Muldrow sweeps NOAA basketball games from Sallisaw

It was a Muldrow sweep on the hardwood Tuesday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center as the Lady Bulldogs and ’Dogs got home wins over county rival Sallisaw in NOAA Conference action.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the night with a 41-36 victory over the Lady Diamonds, then the ’Dogs picked up a 65-52 win over the Black Diamonds.

GIRLS

MULDROW 41, SALLISAW 36

After a pair of ties in the first quarter, a free throw by Muldrow’s Gracie Prewett with five seconds left in the period gave the Lady Bulldogs (10-7 overall, 4-1 in NOAA Conference play) a 10-9 lead after a quarter.

The Lady Diamonds (12-5, 3-2) had two second-period, two-point leads — the last one at 15-13 with 3:52 left before halftime on a basket by Emma Martin. It proved to be Sallisaw’s final lead of the night.

Thanks to five unanswered points by Maysi Fields, the Lady Bulldogs took a 18-15 lead with 58 seconds remaining in the first half.

Sallisaw’s Kayli Macon hit a basket with 10 seconds left in the first half to cut Muldrow’s advantage to 18-17 at halftime. That was as close as Sallisaw would get the rest of the way.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run as London Hardin’s conventional three-point play with 5:14 left in the period upped the Muldrow lead to 23-17. The Lady Bulldogs ended up outscoring the Lady Diamonds 16-7 in the quarter to take a 34-24 lead into the final period.

“They dug in a little bit harder,” Muldrow girls coach Jana Armer said. “Sallisaw is a tough team. We just got more shots to fall in that quarter than they did — and more shots (for us) go in than in the first half.”

“We didn’t get anything out of our defense,” Sallisaw girls coach Eric Carr said. “We knew it would be tough. They’re very well coached. We have to be tough. They’re going to be super disciplined. They’re playing better.”

For the game, Kayla Ellingberg scored 10 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Hardin with eight points, Maysi Fields with seven points, Kilah Ellingberg with five points, Chloee Clark and Jensi Fields with four points each and Prewett with three points.

“We played really well over the weekend (at the Checotah Crossroads Classic),” Armer said. “We had Locust Grove on the ropes, and they’re really good. I feel like we’ve made some major progress from the beginning of the year. The great thing is I don’t think we’ve played the best we can play. I think there’s still some more in us. We just keep battling every day. I’m tickled to death with where we are. I’m proud to see my kids getting better every day.”

In defeat, Macon scored a game-high 15 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Katelyn Carlton with eight points, Martin with six points and Hannah Palmer, Sydney Weedon and Channing Wilson with two points apiece.

“I thought we executed offensively a lot of what we wanted to do,” Carr said. “The ball just didn’t go into the hole. When we’re not making shots, we’ve got to be better defensively. We still only gave up 41 points. If you only give up 41 points, you should be able to win ball games. We didn’t get the job done. We didn’t create offense with our defense, and (a loss) is the result.”

BOYS

MULDROW 65, SALLISAW 52

Trailing 26-17 with 6:56 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs (13-4 overall, 3-2 in NOAA Conference play) ended the period with a 19-3 run, capped by a basket by DeShawn Willson with 21 seconds left in the quarter, to put Muldrow ahead 36-29 going into the final period.

The ’Dogs built as much as a 12-point lead twice over the first two-plus minutes of the fourth quarter as a 3-point basket by Jesse Kilinc, who hit six 3s on the night, gave Muldrow a 46-34 lead with 5:52 left to play in the game.

The closest the Black Diamonds (7-10, 2-3) got the rest of the way was at 46-39 on a trey by Brodi Nickell.

From there, the Bulldogs outscored the Black Diamonds 19-13 to seal the deal.

“We just started getting shots to fall (in the second half),” Muldrow boys coach Terry Collins said. “We had some open shots in the first half. They just seemed like they didn’t want to go in the basket. We picked up some defensive energy, and it gave us some more opportunities to go score.”

“They’re really talented,” Sallisaw coach Zac Rogers said about the Bulldogs. “They really have good skill players. They have a heck of a basketball coach. That was a really good team we played out there. They (the ’Dogs) were really resilient. They’re a tough team. We had a really good half, and they fought back. That’s just a reflection of their players and their coaching staff, and I respect that.”

The game could not have started any better for the Black Diamonds, who scored the first seven points of the opening period en route to a 12-5 lead after a quarter.

The Bulldogs responded in the second quarter as a 12-5 run to start the period for Muldrow, capped by a 3-point basket by Jermauree Palmer with 45 seconds left before halftime, knotted the game at 17-all.

Cooper Jackson’s 3-pointer with 26 seconds left regained the lead for the Black Diamonds at 20-17 the half.

“I thought our effort was unbelievable,” Rogers said about his team’s start to the contest. “To start the game, our guys were rebounding and boxing out like crazy. We did the little details so well. We took advantage of the opportunities. Muldrow is such a well-coached team that we didn’t have many opportunities, but we took advantage of the couple little ones that we got. We felt great about that first half.” Back-to-back treys by Tae Muskrat-Flynn, who had seven 3s for the game all total, gave Sallisaw its largest lead of the night at 26-17 with 6:56 left. For the game, Kilinc scored a game-high 27 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Teaguen Collins with 17 points, D.J. Massey with eight points, Palmer with six points, Parker Sevenstar with five points and Wilson with two points. “We can’t afford to take chances with teams that have those knockout punches,” Collins said. “We have to make sure that we’re ready to come for all four quarters.” In defeat, Muskrat-Flynn scored 21 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Jackson with 12 points, Cooper Cox with 10 points, Nickell with four points, Cooper Carter with three points and Jackson Harris with two points.