Bulldogs win regional title, one win from state; Lady Bulldogs beat Sallisaw for regional consolation title
The Muldrow Bulldogs find the only thing separating them from next week’s Class 4A State Tournament is one more win.
The ’Dogs handled the Broken Bow Savage 63-52 to win the Class 4A Regional Tournament on Saturday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center after defeating the Stilwell Indians 58-31 in Thursday’s regional championship semifinal to give Muldrow its first win in three tries this season against their NOAA Conference rivals.
The Bulldogs (21-6) will meet Crossings Christian at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Seminole for the Class 4A Area Tournament title and a trip to next week’s state tournament at Oklahoma City’s Jim Norick State Fair Arena.
The Muldrow-Crossings Christian loser will have one more shot at making the Class 4A State Tournament by winning the area tournament consolation championship game at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday in Seminole.
“We seem to be firing on all cylinders,” Muldrow boys coach Terry Collins said. “That’s a great thing.”
The Lady Bulldogs also kept their basketball season alive by defeating their NOAA Conference and county rivals, the Sallisaw Lady Diamonds, 41-30 to win the Class 4A Regional Tournament consolation title game Saturday afternoon at Roger Sharp Activity Center.
The Lady Bulldogs lost their regional championship semifinal game 45-20 to Locust Grove on Thursday night at home, but they bounced back to down Wagoner 52-36 in Friday afternoon’s regional consolation semifinal contest at Roger Sharp Activity Center.
The Lady Bulldogs (19-9) will need to win all three games in Okmulgee at the Class 4A Area Tournament consolation portion of the bracket to make state. Muldrow will meet Glenpool at 6 p.m. Thursday in the area consolation quarterfinals, with the winner meeting the Broken Bow-Hilldale game winner at 1 p.m. Friday in the area consolation semifinals. Friday afternoon’s winner will meet the Locust Grove-Bethany loser at 6 p.m. Saturday for the area consolation championship and a trip to next week’s Class 4A State Tournament in Oklahoma City.
“The first one (against Glenpool) will be super tough,” Muldrow girls coach Jana Armer said. “You know what, we’re here. We’re going to take our chances. I promise you my kids will not back down from anybody. Our kids will play all out — they’re just made that way.”
The Lady Diamonds lost their regional championship semifinal game 55-34 to Broken Bow on Thursday night at Paul Post Field House, then defeated Stilwell 67-48 on Friday night at Roger Sharp Activity Center before being eliminated by Muldrow.
The Black Diamonds won their regional consolation quarterfinal game 60-44 over Poteau on Thursday afternoon at Paul Post Field House, but lost a heartbreaking 65-62 regional consolation semifinal game to Stilwell to see their season come to an end.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
BOYS REGIONAL FINAL
MULDROW 63, BROKEN BOW 52
The ’Dogs raced out to a 15-6 lead after a quarter and had as much as a 16-point lead in the second period at 30-14 after a free throw by D.J. Massey. Muldrow enjoyed a 35-20 halftime advantage.
The Savages would not go away without a fight as they got their deficit down to five points at 46-41 with 5:38 left in the fourth quarter. That would be as close as the Savages got as the Bulldogs ended the game with a 17-11 run to seal the deal.
“That’s a great team right there,” Muldrow boys coach Terry Collins said. “It’s hard to keep a good team down. We knew they were going to respond. We have to meet that adversity head on. We had to step up and make plays. We also knocked down some shots to stretch our lead back out.”
For the game, Muldrow put three players into double figures, led by Parker Sevenstar’s 16 points, while Massey and Teaguen Collins each added 14 points. Jesse Kilinc scored seven points, followed by DeShawn Willson with five points, Jaxson Anstine with three points and DeVohn Hall and E.J. Zanders with two points apiece.
GIRLS REGIONAL CONSOLATION FINAL
MULDROW 41, SALLISAW 30
It was a strong second half that lifted the Lady Bulldogs to their third win this season over the Lady Diamonds (18-9).
