Juwan Parker carries Booker T. Washington to 6A state tournament bid
BY BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer
Sunday, March 03, 2013
3/03/13 at 7:06 AM
CATOOSA - Booker T. Washington senior standout Juwan Parker was not going to be denied again his third trip to the state tournament.
Parker had 23 points and 10 rebounds to propel the 17th-ranked Hornets past No. 5 Jenks 55-39 in a Class 6A area consolation final on Saturday night at the Catoosa Indians Activity Center.
"It's a great feeling to get back to the state tournament, especially after everything we had to go through this year," said Parker, a University of Georgia signee. "This (trip to the state tournament) is better than the first two. The journey was full of adversity."
The Hornets, who lost their first three games this season, reached the state tournament that starts Thursday in Tulsa through the area consolation final with the same record (17-9) just as they did when they won the 5A gold ball in Parker's freshman year. Last season, the Hornets had their bid to win a state title for the third consecutive year end with two losses in the area tournament.
"That feeling a year ago was one of pain," Parker said. "I didn't want to go through that again. That hurt my heart so bad last year, especially after the way we lost in triple overtime to (state champion) Union and not having any gas against Bixby.
"After we lost to Owasso (in the regional final) I let our guys know we could still make it through the losers bracket and we capitalized on that opportunity."
Jacob Seidel had a team-high 11 points before fouling out for Jenks (19-7), which lost in the area consolation final for the second year in a row after six straight trips to the state tournament.
The Trojans jumped out to a 12-6 lead but could only score 10 points in the middle two quarters.
"We had a lot of guys pay attention to detail on the defensive end, and the bottom line was after we got them to miss shots we got rebounds, and that really sealed the deal for us," Hornets coach Joe Redmond said.
Midway through the first half, the Hornets gained control of the game with a 10-0 run for a 16-12 lead. Parker, who was 10 of 15 from the field, made a tightly contested jumper to end the half to give the Hornets a 24-15 advantage.
Jenks never got closer than seven points in the second half. The Hornets increased their lead to 34-19 late in the third period before the Trojans went on a 12-4 run that cut their deficit to 38-31 with 5:33 left.
Parker, however, responded with the next two baskets and the Hornets were on their way to the state tournament.
B.T. WASHINGTON 55, JENKS 39
| Jenks |
12 |
3 |
7 |
17 |
- |
39 |
| B.T. Washington |
8 |
16 |
11 |
20 |
- |
55 |
Jenks (19-8): Seidel 11, Jones 9, S.Parker 6, Phillips 6, Washington 3, Clark 2, Thiessen 2.
B.T. Washington (17-9): J.Parker 23, Miller 8, Bitson 8, Clark 6, Sims 5, Tease 5.
Original Print Headline: Parker carries BTW to state
Barry Lewis 918-581-8393
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Jenks' Jacob Seidel attempts to keep up with Booker T. Washington's Juwan Parker in Saturday night's Class 6A basketball playoff game in Catoosa. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
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