Roland squads spoil Sallisaw home basketball openers
The Roland High School basketball teams spoiled the home openers for the Sallisaw squads Tuesday night at Paul Post Fieldhouse in NOAA Conference action.
The Running Rangers led from opening possession until final buzzer as they downed the Black Diamonds 70-49 right after the Lady Rangers corralled the Lady Diamonds 38-21.
BOYS
ROLAND 70, SALLISAW 49
The Running Rangers (3-0 overall, 2-0 in NOAA Conference play) stunned the Black Diamonds (1-1, 0-1) with a trifecta of 3-point baskets as Davohn Hall hit one and Buck Triplett hit two for a 9-0 Roland lead just 74 seconds into the game. That sparked a 14-2 run to open the game as a 3-pointer by Raesean Perryman put the Running Rangers ahead 14-2 with 2:29 left in the first quarter. Roland had its biggest lead at the end of the period, taking a 21-8 advantage into the second quarter.
A basket by Cooper Cox and a free throw by Max Stump cut Sallisaw’s deficit to 21-13 with 6:53 left before halftime, but Roland ended the period on a 15-8 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Paul Johnson with 37 seconds remaining in the first half, to give the Running Rangers a 36-21 halftime advantage.
Stump opened the third quarter scoring the first five points of the period to cut Sallisaw’s deficit to 36-26 with 5:51 remaining in the quarter. However, that was as close as the Black Diamond would get.
Roland ended the period with a 12-5 run, capped by Hall’s basket with 1:21 left in the quarter, to put the Running Rangers ahead 48-31 going into the fourth quarter.
“We shot it pretty well at first,” Roland boys coach Eddie Lewis said. “That did give us a bit of a cushion there, and we were able to keep that cushion the whole game.”
Roland’s lead swelled to as high as 22 points as Hall’s conventional three-point play gave the Running Rangers a 6442 lead with 2:25 remaining in the game.
“We came out and left them wide open (on shots),” Sallisaw boys coach Chadd Gehrke said. “That got us in a hole early. We just didn’t do a lot of things we did in practice to get ready for them.”
For the game, Hall scored a game-high 16 points and Triplett added 15 points to lead Roland, followed by Carson Wiggins with nine points, Mason Kemp with seven points, Johnson with six points, Raesean Perryman with five points, Cason Perryman with four points, D.J. Massey with three points, Ashton Peters and Kayden Hartt with two points each and Kade Shook with a free throw.
Lewis was proud of his team for having a response each time Sallisaw would start showing signs of creeping back into the contest.
“Sallisaw never gave up,” Lewis said. “They came back and cut it to within 10 points, then we were able to respond and get back up to about 15 points (leading margin). The first half, and the first quarter, was a big key.”
In defeat, Cooper Jackson scored 13 points and Stump added 10 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Cox and Cooper Carter with six points each, Brodi Nickell with five points, Gauge Pack and Rustyn Romero each with three points, Wes Rodriguez with two points and Ish Patel with a free throw.
“As bad as we played and things we did that weren’t correct, I felt like we were in that game the whole time,” Gehrke said. “I feel like we beat ourselves. I don’t think Roland beat us. I think we beat ourselves, so I think if we cut that (mistakes) out, we win that game.”
GIRLS
ROLAND 38, SALLISAW 21
After Sallisaw’s Emma Martin hit a basket to knot the game at 7-all with 1:44 left in the first quarter, the Lady Rangers (2-1 overall, 1-1 in NOAA Conference play) got a basket by Lilly Medicine Bird and a free throw by Halle Freeman to put Roland ahead 10-7 after the opening period.
Another basket by Halle Freeman got Roland to a five-point lead at 12-7 just 36 seconds into the second quarter, but a free throw by Channing Wilson capped a 7-3 Sallisaw run to cut the deficit to 15-14 with 3:51 left before halftime.
The Lady Diamonds (11, 0-1) got their deficit to a single point once more at 17-16 on a basket by Hannah Palmer with 1:40 remaining in the first half, but that would end up as close as the Lady Diamonds would get.
Two free throws by Haven Freeman and a single free throw by Medicine Bird in the first half’s final 1:22 upped Roland’s advantage at 2016 at the break.
Another Palmer basket with 2:01 left in the third quarter cut Sallisaw’s deficit to 21-19, but the Lady Rangers ended the period on a 6-0 run, capped by Medicine Bird’s basket with six seconds left in the period, to give Roland a 27-19 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“We’re still trying to figure it out,” first-year Roland girls coach Scott Nelke said. “We’re in a new system and new stuff. They’ve bought in, but it’s going to be a process. Like I told them, I’ve been around this league (NOAA Conference) for a long time. On the road, it’s tough. It was tough at Stilwell (last Friday night), and it was tough here (Tuesday night).”
“Midway through the second (quarter), we kind of got a little unsettled,” first-year Sallisaw girls coach Eric Carr said. “We played a little out of character I thought. We had quite a few turnovers in that quarter. We talked about it at halftime. I thought we played a real solid second half of basketball, offensively and defensively. Shots just didn’t go in. We ran our stuff well. We got shots where we wanted to get shots. I feel like we got to the paint sometimes. That’s where we were in scrimmage season.
We struggled to score at times, and it showed up (Tuesday night).”
Medicine Bird led all scorers with a game-high 21 points to lead Roland, followed by Haven Freeman and Ryanne Nelke with six points each and Halle Freeman with five points.
Nelke was positive his team would respond positively after last Friday night’s conference road loss against Stilwell.
“I’m glad the way they responded,” Nelke said. “I knew they would. We had two good days of practice, and we got after it. I’ve got five seniors. What they’ve been through, I knew they would bounce back. I wasn’t worried about that.”
In defeat, Molly Carver led Sallisaw with six points, followed by Palmer and Alayna Locust-Trammel with five points each, Martin with four points and Wilson with a free throw.
“We’re fairly inexperienced,” Carr said. “These kids haven’t been in these situations. The more comfortable they get in these situations, I think we’ll be able to settle in and shoot the ball better. I was super proud of the kids. I thought their effort was great.”
