POTEAU - A strong defensive effort in the third quarter allowed the Sallisaw Lady Diamonds to pull away from Poteau on Friday night and clinch the NOAA conference championship with a 45-36 win at Sherman Floyd Fieldhouse.

The Lady Pirates hit several 3-point shots in the first half to keep pace with Sallisaw, which led 24-23 at halftime.

After the break, the Lady Diamonds turned up their defensive intensity and held Poteau without a field goal for the entire third quarter while allowing just one free throw during the eight-minute span.

Sallisaw took advantage of the Poteau drought to build a 33-24 lead entering the fourth quarter and held on to run its record to 15-3 overall and 8-0 in the league. That clinched the NOAA title with two games left to play.

Junior Caitlyn Hall scored a team-best 13 points to lead the Lady Diamonds, while Ashley Covington and Sarah Snider both hit double figures with 10 each. Meghan Smith chipped in seven points, Lyndsey Daggs three and Mayra Salazar two.

Poteau was led by 14 points from Cheyenne McConnell, but couldn't overcome an early Sallisaw run that saw the visitors grab a quick 7-0 lead.

Sallisaw never trailed in the game.

POTEAU 44, SALLISAW 39 (B)

Britt Brown netted a game-high 18 points and his teammates hit some big 3-point shots as Poteau edged the Black Diamonds on Friday night.

Sallisaw took a 36-34 lead on a Matt Oberste basket with about two minutes to go, but the Pirates answered with an 8-0 run to take command of the game. Aaron Daniels and Kale Holton sandwiched a pair of treys around a Brown layup to put Poteau up 42-36 with less than a minute remaining.

Sallisaw fell to 5-3 in the NOAA and was eliminated from the conference championship race despite 10 points apiece from Oberste and Sheldon Caughman. Tyler Sutherland added eight, James Hoover four, Kyle Eubanks three, David Hadley two and Jacob Bartel two.