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Local Sports
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Valliant dashes Bearcats' playoffs hopes at regionals |
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 |
By Tracy Steffenson
Staff Writer
In the Bearcat Gymnasium on Thursday, February 25th, at 3:00 p.m., the Antlers Bearcats took on the Wilburton Diggers in their first game of the Class 3A Basketball Regional Tournament. The Bearcats set their pace early in the first quarter with poise and determination. With 2:49 left in the first quarter the Bearcats were up by 4 points, making the score the Antlers Bearcats-11, Wilburton Diggers-7. As the time ticked on it was plain to see that the Bearcats success so far was do to their patients, that allowed their plays to develop and be accurate. #33-Lance Rethman lit the Diggers up with his ability to take the ball to the hoop. The Diggers simply were not able to stop him. At the end of the first half the Bearcats score was double what the Diggers was. Antlers-31, Wilburton-15.
That pace continued throughout the third quarter as well. So much so, some of the Bearcat players who don't see much court time had a chance to shine as well. The crowd was behind the boys in blue 100% as they continued to charge towards victory. At the end of the third period the score was Bearcats-42, Diggers-22. As the time ticked on, so did the points. 5:57 left in the forth quarter Antlers-50 to 22; 3:30 left in the forth quarter Antlers-52 to 26. At the sound of the final buzzer the score was the Antlers Bearcats-58, the Wilburton Diggers-31.
On Friday, February 26th, at 8:00 p.m. the Bearcats played their second game in the Regional Tournament. They went up against the Vian Wolverines. The game was a nail bitter all the way until the end when the Antlers Bearcats came out on top with a score of 63-61 over the Wolverines. This advanced the Bearcats to the final game in their bracket and would be playing against the Valliant Bulldogs.
On Saturday, February 27th, the Antlers Bearcats went toe-to-toe against the Valliant Bulldogs in Stigler Gymnasium at 3:00 p.m. The Bulldogs were on top of their game and were there to prove that they deserved to move on to the Area Tournament. The Bearcats unfortunately couldn't keep up with the Dawgs and ended up loosing the game 62-37. Having lost this game, and the game against the Hugo Buffaloes on February 19th, it eliminated the Bearcats from moving on to the Class 3A Area Basketball Championship Tournament that will be going on from March 4th through the 6th in the Muskogee Civic Center.
The basketball teams that will be moving on from our division are: in the top spot, the Hugo Buffaloes; in second, the Eufala Ironheads; and in the last spot is the Valliant Bulldogs. The top 2 winners of these games will move on to compete in the State Basketball Tournament March 11th through the 13th.
We would like to congratulate the Antlers Bearcats on a magnificent season and their hard work and determination. It was an honor to get to watch you all play this season. The Antlers Bearcats ended the season with a record of 17 wins and 7 losses.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 March 2010 )
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Valliant defeats Lady Cats in regionals showdown |
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 |
By Tracy Steffenson
Staff Writer
On Thursday, February 25th, at 1:00 p.m., the Antlers Lady Cats took on the Valliant Lady Dawgs in the first game of the Class 3A Basketball Regional Tournament. The Lady Cats came out playing an aggressive game, and due to fouls, gave the Lady Dawgs free points. Frustration was reading loud & clear on the faces of both sides as they continued to battle the rest of the 1st quarter. The score was Valliant Lady Dawgs- 19, Antlers Lady Cats-17 going into the second. The second quarter kept much of the same pace as they kept up the intensity & determination. The girls were getting very physical later in the second and butts were hitting the hardwood. #34- Taylor Tedder, seemed to always be right where she needed to be to get the rebound and send the Lady Cats back to the other end of the court. At the end of the first half the score was the Antlers Lady Cats- 34, the Valliant Lady Dawgs- 32.
