High school boys roundup: Surging Victory cruise past Vinita
BY Staff Reports
Friday, February 22, 2013
2/22/13 at 5:47 AM
CATOOSA - Victory Christian never trailed en route to a 58-41 victory over Vinita in a Class 4A regional winners bracket game at the Catoosa Indians Activity Center on Thursday night.
The third-ranked Conquerors (23-2), the 3A state runner-up last year, have won 19 of their last 20, with the only loss coming against 6A No. 4 Owasso.
"The kids have worked extremely hard in the move from 3A to 4A," Victory Christian coach Ryan Wakley said.
Victory Christian outscored the Hornets 17-5 in the second quarter to take a 31-13 halftime lead. The Conquerors went on a 12-0 run to end the first half.
Chris Crawford led Victory Christian with 17 points, including 13 in the first half.
"He's one of the top sophomores around in the city of Tulsa and he's just getting better and better," Wakley said.
Garret Maxey and Phillip Willis had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Vinita (17-7).
Victory advances to the regional title game against Miami at 8 p.m. Saturday at Catoosa. Vinita will face Cushing in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Friday at Catoosa.
- Michael Knight, World Correspondent
Mannford 70, Catoosa 46: Luke Garner scored a career-high 30 points to lead Mannford in a 4A regional losers bracket game at Catoosa.
Garner, a 6-foot guard, averages 14 and his previous best was 26 points. He had five treys.
"Luke was terrific," Mannford coach Mike Banfield said. "He showed senior leadership."
Mannford (11-13), which advances to play Cleveland at 8 p.m. Friday at Catoosa, scored the first eight points and was never caught.
"It was real important," Garner said about his team starting quickly as he had seven points in the first quarter to help Mannford take a 20-9 lead.
Catoosa (10-14) went on an 8-0 run early in the second quarter to cut its deficit to 24-17 but never got any closer as Bryce Hoggatt's 3-pointer keyed Mannford's 12-7 surge to end the half.
"Our team has gotten tougher," Banfield said. "We have been up and down through the year and we were able to overcome a little adversity today."
Garner sealed the win for the Pirates with 13 points in the fourth quarter. Colbey Madewell paced the Indians with 15 points, including three treys.
McLain 66, OKC St. Mary 60: Nick Foster had 18 points and Bishop Louie scored 14 to lead the eighth-ranked Titans (13-9) past the Rockets (11-14) in a 4A winners bracket regional at Bristow.
Mak Corder scored 22 points, including five treys in the fourth period, for St. Mary.
McLain advances to play Oklahoma City Heritage Hall in a regional final at 8 p.m. Saturday at Bethany.
Webster 78, Glenpool 49: Anthony Wilson had 21 points to lead the host Warriors (12-13) in a 4A regional losers bracket game. Webster will host Friday's Berryhill-Blackwell loser at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Sperry 59, Eufaula 47: Casey Cole scored 17 and Blake Teel added 16 points to power the fifth-ranked Pirates (21-3) over the Ironheads (13-11).
Sperry advances to play Keys in a regional title game at 8 p.m. Saturday at Adair.
Henryetta 50, Okmulgee 46: Chet Caywood scored 19 points to lead the seventh-ranked Knights (21-4) past the host Bulldogs (10-13) in a 3A regional winners bracket game. Henryetta advances to a regional final at 8 p.m. Saturday at Okmulgee.
Ketchum 51, Kiefer 44: Jeylyn Sharpe scored 21 points to help the second-ranked Warriors (24-0) outlast the Trojans (19-5) in a 2A regional winners bracket game at Foyil. Ketchum will play Tonkawa in the regional final at 8 p.m. Saturday at Rogers. Kiefer will face Summit Christian in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Friday at Rogers.
Original Print Headline: Surging Victory boys cruise past Vinita
World Sports Writer Barry Lewis contributed to this story.
