Allen teams roll to titles at inaugural Mustang Winter Classic
Jan. 24—ALLEN — The Allen High School boys and girls basketball teams made it look easy on the way to a pair of championships in the inaugural Mustang Winter Classic.
The Mustangs overwhelmed a one-loss Wilson club in a 56-29 victory Saturday night in the boys championship contest. Allen had walloped Weleetka 64-29 in a Friday night semifinal game.
Coach Greg Mills' team, ranked No. 9 in Class A, improved to 14-2 and is currently riding an eight-game winning streak. Runner-up Wilson dropped to 17-2 and Weleetka, which lost to Stratford in Saturday's third-place game, left at 9-7.
The Allen girls were equally impressive, blitzing Wewoka 59-30 in Saturday night's championship matchup. The Lady Mustang sank Strother 54-34 in their semifinal contest on Friday.
Coach Dottie Slabaugh's bunch, ranked No. 16 in Class A, improved to 13-3 on the year. Wewoka is now 9-9 and Class A No. 15 Strother — who fell to Stratford 49-42 in the tournament's third-place contest — is now 11-5.
The Stratford boys, No. 14 in Class 2A, are now 11-6 on the year while the 16th-ranked Lady Bulldogs are 13-4.
Both Allen teams travel to Stuart tonight while Stratford is at Wynnewood.
BOYS
Saturday, Jan. 21
Championship
Allen 56, Wilson 29
The Mustangs put on a defensive clinic in the first half and Wilson never recovered.
Allen jumped out to a 16-1 lead after Tagus Howard hit a jumper at the 5:41 mark of the second quarter.
Garrett Nix got a nice dish from teammate Brayden Tatum and sank a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the second period that put Allen ahead 29-4 at halftime.
Wilson missed its first eight field goals of the game and went 1-for-14 through the first two quarters.
Meanwhile, Allen sank 12-of-21 shots in the first half, including a 5-of-9 clip from 3-point range.
"We played well tonight. Our defense has been getting a lot better. It's kind of been carrying us because we've kind of been a little sporadic offensively," Mills said. "But tonight we shot the ball well too. I'm proud of the kids. They've worked hard for it."
The Eagles outscored Allen 16-11 in the third quarter but Allen finished the game on a 16-9 run.
Mills hopes his team can crack the Top 8 in this week's Class A rankings after back-to-back tournament championships. Allen won the Stringtown Event Center Shootout earlier this month.
"We're hoping this will help us get off that No. 9 into the Top 8," he said.
Tatum led the Allen offense with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. He sank one 3-pointer and also had five rebounds and three steals.
Nix was next with 15 points for the hosts, including a 3-of-6 effort from beyond the arc.
Sedrick Lindey also reached double figures with 10 points and made his first five field goal attempts.
Easton Ledo hit two 3-pointers and scored six points for the Mustangs, while Bodee Garrett also nabbed a triple.
Wilson got a team-high 10 points from Jake Schiralli, including a pair of 3-pointers. Jordan Park added eight points and also made two 3-point shots and grabbed five rebounds.
3rd Place
Stratford 61, Weleetka 34
Weleetka held an early 12-10 advantage but Stratford responded by using identical 18-7 runs in both the second and third quarters to take control at 46-26.
"I thought we bounced back in a positive way after a disappointing performance on Friday," said Stratford boys coach Ray Ardery.
Walker Chandler scored 24 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Sean Harian also reached double figures with 10 points and also had eight rebounds and three steals.
Hunter Morton followed with nine points and eight more boards.
Nolan Hall's stat line included five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Morton and Jaden Alberson both hit 3-pointers for the Bulldogs.
No Weleetka player reached double figures. Isaac Drake finished with nine points for the Outlaws, while Terran Pitts was next with six.
Friday, Jan. 20
Semifinals
Allen 64, Weleetka 29
The Mustangs again got off to a hot start, bolting to leads of 10-0 and 28-9. Garrett Nix capped the opening salvo with two free throws followed by a 3-pointer that came after a steal by Keithon Howard.
Allen led 34-16 at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, Braydon Tatum converted a 3-point play to put the home team on top 43-20.
Tatum and Nix both scored 18 to lead the AHS onslaught. Nix hit a pair of 3-pointers and made both of his free throws. Tatum made one basket from long range and finished 3-for-3 from the line.
Freshman Kayd Bell scored six points. Coyt Bell, Bodee Garrett and Howard both hit one 3-pointer apiece.
Terran Pitts scored eight points, including two 3-point baskets, to pace the Outlaws. Isaiah Drake followed with seven points and made one trey.
Wilson 49, Stratford 38
Wilson used a 15-6 surge in the second quarter and led 21-13 at halftime and Stratford found itself playing catchup the rest of the way.
The Eagles led 31-20 after three quarters.
Stratford got within 39-34 on a drive to the basket by Walker Chandler with 2:27 left in the game but could get no closer.