Leading 19-16 at halftime, the Lady Bulldogs doubled the Lady Diamonds 8-4 in the third quarter to up Muldrow’s advantage to 27-20 after three periods. Muldrow built as great as a 13-point lead on two occasions in the fourth quarter, the last time at 41-28 with 1:58 left to play in the game after a basket by Kayla Elalingberg.
“We started looking up and finding some open people underneath (in the second half),” Muldrow girls coach Jana Armer said. “We got some easier shots than we did in the first half. Sallisaw is a great team, and Coach (Eric) Carr does a great job with them. We knew it was going to be tough and a struggle. It was a battle all the way until the end.”
“We’ve played them three times, and the game went the same way all three times,” Carr said. “They were able to come out and make plays in the third quarter in all three games. We needed to come out and get a lead in the third quarter. That would have freed us up a little bit and play like we can at times. We didn’t make plays, and they made plays (in the second half). Once they got that lead, everything tightened up, We’ve done that all year against good teams, and we did again (on Saturday afternoon).”
For the game, Kayla Ellingberg and Maysi Fields scored a game-high 12 points to lead Muldrow, followed by Kilah Ellingberg with nine points, London Hardin with four points, Jensi Fields with three points and Danica Tune with a free throw.
In defeat, Emma Martin led the Lady Diamonds with eight points, followed by Channing Wilson with six points, Hannah Palmer, Kayli Macon and Alayna Locust-Trammell with four points each and Sydney Weedon and Katelyn Carlton with two points apiece.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
GIRLS REGIONAL CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
SALLISAW 67, STILWELL 48
The Lady Diamonds struggled early, trailing 18-10 after the end of the opening period, but they outscored the Lady Indians 19-7 in the second quarter for a 29-25 halftime lead. Sallisaw doubled Stilwell 16-8 in the third quarter to take a 45-33 advantage into the final period.
“We got settled in, and we responded the right way,” Sallisaw girls coach Eric Carr said. “I really felt we were undisciplined in the first quarter, but we got settled back in and got back in the flow. We did a pretty good job from there on out.”
For the game, Kayli Macon led all scorers with a game-high 20 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Katelyn Carlton with 13 points, Alayna Locust-Trammell with nine points, Channing Wilson with eight points, Emma Martin with seven points, Sydney Weedon with five points, Hannah Palmer with three points and JoLee Curson with two points.
MULDROW 52, WAGONER 36
Muldrow jumped out to an 8-3 lead after a quarter, which became a 26-10 halftime advantage.
Wagoner made a game of it in the third quarter as its Lady Bulldogs opened the period with a 14-8 run to cut its deficit to 32-24 with 2:19 lead in the period, but Muldrow finished the third quarter ahead 36-26.
Wagoner made one more run at Muldrow as Wagoner opened the fourth quarter with a 5-2 run to cut the deficit to 38-31 with 6:41 left to play, but Wagoner got no closer as Muldrow ended the game with a 14-5 run to seal the deal.
“Some of those shots that didn’t fall for them in the first half fell in the second half,” Muldrow girls coach Jana Armer said about Wagoner’s ability to hang around in the second half. “They made six 3s in the second half. Luckily, we were able to hang on, and we hit some free throws down the stretch. The play of Chloee Clark in the fourth quarter was huge. She hit some big shots, and had a couple of big plays on defense as well. She came up big.”
For the game, Kayla Ellingberg scored 12 points and Maysi Fields added 10 points to lead Muldrow, followed by London Hardin and Kilah Ellingberg with nine points each, Clark with seven points, Gracie Prewett with three points and Danica Tune with two points.
BOYS
STILWELL 65, SALLISAW 62
The game was nip and tuck throughout.
The Indians led 22-19 after a quarter and 38-25 at halftime, but the Black Diamonds (10-16) rallied in the second half — including having a lead midway through the final period.
However, the Indians got the lead back and had a four-point lead in the last minute at 64-60.
After a mad dash for a loose ball in the back court recovered by Cooper Cox, he ended up hitting a putback shot with 9.2 seconds left to cut Sallisaw’s deficit to 64-62.
With three seconds left, Stilwell hit only one of two free throws to give the Indians a 65-62 lead.
