Sallisaw broke open a tight game with a strong second-half effort on Monday night, rolling to a 54-30 win over Stigler in the Black Diamonds' home-opener at Paul Post Fieldhouse.

The non-conference triumph lifted Sallisaw's record to 3-1 and was the Diamonds' second victory against Stigler in less than a week. They had previously defeated the Panthers 51-34 last Thursday at the Connors Invitational.

While Sallisaw was eventually able to pull away on Monday, the visiting Panthers kept things close until the break. Tyler Garner sank three free throws with :02 left to pull Stigler within 21-17 heading into the break.

"I wasn't pleased with how the first half ended, and I let them know that," said Sallisaw head coach Jeff Chronister. "They responded well and played much better in the second half."

Sallisaw took over after halftime. The Diamonds shot 13-of-21 from the floor, outrebounded Stigler by a 16-7 margin and harassed the Panthers into 20 percent (4-of-20) shooting in the third and fourth quarters.

"I was extremely pleased with the defense in the second half. Thought we turned it up several levels," said Chronister. "The post defense was excellent, as it has been all year. We play as good a post defense as any team I've ever been around."

Senior guard Trent Whitekiller was the offensive catalyst of a 14-3 run at the start of the second half. The senior guard ignited the spurt with a three-point bomb and closed it with another trey to hand the Diamonds a 35-20 lead late in the third quarter.

Chronister said the Diamonds' run was sparked by their defense.

"It was keyed by the defense. We didn't allow them to get any easy stuff. Then when we got possession of the ball, we got out and ran a little bit, created some easy baskets," he said.

Dustin Edgmon was a big factor for Sallisaw in the second half. During one stretch early in the fourth quarter, the junior post hit a free throw, scored two baskets and had an assist during an 11-0 run.

"This is not a new thing," commented Chronister. "He did the same thing in summer leagues and team camps. I've been seeing the same thing for the last six months and, boy, does it make us better. Dustin Edgmon is playing really, really well right now."

Whitekiller finished as the game's top scorer with 13 points while Edgmon ended up with 10 points and six rebounds. Dan McHenry was the game's leading rebounder with nine boards to go with eight points. Cory Jobe and Trevor Teel each added eight points for Sallisaw, Corey Ledford four and Brett Zinck three.

Sallisaw sank seven three-pointers in the game, including three by Whitekiller and two by Jobe.

Stigler was led by center Jimmy Wilkett with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Stigler 61, Sallisaw 39 (Girls)

Stigler bombarded the Lady Diamonds with three-point baskets on Monday night while notching their second win against Sallisaw in three days.

The Lady Panthers (3-3) were coming off a 50-36 win over Sallisaw in Saturday's third-place game at the Connors tournament. They followed that up by shooting 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field and 16-of-17 from the line on Monday.

Heather Kirkland was one of three Lady Panthers in double figures, getting all 15 of her points on five treys. Rebecca Stubblefield led all scorers with 19 points and Katie Kendrick sank three treys on the way to 14 points for Stigler.

Sallisaw rode the scoring of Morgan Thomason the first half while keeping the game close. The senior forward bucketed 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first and second quarters to keep the Lady Diamonds within 30-23 at halftime.

Sallisaw was still within seven until Stigler sank three three-pointers and went on a 15-0 run midway through the third quarter.

The Lady Diamonds (1-3) got five points from Molly Hadley, four apiece from Whitney Hall and Meghan Smith, three each from Kelli Branham, Heather McCawley and Lyndsey Daggs and two from Autumn Wininger.

Thomason came down with seven boards to finish as Sallisaw's top rebounder, while Daggs grabbed another five.

Next up for Sallisaw is a Friday NOAA conference game at Poteau.