5A: Memorial wins boys over No. 1 OKC McGuinness, Deer Creek wins girls title
BY BARRY LEWIS and World Sports Writers
Saturday, March 09, 2013
3/09/13 at 8:35 PM
Devin Perez had 18 points and Demari Edwards scored 15 to lead second-ranked Memorial past No. 1 Oklahoma City McGuinness 59-42 in the Class 5A boys state championship basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Mabee Center.
The Chargers (23-5) won their third state title in the past 11 seasons.
David Love and Stephen Amalong led defending champion McGuinness (24-5) with 13 points each.
Memorial led 24-17 at halftime and McGuinness didn't get any closer during the second half.
Memorial outrebounded McGuinness 42-30. A.J. Cockrell had 12 rebounds for Memorial and Will Lienhard had 13 for the Fighting Irish.
5A girls: Edmond Deer Creek 59, Shawnee 44
Oklahoma has a new Class 5A girls basketball champion.
Ashley Gibson, Bayli Blanchard and Dakota Vann combined for 51 points and 20 rebounds as second-ranked Deer Creek dethroned No. 1 Shawnee 59-44 in Saturday’s 5A final at the Mabee Center before about 4,000 spectators.
Deer Creek (27-2) used hot shooting to build a 41-27 lead in the third quarter. For the game, the Antlers shot 55 percent (17-for-31).
Shawnee (26-3) rallied to within 46-43 with 1:59 left, but couldn’t get closer as Deer Creek cleaned up at the foul line. The Antlers went 13-for-14 on free throws over the final 1:41 and finished 23-for-26 for the game.
Deer Creek avenged a 65-51 loss at Shawnee on Dec. 11 in annexing their third gold ball. The Antlers’ previous titles were in 2006 and 1996.
Gibson totaled 21 points, three rebounds and three steals. Blanchard had 16 points and eight rebounds and Vann had 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Alexa Adair had five assists.
Bailey Taylor scored 19 and Micaela Yu had 12 to pace the Wolves, who defeated Tulsa East Central in last year’s final.
