Howe girls pull away; Indians rain on BB’s debut
In a matchup of the two best girls basketball teams in LeFlore County, Howe forced turnovers and sank free throws to pull away late for a 52-41 home win on Tuesday.
“Pocola brings out the best in us, and I hope we bring out the best in them,” Howe head coach Chris Brown said. “[Pocola head coach] Mark [McKenzie] does this really well — we’d do something, he’d adjust their defense and we’d adjust our offense.”
Pocola (2-2), the 11thranked team in Class 2A, came within 24-39 with less than two minutes left, but Howe scored 10 of the last 12 points for the game — mostly on free throws.
Kadynce Delt made a pair at the charity stripe, and Karsyn Nye made one for a clinching 48-39 lead with a minute left.
Howe (6-0), the second-ranked team in Class 2A, shot 14-of-18 from the free-throw line in the game, including 9-of-12 in the fourth quarter.
“The new [bonus] foul rule changes end-of-game scenarios,” Brown said.
Allyssa Parker converted a three-point play with 3:47 left to get Pocola within 39-37. She finished with 26 points.
“I thought for the most part our defense was pretty good, but she’s a great player. She’s going to win some. I told them that it didn’t matter who’s on her — she’s going to win some,” Brown said.
That was 14 seconds after Kadynce Delt grabbed a steal and threw the ball ahead to Slatey Free for a fast-break layup.
Pocola’s closest margin in the fourth was 35-34 after a Parker three-point play.
She hit a straughtaway 3-pointer with six seconds left in the third quarter to get within 33-31.
Breanna Wann made two shots in a 6-0 run that started with 3:02 left in the third quarter for a 32-26 lead. After leading 22-20 at halftime, Howe grabbed a 26-20 lead early in the third before Pocola tied it 26-all.
“It was a tight game all the way through. I was proud of the way they competed the whole game,” McKenzie said.
Pocola led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Pocola’s Piper Warren had nine points, and Lety Parga had six.
Free led Howe with 13 points while Nye had 10, Wann and Josey Peterson both had eight, and Delt had six.
Pocola’s boys fended off an early challenge from Howe in its first home game with Britt Brown as head coach to win 67-37.
After Howe tied it at 10, Garrett Scott hit two 3-pointers late in the first quarter, including one with four seconds left from the right wing, for a 16-10 Pocola lead. Two A.J. LyonsJerrell free throws gave Pocola its 20-12 advantage with 4:08 left.
After Howe’s Garrett Smith hit a jumper at the four-minute mark, Pocola answered with a 7-0 run for a 27-14 margin.
The Indians (4-0) entered halftime ahead 27-14 and had a 44-28 advantage through three quarters.
Dakota Terrell led Pocola with 21 points while Lyons-Jerrell had 19, Scott had 17 and Austin Hardwick had six. Smith led Howe with 13 points while Reece Harrison had seven and Kyler Brown had six.