Stigler rises above Ada girls

Jeff Cali, The Ada News, Okla.
·4 min read

Feb. 24—The Ada High girls basketball team sputtered at times offensively, got into early foul trouble and had too many turnovers.

It was everything a team can't get away with most times in the playoffs.

Stigler made the Lady Cougars pay for those calamities in a 59-50 win over Ada in a Class 4A District championship contest Monday night inside the Cougar Activity Center.

The Lady Panthers improved to 13-5 and advanced in the winner's bracket. Meanwhile, No. 13 Ada fell to 14-6 and now needs to reel off six straight wins to earn a trip to the Class 4A State Tournament.

The Lady Cougars will meet the Blanchard-Madill loser at 1 p.m. Thursday in a Class 4A Regional Tournament consolation game back inside the Cougar Activity Center.

"Stigler played their tails off. You have to give them credit," Ada head coach Christie Jennings said. "We have to have a short memory. We have to find a way to bounce back."

Stigler stayed one step ahead of the Lady Cougars throughout the first half. Ada had just one lead — 12-11 after a putback by Shayla Wofford late in the first quarter.

The Lady Panthers scored the next five points and retained their lead over the first two frames. Stigler outscored Ada 17-10 in the second period and led 30-22 at halftime.

Ada junior playmaker Amaya Frizell was whistled for her second foul just 1:27 into the game and sat on the bench the rest of the first half.

Stigler's Saylee Smith hit the first basket of the second half to put Ada in a double-digit hole at 32-22.

The Lady Cougars finally mustered up some juju and engineered a 14-4 run to climb back into the game. During that stretch, senior Landyn Owens hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Ada and hit a game-tying jumper that forced Stigler head coach Ron McGuire to call a timeout with 2:29 left in the third period and the score knotted at 36-36.

However, the Lady Panthers scored the next 10 points — the last two of the third period and the first eight of the fourth frame — to build a 46-36 lead with 5:33 to play and Ada never recovered.

Owens sank four straight free throws — two following a technical foul on a Stigler assistant coach after Owens drew a charge that he didn't agree with — to get Ada within 46-40 but the Lady Cougars didn't get any closer.

Owens led all scorers with 19 points before fouling out late in the contest. Wofford finished with a double-double that included 14 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Makaviya Nelson hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored seven points off the bench for Ada, while Frizell scored just six points in her limited playing time.

Sayle Smith led the Stigler charge with 18 points to go with four rebounds and four steals. Chloee Smith followed with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the visitors. Madison Needham also hit double figured with 14 points.

Ada committed 21 turnovers compared to 14 for Stigler. The Lady Cougars finished 10-of-15 from the free-throw line, while the Lady Panthers sank 16-of-24 tries.

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By The Numbers

Monday, Feb. 22

CLASS 4A DISTRICT

Championship

At Ada

Stigler 59, Ada 50

STIGLER 13 17 8 21 — 59

ADA 12 10 14 14 — 50

STIGLER: Saylee Smith 6-14, 4-5, 18; Chloee Smith 3-6, 9-11, 16; Madison Needham 6-17, 0-0, 14; Hiahni Howard 3-5, 1-4, 7; Ralee Parker 1-9, 2-4, 4. Totals: 19-53, 16-24, 59.

ADA: Landyn Owens 6-12, 5-6, 19; Shayla Wofford 6-11, 2-5, 14; Makaviya Nelson 2-10, 1-2, 7; Amaya Frizell 2-9, 2-2, 6; Alexus Hamilton 2-4, 0-0, 4. Totals: 18-59, 10-15, 50.

Turnovers: Stigler 14, Ada 21.

Steals: Stigler 10 (S. Smith 4); Ada 6.

Rebounds: Stigler 39 (C. Smith 12); Ada 45 (Wofford 14).

3-point goals: Stigler 5-20 (S. Smith 2-7, Needham 2-10, C. Smith 1-2); Ada 4-17 (M. Nelson 2-5, Owens 2-5).

Fouled out: Owens (A).