Chandler finished with 10 points to pace the Bulldog offense but had just two points through the first three quarters. Sean Harian followed with nine points. Nolan Hall finished with five points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Wilson standout Jake Schiralli scored a game-high 24 points. He sank one 3-pointer and finished 9-of-11 from the free-throw line, including a 7-of-8 showing in the fourth quarter.
Collin Wharton also reached double figures with 10 points for the Eagles.
Wilson connected on 17-of-21 free throws overall compared to a 4-of-10 showing by Stratford.
GIRLS
Saturday, Jan. 21
Championship
Allen 49, Wewoka 30
The Lady Mustangs had a hard time getting shots to fall early on and after Wewoka's Shaniece Stephens hit a 3-pointer to end the first quarter, the Lady Tigers led 14-7.
Allen turned things around in the second quarter and after a fast-break bucket by Addison Prentice at the 1:04 mark of the second quarter, the game was knotted at 18-18.
Prentice then drilled a 3-pointer on an inbounds play with three seconds left that put the Lady Mustangs ahead 21-19 at halftime.
Allen took control in the third quarter and used an 18-4 surge to extend its advantage to 39-23.
"It was a physical, physical game. Maybe that kind of shocked us for a minute but we came back and handled it pretty well," Slabaugh said. "Our offense kind of came around."
Allen started feeding post player Brooklyn Sanders in the post and she ate, finishing with a game-high 22 points for the hosts. Prentice was next for the Lady Mustangs with nine points.
Stoney Cully followed with seven points, while Cherish Woodward chipped in six. Both Cully and Kaylee Davis made one 3-point shot each.
Autumn Sipes-Louie led Wewoka with 12 points and finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Timber Carter and Stephens both scored six points for the Lady Tigers.
Slabaugh hopes her squad's second tournament title in as many weeks will propel them into the stretch run before the playoffs.
"We had a good three days. We didn't win a tournament last year. This season we were runner-up in the conference tournament and we've won these last two. That's really important because now we have the really big tournaments to win," she said. "Hopefully we've built that confidence and it will really help us in February when we need it."
3rd Place
Stratford 49, Strother 42
Freshman center Jaelee Korzan clogged up the paint to the tune of 24 points and 11 rebounds to help the Lady Bulldogs push past Strother.
Korzan came up big in the clutch, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter. She made 7-of-8 free throws in the contest.
After a tight first half with saw the Lady Yellowjackets carry a slim 26-25 lead into halftime, Stratford used a 13-4 run in the third period to grab a 39-30 advantage.
Strother made a late run to keep the game close but couldn't complete the comeback.
Morgan Boys followed with seven points for the Lady Bulldogs, while Lundyn Anderson buried a pair of 3-pointers for six points.
McKenzy Gillespie led the SHS squad with 11 points, including a fourth-quarter 3-pointer. Chloe Gurley also hit double figures with 10 points and made two 3-point shots.
Friday, Jan. 20
Semifinals
Allen 54, Strother 34
Allen freshman Cherish Woodward was relentless for the Lady Mustangs. She finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds and was also disruptive on the defensive end with six steals.
Allen led just 14-13 after the first quarter but used a key 11-0 volley late in the second period to take control.
The Lady Yellowjackets trailed 20-18 with just over three minutes left in the second quarter before Allen's pivotal run. That surge was started by a conventional three-point play from Stoney Cully and included back-to-back baskets inside by Kaylee Davis and Brooklyn Sanders and a layup following a steal and assist by Woodward.
Cully's jumper with 22 seconds left pushed the AHS lead to 31-18.
Allen limited Strother to just four points in the third quarter. Woodward scored nine points in an 11-2 run that ended the third period with the hosts on top 44-24 heading into the final frame.
Cully and Davis both finished with 11 points for Allen. Cully added five rebounds and five steals, while Davis sank three 3-point shots.
Addison Prentice scored eight points off the bench for the home team.
Mailys Delsol led the Lady Yellowjackets with 11 points before fouling out. She also had six rebounds. Betty Sebelova was next with seven points.
Wewoka 52, Stratford 47
The Lady Bulldogs struggled shooting the ball from close range in the tough loss.
The Lady Tigers led 15-14 after one period before Stratford got 3-pointers from Lundyn Anderson, Trinity Bess and Morgan Boyles in a 13-6 SHS run in the second quarter and the Lady Bulldogs led 27-21 at the break.
Stratford had a bit of a hard time slowing Wewoka down in the second half. The Lady Tigers outscored the locals 32-20 over the final 16 minutes to rally for the victory.
Stratford saw three players reach double figures.
Morgan Boyles and Jaelee Korzan both had 13 points each to lead the Stratford offense. Boyles sank a pair of 3-point baskets.
Bess drilled three 3-point shots and scored 11 points for the Lady Bulldogs, while Lundyn Anderson just missed double digits with nine points on the strength of three first-half 3-point buckets.
Autumn Sipes-Louie erupted for a game-high 24 points for Wewoka. She finished 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. Jhaivyn Patton just missed double digits with nine points, all in the second half. She made one 3-point shot.
