petersen, Pasby, Wilson and Gracie Holder). They made their mark here. They made their teammates better and made me a better coach. I was glad to be a part of their lives.

"Perry is well-coached (by former Enid boys coach Paul Duncan). If we had to lose to somebody, I was glad it was them. We wish them the best of luck at state and hope they represent Northwest Oklahoma well at the Big House (State Fair Arena)."

MORRISON 45, HENNESSEY 38 (B)

Gabe Battles (15) and Brody Rowe (13) combined for 28 points as Morrison defeated Hennessey's boys, 45-38 in the losers bracket finals of the Class 2A Area I losers bracket finals Saturday at Stride Bank Center.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead, which Hennessey could not recover from.

Jael Torres had 15 points for the Eagles while Cristian Rodriguez had 12. Juan Dominquez, trying to play through a back injury, was limited to two points.

"Juan gave everything he had," said Eagles coach Brady Page. "This was not the way we pictured it. Things just didn't go our way. Anytime we made a push, Morrison made one of their own. We missed a couple of easy layups. Those are the little things that will get you beat in the big games."

Hennessey finished with a 13-6 record.

Campbell is a former sports writer and current part-time writer for the News & Eagle, enidnews@enidnews.com.

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