Unfortunately, the second half began to turn in the Lady Dawgs favor as the pace of the game quickened and became a little sloppy on both sides of the ball. The game continued to get increasingly violent and it seemed that there wasn't a ball possession that didn't end up with someone getting face planted into the court. Mary Burgess, #21, went down hard in the last seconds of the 3rd quarter. It appeared that she injured her right knee pretty severely. The crowd showed a tremendous amount of support as she was helped off the court by the staff, her family, and an eruption of applause. In the 4th quarter #10, Railey Gardner, tied the score up with foul shots brining it to 49 all. The game was tight & vicious for the remainder of it, but in the end the Lady Dawgs were victorious. The devastated Lady Cats walked of the court, for the last time in the season, with an ending score of 64 to 63.
However, that ending score is somewhat controversial. Some believe that the 4th quarter should have ended with a tied ball game and went into overtime. In the second quarter, the Lady Dawgs stepped up to take a foul shot and made it. At the time that the point was earned, it wasn't added to the score, but later in the game the point was added, making it the correct score. The controversy comes from some fans believing that further on in the game, it was added again, giving the Lady Dawgs an extra, free, point and allowing them to win instead of going into overtime.
The leading players for the Lady Cats were: #23-Shayla Martin with 17 points; #13-Jade O'Donnell with 13 points; #10- Railey Gardner with 9 points; # 15-Chelsi Thomas with 7 points; #34-Taylor Tedder with 6 points; and #21-Mary Burgess with 5 points.
The teams advancing from our Region are: in the fist slot, the Kansas Comets; in second, the Hugo Buffaloes; and sealing the third place spot with a win over Valliant, the Vian Wolverines. These teams will be playing the the Class 3A Girls Basketball Area Championship Tournament on March 4th through 6th in the Muskogee Civic Center.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 March 2010 )
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Lady Rams softballers open season with win |
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 |
By Tracy Steffenson
Staff Writer
The Rattan Lady Rams Softball Team opened their season on March 1st against the Eagletown Lady Eagles in Rattan at 4:30 p.m. At first, it didn’t look as thought the weather was going to allow for the game to be played, but the rain remained a light misting and the girls were able to take their places around the diamond.
Having it be the first game of the season you expect to see ruff spots that are going to need a little extra tender loving care in practice, and we weren’t disappointed. But even with the obvious weak points in the Lady Rams game it was easy to see that before long those kinks would be gone. At the top of the 5th inning the score was the Lady Rams-4, the Lady Eagles-5.
The Lady Rams were having issues with their ball control when they were up at bat. The most common occurrence you would see at the game was the light popped hits. Never a good thing when you are trying not to get an out. Also, the pitcher, Chelsi Watts, was a little rusty, but it wasn’t long before she fell right back into the groove of where her ball needed to drop in the box. At the top of the 6th the score was Lady Rams-4, Lady Eagles- 7.
As the innings came and went it wasn’t looking good for the Lady Rams, but they were not out of it yet. Even with the adverse weather conditions, the girls were giving it all they had. In the bottom of the 6th the Lady Rams began to put more runs up on the board. With one out against them and the bases loaded, Tisa Davidson hit one hard into the fence and managed to bring in 3 runs for the Lady Rams, raising them into the lead with a score of 10-8 over the Lady Eagles. But the ladies were not done yet, by the end of the game the Lady Rams had added a few more runs to their score, ending it with a 5 run lead. The Rattan Lady Rams - 13, the Eagletown Lady Eagles-8.
Playing for the Rattan High School Softball Team are: Seniors- Chelsi Watts, Jackie Barton, and Megan Snow; Juniors- Tisa Davidson, Stephanie Roden, Shannon Parra, and Carleigh Crowley; Sophomore- Lindsey Winship; and Freshman- Jadyn Gibbs, Jamie Williams, Megan Burchfield, and Kenya Griffith.
“I am really pleased with the outcome of the girls first game. They played really hard and did a great job. The defense was lacking some but with a few more practices we’ll get there,” said Coach Watts. “We have a lot of freshman in key defensive positions out there and with the way the weather has been we haven’t been able to get in as much practice as I would have liked. But all in all, the girls played a great game!” |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 March 2010 )
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