BEGGS - The Henryetta varsity basketball teams came away with a split decision last Friday in their county showdown with the host Beggs Golden Demons and Lady Demons. The Lady
BEGGS - The Henryetta varsity basketball teams came away with a split decision last Friday in their county showdown with the host Beggs Golden Demons and Lady Demons.
The Lady Knights stunned the host Lady Demons in the opening contest, rallying in the final frame to outscore Beggs 16-7 and walk away with the 46-38 victory. The win over the Lady Demons was the first for the Henryetta ladies in quite some time.
Last Friday's victory was also the first time in a while that the Lady Knights had earned road wins over Morris and Beggs in the same season. (Henryetta defeated Morris 48-46 in Morris on December 18, 2018.)
The Knights did not have the same outcome in the nightcap, dropped an 89-59 decision to the 3A No. 10 Demons.
The Henryetta squads are in Okmulgee this week, competing in the annual Muscogee (Creek) Nation Okmulgee County Basketball Tournament.
Both HHS teams began their tournament action on Monday. The Lady Knights battled the Dewar Lady Dragons in their opening-round contest, while the Knights squared off against the 7-time tournament champion Preston Pirates in their first-round game.
In last Friday's girls game at Beggs, the Lady Knights escaped the opening frame with a narrow 13-12 advantage, then outscored the host Lady Demons 10-7 in the second stanza for a 23-19 halftime lead.
The host Beggs squad took the third period 12-7 to send the county battle into the final frame with the Lady Knights trailing by one, 31-30.
The host Lady Demons led 34-32 early in the fourth quarter, then Kaylie Hamric sank a pair of free throws at the 5:37 mark to knot the score at 34-34. A layup by Jenna Berryhill at 4:31 put the Lady Knights in front, 36-34 - a lead the Henryetta ladies would not relinquish.
The Henryetta cage squad finished the final stanza with a 10-4 advantage to walk off the Beggs Event Center floor with the 46-38 victory.
Lauren Lee led Henryetta in scoring with 14, followed by Hamric with 10. Ashlyn Green and Katelyn Dwiggins were next in the scoring column for the Lady Knights with seven points apiece. Danielle LaSarge-Taylor finished with three points for HHS, while Berryhill and Bailey Davis followed with two points each. Kim Fowler rounded out the Henryetta scoring with one point.
Beggs' top scorer was Trinity Phillips with a game-high 16 points.
In the boys contest last Friday, the Knights held a 12-10 advantage late in the opening period, only to see the host Demons close out the first quarter with a 14-3 run to lead 24-15 after the first eight minutes of action.
The Henryetta gentlemen were outscored 20-8 in the second stanza to trail 44-23 at the intermission, then took a back-and-forth third quarter by a 22-21 margin to cut the deficit to 20 (65-45), heading into the final frame of regulation.
The second-half rally disappeared in the fourth quarter, as the Knights were outscored 24-14 to suffer the 89-59 defeat.
Colten Wion finished with a team-best 19 points to lead Henryetta. Drew Brown and Daniel Bear were next for the Knights with nine and eight points, respectively, followed by Micah Lowe with six, Alex Hudson five, and Phillip Fisher, Jerad Fife, and Joey Watson four each.
Beggs had a trio of players reach double figures in the county showdown, led by Jaidan Grayson with a game-high 24 points. Kendal Daniels (20) and Mateo Sanders (14) also tallied double-digit scoring for the host Demons.