The Black Diamonds got the ball down court, but an attempted game-tying 3-point basket at the buzzer missed the mark, and the 2024-25 basketball season was over for Sallisaw’s boys.
Hustle plays like Cox made is what first-year coach Zac Rogers believes is the best characteristic about his team this season.
“I think the play that Cooper made at the end of the game that ended up helping us put us down two points is a really good image of what our guys are,” Rogers said. “There’s a loose ball, and Cox chased it all the way down into the backcourt. He pushed the ball ahead and ended up with a putback play with nine seconds left. It was an incredible play. That play shows the kind of effort all our guys gave all season. They just played their hearts out every single night.”
In defeat, Sallisaw put three players into double figures, with Cox leading the way with 19 points, followed by Tae Muskrat-Flynn with 17 points and Brodi Nickell with 10 points. Cooper Jackson scored eight points, followed by Cooper Carter with six points and Jackson Harris with two points.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
BOYS REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
MULDROW 58, STILWELL 31
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 17-9 lead after a period, which became a 3015 halftime advantage and a 43-18 lead going into the fourth quarter.
For the game, Muldrow had a trio of players reach double figures scoring, led by Teaguen Collins with a game-high 18 points, followed by Jaxson Anstine with 11 points and Jesse Kilinc with 10 points. Parker Sevenstar scored six points, followed by E.J. Zanders with four points, Jermauree Palmer with three points and DeVohn Hall, D.J. Massey and DeShawn Willson with two points apiece.
GIRLS
BROKEN BOW 55, SALLISAW 34
The Lady Savages jumped out to an 18-8 lead after a quarter, which became a 31-22 halftime advantage and a 44-30 lead going into the final period.
However, the Lady Diamonds got their deficit to six points at 31-25 with 7:14 left in the third quarter on a 3-point basket by Hannah Palmer, but the Lady Diamonds got no closer.
“They’re good,” Sallisaw girls coach Eric Carr said about the Lady Savages. “They have all the pieces and all the tools. I thought our kids competed super hard. We made adjustments on their big girl after the first quarter. We had a feel for what we had to do. You can talk about our game plan all day long. Until you see live action, it’s different, and we hadn’t seen that kind of post kid that we’ve had to focus on that much. Ultimately, I thought we battled through that. We had a chance to cut the deficit to four late in the first half. I felt like our kids just kept competing. We didn’t knock down enough shots to stay where we needed to be.”
In defeat, Palmer led Sallisaw with 12 points, followed by Emma Martin with six points, Alayna Locust-Trammell with five points, Channing Wilson with four points, Kayli Macon with three points and Sydney Weedon and Katelyn Carlton with two points apiece.
LOCUST GROVE 45, MULDROW 20
Class 4A’s fourth-ranked Lady Pirates showed the Lady Bulldogs why they’re in the top five.
Locust Grove jumped out to a 17-3 lead after a period en route to a 30-9 halftime advantage and a 38-13 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In defeat, Kilah Ellingberg scored five points to lead Muldrow, followed by Kayla Ellingberg and Maysi Fields with three points each, Gracie Prewett, Danica Tune, Jensi Fields and Amarie Duran each with two points and London Hardin with a free throw.
BOYS REGIONAL CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
SALLISAW 60, POTEAU 44
With the game tied at 11-all with 5:10 left before halftime, the Black Diamonds started putting some space between themselves and the Pirates as Sallisaw ended the first half with a 14-0 run to take a 25-11 halftime lead, which became a 44-25 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” Sallisaw boys coach Zac Rogers said. “Our seniors starters Cooper Cox, Cooper Jackson and Cooper Carter lead our team every single day and are really an impressive group of young men. I’m proud of them as basketball players, but the effort they bring not only to the game but to practices has been important for our team’s successes.”
For the game, Cox and Jackson Harris shared game-high honors with 11 points to lead Sallisaw, followed by Jackson with nine points, Tae Muskrat-Flynn with eight points, Carter with six points, Grayson Griffey with five points, Brodi Nickell and Tryson Daniels with four points each and Steven Vang with two points.
