Prep basketball: Fort Gibson-Anadarko has had classic history
Mar. 4—Some things have changed, but when Fort Gibson and Anadarko meet in the Class 4A Area III girls championship game at 6 p.m. Friday night at Shawnee High School, it's one that will bring back some big-time championship memories.
For starters, it's a championship not at the summit — although depending on outcomes from this point forward, that could be added next week. The loser of Friday's game gets a back-door opportunity at state in the consolation championship on Saturday.
Unlike the first two matchups, Anadarko is the higher-rated team. Fort Gibson (18-2) is No. 5. Anadarko (21-2) is No. 2.
Jeff Zinn is still the Anadarko coach. Chuck London, on staff in both games, now directs Fort Gibson.
"It's two programs that mirror each other's success. Two tremendous programs, I'd call both bluebloods," London said after his Lady Tigers beat Bridge Creek on Saturday to advance to Friday's game.
The two haven't met since the last of two state finals. Accounts, from the Phoenix stories of both games, follow.
March 10, 2012:
High noon gunslingers
Fort Gibson and Anadarko came in 28-1, and even stayed at the same hotel during the state tournament.
Fort Gibson, having won its first state title defeating Cache the year before, had been No. 1 throughout the year. Anadarko was in their direct shadow, one spot down.
"We've been No. 2 all year and we finally get to use that card where we can say 'hey, we're the underdog. Let's go get them,'" Anadarko coach Jeff Zinn said. "I finally get to push it to Jerry and say it's all on you now."
Jerry, as in Walker, who London then served as assistant.
"I'm not worried about it. We've handled different kinds of pressure already. Last year it came from people telling us we hadn't played anybody and we weren't very good even though we were undefeated, and they were going to be the ones to show it. We kept playing, kept playing and no one ever showed us. This year, everyone's come at us with their best shot and so far, we've held up. Pressure is really nothing new for us."
In a high noon battle before 7,800 at the Big House, Anadarko had more bullets in the chamber, winning 46-39.
It was a physical game throughout. Anadarko junior Kylie Parker dislocated a finger and stayed in the game, scoring 10 second-half points, including a couple of costly 3s.
Jodi Glover and Taylor London's quick 3s cut Anadarko's lead to 42-39 with 1:17 left.
A quick timeout by Zinn steadied his team for the final run.
Up to that point, Fort Gibson was 3-of-12 from beyond the arc and finished 5-of-16. They were 13-of-46 (28 percent) overall against a hard man-to-man attack.
"Our plan was to take it to them inside and draw some fouls," said Fort Gibson senior Kirby Parnell, who didn't hesitate in a show of championship character when she pointed out her own culpability. "We missed a few, I missed a few, we didn't get the fouls, and they controlled the tempo."
Added Walker: "We just didn't shoot well. Defensively they just kept us from getting the ball and when we did, we didn't hit it."
And...
"These seniors have gone 104-9 in four years and the last two years you were 56-2 and the only teams that beat you is a state champion and one of two 5A teams who were playing for one the same day," Walker said.
March 15, 2014:
R'Allie Cats
She tried.
A re-enactment of her state tournament heroism would have been enjoyed by the 250 or so supporters of Fort Gibson's repeat Class 4A state champions gathered later that March to celebrate that fact.
It was Glover's 27-foot jump shot —an NBA-range 3-pointer — with 3.2 seconds to play that gave the Lady Tigers the 50-47 win against Anadarko, capping a rally from 16 points down. In the comforts of Harrison Field House, and in preparation the night before those assembled arrived, she tried.
"I air-balled," she said.
She hit the one that counted, though. And it's a moment that's been preserved as a dead-time clip during state tournament weekends ever since on the Big House scoreboard.
Again Fort Gibson was No. 1, coming to Oklahoma City as defending champs. Anadarko beat Mount St. Mary in one semifinal, which prevented a rematch of the 2013 title matchup.
The Lady Tigers trailed by two points at the end of the first quarter, 9-7, but allowed the Lady Warriors to convert seven of the 11 shots in the second quarter and trailed 27-15 at halftime.
"Coach Walker is always telling us the score doesn't matter at halftime," said Savannah Gray, the lone senior on the squad. "If we're up by 20 or down by 20, it doesn't matter. We just have to come out and play our game with rebounds and not giving them second shots. That was the problem in the first half. Anadarko got a lot of 3s off of second shots."
The third quarter saw Fort Gibson tread water as Anadarko (26-5) matched the Lady Tigers point for point until the 5:24 mark of the quarter. That's when the Lady Warriors went on a 7-2 run to grab a 39-23 lead with :32.1 left in the quarter, their largest lead of the game. Gray drained a 3 just before the end of the quarter to cut it to 13.
Isabelle Hubbert made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 10 with 6:19 left. After Tandra King made the score 42-30 with a jumper in the lane eight seconds later, the comeback started in earnest.
Gray came down the floor and hit on a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 42-33 and made two free throws on Fort Gibson's next possession to make the score 42-35.
The key play of the comeback occurred when Fort Gibson's Grace Parker got her hands on a pass and drove the length of the floor for a layup while being fouled. After making her free-throw attempt, the score was 42-38.
That's when Glover and Desiree Phipps went to work.
Glover made two free throws and hit her first 3 of the game with 2:17 left to make it a three-point deficit at 44-41. After a Lady Warriors' turnover, Phipps, who led Fort Gibson with 17 points, made back-to-back jumpers in the lane to give the Lady Tigers only their second lead of the game at 45-44 with 1:24 left on the clock.
The two teams traded leads just once more with Fort Gibson earning the last lead change on another Phipps jumper from the free-throw line for a 47-46 advantage with 36.7 seconds left.
Anadarko's Kelsey Schumpert tied the score at 47-47 by making her second of two free-throw attempts and setting up Glover's heroics.
"This is the best feeling ever," Glover said of her heroics. "I'm just so excited. We worked for it and we deserve it."
----And now, another chapter. A little smaller venue, but certainly one that will add to a legacy.
