Class B boys basketball: Calumet, Fort Cobb-Broxton, Glencoe and Kinta advance

The Class B boys basketball state tournament started Thursday at State Fair Arena. Here's a look at what happened:

More:Carlson: Before chasing Class B basketball title, Fort Cobb rallies behind Willits family

Fort Cobb-Broxton 45, Goodwell 43

Eli Willits secured the pass from Simeon Collins and raced toward the basket.

Top-ranked Fort Cobb-Broxton was tied with Goodwell in the final seconds of a Class B quarterfinal game, so the Mustangs had to give the ball to someone who could handle the pressure.

With an upperclassman-heavy lineup, they turned to the freshman.

Willits maneuvered between a pair of defenders and tossed the ball into the hoop, making the final basket in Fort Cobb-Broxton’s 45-43 victory against Goodwell on Thursday morning at State Fair Arena. The freshman guard provided a spark off the bench with nine points, including the layup that sent the Mustangs into the state semifinals.

“I saw Eli on the move, and that’s something we always like to see,” said Fort Cobb-Broxton coach Scott Hines. “He’s a great athlete and a great finisher around the basket. I saw him go out there, and I (felt) pretty good about our team.”

Fort Cobb-Broxton headed into halftime with a 30-23 lead, but eighth-ranked Goodwell showed the Mustangs they couldn’t get comfortable.

“We just came out a little flat, I thought, in the second half,” Hines said. “We had about four really bad offensive possessions in a row.”

The Eagles (25-4) thundered back, and Ben Schreiner made back-to-back baskets to put Goodwell in front, 43-41, with 4:33 left.

Then Fort Cobb-Broxton (27-1) tightened up on defense as the Eagles passed the ball around the perimeter but couldn’t find open looks. Kray Rogers and Willits each made a free throw to tie the game at 43, setting the stage for Willits’ big moment.

Senior guard Collins kickstarted Fort Cobb-Broxton’s offense, making all of his first four 3-point attempts. Rogers also fueled the energetic beginning. The junior guard finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Victor Ramirez led Goodwell with 12 points, going 4 for 4 from the field and adding three rebounds.

“We’re just fortunate,” Hines said. “It’s a shame somebody had to lose that one.”

More:Carlson: Why Class A basketball title would 'mean more' in Rattan, where baseball is king

Glencoe 52, Roff 43

Jaken Weedn pumped his fist and yelled after draining the 3-pointer.

The Glencoe senior entered Thursday’s quarterfinal game with good memories of facing Roff, and he created more. In a rematch of last season’s Class B finals, the Panthers emerged victorious again, taking down the Tigers in the state quarterfinals, 52-43. Only two wins away from its second straight title, 10th-ranked Glencoe will face Fort Cobb-Broxton in the Friday semifinals.

Although second-ranked Roff kept the Panthers (26-5) on their heels, the defending champions had a solution whenever the Tigers started to claw back.

“You just build on that lead one possession at a time by taking care of the basketball,” said Glencoe coach Jeff Weedn, Jaken’s father. “Had way too many turnovers early. We could have maybe got away from them earlier.”

The Panthers finished with 17 turnovers, but Jaken, the senior guard who made the free throws that secured the championship last season, delivered when it mattered most. He poured in a game-high 23 points Thursday.

Cade Baldridge and Tallen Bagwell led Roff (25-7) with 13 points each, but senior star Bagwell landed in foul trouble in the third quarter, sending Jaken to the free-throw line. Jaken made both foul shots and followed with a 3.

“That was huge,” Jaken said.

Late in the fourth quarter, he knocked down another 3 off an assist from Tre’ Speer, extending the Panthers’ once-narrow lead to 43-35. Roff tried to make a final surge, but Speer kept the Tigers at bay with his free-throw shooting. The senior point guard recorded 12 points and went 7 for 8 at the stripe, and Logan Vyrostek added 13 points. Jaken made the layup that capped the victory, sending the Panthers into a frenzy of celebration.

“It’s wonderful,” Jeff Weedn said. “It didn’t matter if it was Roff or who it was gonna be. It was a quarterfinal opponent. We just wanted to win and advance. That’s what it was all about.”

More:Class A girls basketball: Okarche, Riverside, Seiling & Caddo advance to state semifinals

Calumet 62, Sentinel 54

Jacob Mayfield knows what to expect from the leaders on his Calumet basketball team.

The squad has two senior starters in Michael Haag and Caleb Meschberger. And several players are not strangers to an intense postseason environment — Calumet (27-1) advanced to the state baseball semifinals in the fall.

That leadership translated from the diamond to the court in a close quarterfinal matchup Thursday. With a late push, fourth-ranked Calumet broke away from Sentinel, 62-54, to reach the Friday semifinals.

“We have a good group of winners, man,” said Calumet coach Jacob Mayfield. “... We stay calm. Our highs aren’t too high, and our lows are never too low.”

In the fourth quarter, 12th-ranked Sentinel narrowed Calumet’s lead to 49-44 when Mavrick Sanders made a layup off an assist from Jake Peeler. But as stomps and cheers echoed from the section of students dressed in orange and black — “OFF-ENSE, OFF-ENSE” — Calumet found a groove, bouncing back from a third-quarter scoring drought.

Sophomore guard Kyler Thiessen, who finished with 14 points, picked up his scoring in the fourth quarter. Then he delivered a long pass to Dalton Belcher, who swooped underneath the basket for the layup that extended Calumet’s lead to 60-48. Belcher, a junior guard, tallied game highs of 15 points and eight rebounds.

Sentinel (24-6) never went away. After the starters checked out of the game in the final minute, Frankie Sambrano entered off the bench and knocked down a couple of 3’s, but it was too late for the Bulldogs to come back.

Ace Snowden led Sentinel with 14 points, and Raul Lopez followed with 12.

More:Busted water pipes and flooded gym floors at OCU, Langston, Millwood reveal kindness of others

Kinta 54, Buffalo Valley 50

Terry Vealy had to act quickly.

Hunter McPherson sank a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it a one-possession game, and Kinta was trying to preserve its lead in the final seconds.

So, sophomore guard Ethan Franklin continued the approach that worked throughout the game.

Put the ball in Vealy’s hands. With 16.4 seconds left, the senior guard caught the pass from Franklin and drove to the other end of the court for the basket that sealed Kinta’s 54-50 quarterfinal win against Buffalo Valley. The sixth-ranked Eagles will meet Calumet in the semifinals.

Vealy led Kinta with 19 points, going 7 for 10 from the field and adding five rebounds.

And fifth-ranked Buffalo Valley’s game was no mystery to him.

The Eagles had faced the Buffalos (26-4) on Nov. 15 in their fourth game of the season. Kinta won, 59-49, but Vealy learned his defense had to focus on senior guard Jace Hunter.

“Mainly, we had to worry about just (boxing) out, rebounding, run the floor and watch after Jace,” Vealy said. “Mainly just hit our shots and keep going.”

Hunter, who entered the state tournament averaging 17 points per game, continued to give his team chances against Kinta (25-4) in the quarterfinals with a game-high 25 points. In the first half, he and Steven Morris were Buffalo Valley’s only scorers, but the Buffalos managed to carry a 19-18 lead into halftime.

Then Trea Seabolt opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the right corner, putting Kinta in front, 21-19. The junior guard finished with 15 points and three rebounds, going 7 for 11 from the field.

The game stayed close until the end, but Vealy stepped up to the free-throw line to keep the lead intact before icing the win with his final bucket.

More:Tramel: Wise words & broken hearts for Goodwell in Class B basketball tournament

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSSAA Class B boys basketball state tournament quarterfinal scores