Oklahoma high school basketball: Prague Red Devils win 66 Conference Tournament

MEEKER – Down by 19 at one point and 16 at halftime, the Class 3A sixth-ranked Prague Red Devils made a miraculous comeback, settled for a tie in regulation and went on to defeat the Okemah Panthers75-69 in overtime Saturday in the boys' championship game of the 66 Conference Tournament.

“We had a chat at halftime and they responded real well,” said Prague head coach Nate Greer. “We made some big free throws and they got into foul trouble.”

Four Red Devil starters – Blestin Miller, Nate Lester, Peyton Ezell and Trevor McGinnis - got into double figures and the fifth – Trip Davis – had nine as Prague outscored Okemah 45-29 in the second half and closed the game with a 10-4 run through extra time.

Miller, who hit one 3-point basket, also nailed all 12 of his free throws, grabbed seven rebounds and registered three steals while collecting 21 points. Ezell, who drained two treys, was 7-of-8 from the foul line, pulled down eight boards and had a pair of steals while scoring 13 points.

Lester, who tallied 14 points, ended up with one trey, five rebounds and two assists. McGinnis converted all three of his field-goal attempts, was 4-of-6 from the charity stripe and gathered four boards. Davis tossed in nine points.

The Red Devils' only other player to get into the scoring column was Cameron Hightower, who tallied eight before fouling out.

Free-throw shooting proved to be critical as Prague knocked down 31-of-39 tries for the game and were a perfect 6-of-6 in the overtime session.

Regulation ended in an unusual manner as the Red Devils took a 65-61 lead after two Ezell free shots with 18.6 seconds to go. After an Okemah turnover, Prague broke the Okemah pressure for what appeared to be a game-sealing dunk, but Lester was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

The Panthers' Kurtis Wilson then sank the two technical foul shots with 5.2 seconds left to pull Okemah within 65-63. The Panthers then inbounded the ball and made the most of the situation when P.J. Franks scored off a put-back shot at the buzzer to tie it at 67 and send it to OT.

Kaiden Bear fired in a game-high 31 points to spark the Panthers and Wilson netted 11.

Okemah was solid at the free-throw stripe as well, connecting on 17-of-20 tries.

The Red Devils raced out to a 12-8 lead through one quarter, but was struck by a 28-8 scoring blitz in the second as the Panthers built a 36-20 halftime advantage.

Prague pulled within 46-41 at the end of three quarters thanks to a 21-10 run. The Red Devils then outscored Okemah 24-19 in the fourth.

Okemah 52, Seminole 45 (Girls Championship)

The Lady Panthers broke a 31-all deadlock with the Lady Chieftains by going on a 21-14 fourth-quarter run to capture the girls' tournament crown.

Three Okemah players reached double figures, led by Taylor Haberman's 19 points. Elaine Berryhill followed with 14 points and Abby Harrelson tacked on 10.

Berryhill drilled two 3-point shots and Haberman had one.

Holli Ladd and Kennedy Coker topped the Seminole scoring effort with 18 and 17 points respectively. Coker had the Lady Chieftains' lone trey.

Annira Sewell contributed nine points in a losing effort.

Seminole was 20-of-29 from the foul line and the Lady Panthers finished 13-of-25.

Seminole 59, McLoud 53 (Boys' Third Place)

The Chieftains held off a fourth-quarter charge by the Redskins to come away with the win for third place.

Seminole overcame 5-of-13 free-throw shooting while McLoud was 12-of-18.

Braxton Street, behind one 3-pointer and 12 first-half points, ended up with 17 points and Jaxon Smith, on the strength of four treys, finished with 12 points, all of which came over the final three quarters.

Lantz Fixico tallied all of his eight points in the first half. Miguel Conley followed with seven points, five of which came in the first half, and Joe Fixico tacked on six points.

Luke Norwood fired in a game-high 21 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter as McLoud staged a rally.

Tryce Lewis tossed in 11 points for the Redskins as he collected 11 of those in the first quarter alone. Luke Jordan, with one trey, ended up with 10 points. Jacob Jordan popped in two 3-pointers for six points.

Prague 58, Holdenville 56 (Girls' Third Place)

Payton Camren poured in a game-leading 29 points while sinking six 3-point shots as the Lady Red Devils outlasted the Lady Wolverines.

Camren knocked down three treys in each half as she scored 13 in the first half and 16 in the second.

Mattie Rich, with three treys, finished with 12 points and Kailey Rich, with two long-range connections, tallied seven points, all in the first quarter. Maggie Smith and Demi Manning rounded out the Prague scoring with four points apiece.

Cheyenne Fixico paced Holdenville with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Rylie Hill-Tiger was next with eight points and Kate Lefthand chipped in seven, including one trey.

Chandler 69, Meeker 49 (Boys' Fifth Place)

Brady Butler poured in 19 points and Kaden Jones added 18 as the Lions had big second and fourth quarters to dispose of the Bulldogs for the consolation title.

Butler scored 13 of his points in the second half as he ended up with three 3-pointers in the contest. Jones, with two treys in the game, tallied 10 in the second half after nailing both of his 3-pointers and two free shots in the second quarter.

Isiah Holland scored 12 points, with eight in the first half, for Chandler. Teammate Markus Minshall canned two treys on his way to six points.

The Lions knocked down nine 3-pointers in the game and were 16-of-20 from the charity stripe.

Meeker converted six long-range attempts in the game and was 11-of-17 from the foul line.

Braxton Bussell led the way for the Bulldogs with 15 points, with 10 coming in the first quarter, He also drained one long-range shot.

Treyvon Compton also reached double figures for Meeker with 10 points, including a pair of treys.

After a 16-all deadlock through one quarter, Chandler outscored the Bulldogs by a 19-7 count in the second quarter in building 35-23 halftime lead. It was 46-34 after three periods before the Lions closed the game with a 23-15 spurt.

Chandler 54, Stroud 40 (Girls' Fifth Place)

Leah Brannon fired in 24 points and Mia Callegan collected 14 as the Lady Lions captured the consolation crown.

Brannon scored 17 in the fourth quarter and was 7-of-7 at the free-throw line during that stretch.

Presley Martzall and Jaelyn Robertson added six points each for Chandler as Martzall nailed two treys and Robertson had one.

Kileigh Mixon poured in a game-high 26 points while draining four treys for the Lady Tigers.

The Lady Lions had a 31-29 edge after three quarters before more than doubling up Stroud with a 23-11 fourth period.

This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: Oklahoma high school basketball: Prague boys win 66 Conference tourney