Black Diamonds, Lady Diamonds sweep Poteau

It was a happy end to the pre-Christmas Break portion of the season for the Sallisaw High School basketball teams as they got a pair of wins over the NOAA Conference rival Poteau squads Tuesday night at Paul Post Field House.

The Lady Diamonds got things started by dominating the Lady Pirates en route to a 57-29 victory, then the Black Diamonds used a strong second half to rally past the Pirates 54-43.

GIRLS

SALLISAW 57, POTEAU 29

The Lady Diamonds (5-2 overall, 1-1 in NOAA Conference play) scored the first five points of the game on their way to a 14-5 lead after the first quarter.

From there, things just kept rolling for the Lady Diamonds — and, conversely, kept getting worse for the Lady Pirates (1-5, 0-2).

A 3-point basket by Casey Brackett with six seconds left before halftime capped a 15-4 second period for Sallisaw as the Lady Diamonds enjoyed a 29-9 halftime lead, which ballooned to a 42-19 advantage going into the final period.

The Lady Diamonds built as great as a 33-point lead as Emma Martin’s 3-pointer with 4:42 left to play put Sallisaw ahead 55-22.

“I thought defensively, we were really solid,” Sallisaw girls coach Eric Carr said. “We had fewer mistakes defensively. I thought we played with the right mentality and the right intensity level that we needed to tonight to take care of the defensive end. I didn’t feel as a team we shot the ball great, but we’re all about creating turnovers and getting buckets off turnovers — and knocking down shots. It was a good all-around win for us.”

However, the biggest roar from the Sallisaw faithful happened with about 1:30 left in the game, when Carr put in sophomore forward and special needs student Abery Cox as one of the five players on the court. On Sallisaw’s second offensive possession with her on the floor, Cox hit a jump shot at the top of the key with 32 seconds remaining for the final points of the game. When the ball went through the net, both fan bases cheered loudly.

“I felt like tonight would be an opportunity to do that,” Carr said. “I’m super proud of both sides on that deal. Once they recognized she was out there, they did a good job of allowing her that opportunity to go make a bucket. I know that means a lot to her. It means a lot to her family, and it means a lot to our community. She comes to practice every day. She’s spent time in the gym in her way getting ready for that moment, and she went out there and won it 100 percent.”

For the game, Sallisaw put a trio of players into double figures, led by Kayli Macon’s game-high 15 points, followed by Martin’s 12 points and Hannah Palmer’s 11 points. Channing Wilson scored eight points, followed by Brackett with three points and Abery Cox, Jaycie Cox, Sydney Weedon and Katelyn Carlton with two points apiece.

Since Thursday night’s home games against Vanoss were canceled, and likely will not be rescheduled, the Lady Diamonds will be idle until playing in the Henryetta Tournament on Jan. 9-11.

“Going into the break, we sneaked into the top 20 (ranked 20th) in the rankings,” Carr said. “We’ve got to go take care of business. We’re starting to earn some respect. I think we went west to Bethel (First United Basketball Classic last week), and I think we gained a little respect from some of those schools. That’s kind of why we do what we do, travel away to go to tournaments. I think we’re going in the right direction, and we get a nice, long break. So, our kids are going to get some time off. We have some kids who need to get healed up. Hopefully, we’ll come back from break, ready to rock and roll — and make a good run at it.”

BOYS

SALLISAW 54, POTEAU 43

Trailing 26-23 at halftime, the Black Diamonds (4-3 overall, 1-1 in NOAA Conference play) opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run as Brodi Nickell’s basket put Sallisaw ahead for good at 35-26 with 3:41 left in the period.

The Pirates (2-4, 1-1) ended the scoring drought on Deacon King’s basket 43 seconds later to cut the deficit to 35-28 with 2:58 remaining in the quarter.

The Black Diamonds ended the period on a 5-3 run, capped by Cooper Jackson’s free throw with two seconds remaining, to put Sallisaw ahead 4031 entering the fourth quarter.

A pair of Garrison Whitworth free throws with 5:33 left to play capped a 4-0 run by the Pirates to start the final period to cut the Sallisaw advantage to 40-35, but that was as close as the Pirates got on the night.

The Black Diamonds got their lead to as high as 13 points as a pair of Cooper Cox free throws with 36 seconds left to play put Sallisaw ahead 54-41.

“The things that Brodi Nickel does and what Cooper Cox brings to the table, they don’t do a lot of boxscore points, but their fingerprints are just constantly on the game,” Sallisaw boys coach Zac Rogers said. “They had a huge effort after halftime. They changed the game a little bit in our favor.”

The Black Diamonds opened the game on an 8-0 run as a 3-pointer by Nickel put Sallisaw ahead 8-0 with 6:25 left in the first quarter.

However, the Pirates responded as they went on a 10-1 run, capped by King’s basket, to take their first lead of the night at 10-9 with 3:22 remaining in the period.

The Black Diamonds had the last say as they ended the quarter on a 7-2 run, capped by another trey by Nickel, to end the period on top 16-12.

Jackon’s basket with 6:48 left before halftime put Sallisaw up 21-12, but the Pirates ended the first half on a 14-2 run as King’s basket with 24 seconds left before halftime put Poteau ahead 26-23 at the break.

For the game, Sallisaw put three players into double figures, led by Nickel with 13 points and Cox and Tae Muskrat-Flynn with 12 points apiece. Jackson scored nine points, while Cooper Carter added eight points.

With nearly three weeks before the Black Diamonds will see action at the Henryetta Tournament, Rogers said the holiday break will give the Black Diamonds time to get themselves into better basketball shape.

“We’re excited,” he said. “We’re just going to get to practice. We’ve been learning our lesson in games. We had nine practices with the full team, and this was game No. 7. We’re really anxious to get some practices in. We’re so proud of the guys, going into the Christmas break with three straight double-digit wins. We’ve been proud of the toughness they’ve given these last few games.”