HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Day 2 of the state tournament

BY Staff Reports
Friday, March 09, 2012
3/10/12 at 1:07 AM

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Related Story: Click here for scores and schedules
Slideshows: See the best images from Thursday's games
Barry Lewis blog: Remembering past state basketball tournaments

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The high school basketball state tournaments for classes 6A through 2A continue Friday in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Enter the chat below to see live tournament updates via Twitter. And come back here for updated stories and photos throughout the day. We’ll also be updating scores on our scoreboard blog.

Class 6A girls semifinals
Edmond Santa Fe 49, Midwest City 46, OT
After recording one field goal in eight minutes, Edmond Santa Fe received a much-needed spark from star Courtney Walker, who propelled the top-ranked Wolves to a 49-46 overtime victory against No. 2 Midwest City.

The defending champions advanced to the finals, where they will face the Sapulpa-Edmond Memorial winner at 1:45 p.m. Saturday at the Mabee Center.

Walker scored 13 of her 23 points in the second half and hit four crucial free throws in overtime.

Midwest City, which lost in last year's title game, ended the season at 27-2. Ashley Clark led the Bombers with 16 points.

Class 6A boys semifinals
Edmond Memorial 54, Edison 47
University of Tulsa signee James Woodard scored 16 points to help rally defending champion Edmond Memorial past Edison 54-47 in the Class 6A state basketball tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon at Mabee Center.

The second-ranked Bulldogs (26-1) advance to play the Union-Edmond Santa Fe winner at 7:45 p.m. Saturday.

Ehron Ponds had 17 points to lead Edison, which led 40-30 after three quarters. Edison's lead was at 42-36 before the Bulldogs reeled off 15 straight points.

Class 5A boys semifinals
East Central 53, Guthrie 49
Kaleb Porter scored 23 points and Stanvon Taylor made 6-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter to lead No. 9 East Central past No. 12 Guthrie 53-49 in the Class 5A state basketball tournament semifinals at Mabee Center on Thursday morning.

East Central (17-10) will play the Midwest City Carl Albert-Oklahoma City McGuinness winner at noon Saturday. The Cardinals are in the title game for the first time since 2007 and are looking for their first state championship.

Guthrie (17-11) led 30-22 at halftime, but the Cardinals scored the first eight points of the second half. Porter's trey at the end of the third period sparked a 9-0 run that gave East Central a 41-35 it didn't relinquish. Taylor clinched the Cardinals' win when he sank two free throws with 4.1 seconds left.

Jerrick Warren paced the Bluejays with 23 points.

OKC McGuinness 64, MWC Carl Albert 48
Joe Edmonds scored 20 points while Matthew Christiansen had 15 points and 12 rebounds to power third-ranked Oklahoma City McGuinness to a 64-48 victory over No. 1 Midwest City Carl Albert in the Class 5A state tournament semifinals on Friday at Mabee Center.

McGuinness (23-5) advances to play No. 9 East Central (17-10) in the title game at noon Saturday.

Edmonds scored 12 in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory for the Fighting Irish, who led 23-19 at halftime and were never caught.

Carlbe Ervin paced the Titans (23-5) with 14 points.

Class 5A girls semifinals
Shawnee 34, Carl Albert 29
Top-ranked Shawnee closed the third quarter with a 7-0 run to distance itself from No. 4 Carl Albert and went on to win 34-29 on Friday morning at the Mabee Center.

The undefeated Wolves advanced to the 5A championship game against the East Central-McAlester winner at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Mabee Center.

University of Tulsa signee Kelsee Grovey led Shawnee with 12 points, and Micaela Yu had 10.

Gioya Carter, who has committed to Oklahoma, scored 10 straight points to give the Titans an early 10-0 lead. She finished with 16 points.

East Central 65, McAlester 37
No. 2 East Central routed 12th-ranked McAlester, but in the process lost leading scorer Bria Pitts to a torn ACL.

Pitts went down with five minutes left in the second quarter and returned after halftime on crutches.

The Cardinals (26-3) still advanced to the 5A championship game for a third straight year. Felecia Achilefu led the team with 21 points and nine rebounds.

Kaleisha Johnson scored 19 points for the Buffaloes (20-8).

Class 4A girls semifinals
Fort Gibson 48, Perkins-Tryon 42
OKLAHOMA CITY - Top-ranked Fort Gibson will get a chance to defend its state title after knocking off No. 7 Perkins-Tryon 48-42 in the Class 4A semifinals Friday morning at Jim Norick State Fair Arena.

The Tigers (28-1) will face second-ranked Anadarko in the championship game at 12:15 Saturday afternoon. The Warriors (28-1) advanced after a 55-43 win over No.3 Vinita.

"We feel this is where this group deserves to go out, no matter what happens tomorrow," said Fort Gibson coach Jerry Walker. "It's a one game deal we feel the pressure is off now."

Julia Hill led the Tigers in scoring for the second consecutive game with 16 points. Jodi Glover battled through some early foul trouble to finish with 11.

Jeri Adkism and Jordan Gorham finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively for the Demons (23-6).

Anadarko 55, Vinita 43
The fifth time was the charm for the Warriors. The Hornets (25-4) had beaten Anadarko the past four seasons, all in the quarterfinals.

Lakota and Ashley Beatty, however, made sure that was not the case this time. Lakota scored 19 points while Ashley had 15.

Kelli Gibson paced Vinita with 19 points. Caitlyn Spurgeon added a double double, 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The Hornets drew even at 37-37 with five minutes to go after Gibson made a 3-pointer. The Warriors, however, scored the next nine points and pulled away from there.

Ashley Beatty had a couple of key buckets and a pair of made free throws during that sequence.

Lakota Beatty then was 6-of-6 at the foul line late to provide an added cushion.

Class 3A girls Prague 47, Sulphur 36 YUKON – Prague played from behind for most of the first half Friday, but shot past Sulphur in the second half for a 47-36 verdict and reach the Class 3A girls state basketball final. No. 2 Prague (27-1) will face the winner of the Kansas-OKC Millwood game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City.

Prague was led by Brooke Watkins’ 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Devils also took advantage of Sulphur’s poor second-half shooting. The Bulldogs (26-2) hit only 3-of-27 field goal attempts.

OKC Millwood 51, Kansas 48
YUKON – No. 1 Kansas trailed Oklahoma City Millwood by nine points with 73 seconds left and nearly pulled off the improbable comeback in the Class 3A girls state tournament semifinals Friday night.

However, Kelsey Barnwell’s 3-point attempt from just outside the line at the top of the key was blocked by Shamyia Johnson and Millwood held on for a 51-48 hard-fought victory before 2,000 in the Yukon Fieldhouse.

The No. 4 Falcons (23-6) advance to the championship against Prague. No. 2 Prague (27-1) defeated Sulphur 47-36 in the other semifinal. The championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Oklahoma City’s State Fair Arena.

Class 2A boys semifinals
OKC Northeast 67, Preston 36
OKLAHOMA CITY — Preston stayed with top-ranked Oklahoma City Northeast for a half but the No. 2 Pirates scored only 11 points in the final two quarters in a 67-36 loss Friday morning in the semifinals of the Class 2A state tournament at State Fair Arena.

Thanks to Chase Leblanc’s 12 first-half points, Preston (26-5) led after one period 12-9 and trailed just 27-25 at halftime.

But the Vikings (23-5) turned up the defensive intensity in the second half, forcing Preston into miscues and poor shooting.

Preston committed six turnovers in the third quarter and managed just four field goals in the second half and only one — a 3-pointer by Leblanc — in the final quarter.

Meanwhile, Northeast found its shooting touch from long range knocking down three, 3-pointers while outscoring the Pirates 22-7 in the third quarter.

That gave the Vikings a comfortable 49-32 advantage heading into the final quarter when Northeast outscored the Pirates 18-4.