The Morris varsity basketball program earned a pair of road wins in Stigler this past Friday evening.
The Morris varsity basketball program earned a pair of road wins in Stigler this past Friday evening.
The Lady Eagles improved to 2-0 on the year with a hard-fought 58-54 victory in the opening contest, while the Eagles awarded new head coach Brandon Heath his first win at Morris in the nightcap, defeating the host Stigler Panthers by a 55-44 margin.
The Morris cage squads returned to action Tuesday with a trip to Beggs and a showdown with their county rivals, the Beggs Golden Demons and Lady Demons.
After the county battle with Beggs, the Eagles and Lady Eagles will travel to Haskell to compete in the J.T. Dixon Memorial Tournament Thursday-Saturday. The Morris ladies will begin tournament action Thursday at 7 p.m. against Wright Christian, while the Morris gentlemen will open tournament play Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
In last Friday’s girls game at Stigler, the Lady Eagles took the first period by a 13-9 margin, then outscored the host Lady Panthers 18-11 in the second stanza for a 31-20 lead at halftime.
Stigler came out of the third quarter with a 1610 advantage to send the contest into the final eight minutes of action with the Morris ladies leading by five, 41-36.
The host Lady Panthers put up 18 points in the final frame in a comeback attempt, but the Lady Eagles countered with 17 points in the period to walk away with the hard-fought 58-54 victory.
The Morris ladies were led in scoring by Skylar Phillips with a team-best 16 points. Phillips was joined in double figures by Maddie Moore and Kaleah Barnett with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Emma Duclos was next offensively for the Lady Eagles with eight points, followed by Taylon Ray and Reagan Bowling with five each and Alexis Schell with one.
In the boys contest last Friday, the Eagles trailed 15-11 after the first eight minutes of action, then went into the intermission trailing by one, 28-27, after taking the second period by a 16-13 margin.
The difference in the outcome of the contest came in the third quarter when the Morris defense held the host Panthers to two points in the frame, while the Eagle offense put up 14 points in the stanza for a 41-30 advantage after three quarters of action.
Both teams tallied 14 points in the final eight minutes of regulation to put the Eagles on the winning end of a 55-44 outcome.
Cody Smith was tops in the scoring column for the Eagles, finishing with a team-high 23 points. Ryan Benavidez also reached double figures in the contest with 10 points.
Xavier Harjo just missed double-digit scoring for the Morris gentlemen with nine, while the remaining points scored in the road win came on five points by Jerrick Raines and Tucker Kelsey and three points by Race Casey.
--- Girls Game
Morris 58, Stigler 54
Morris: 13 - 18 - 10 - 17 (58) Stigler: 9 - 11 - 16 - 18 (54) Morris Scoring: Skylar Phillips 16, Maddie Moore 12, Kaleah Barnett 11, Emma Duclos 8, Taylon Ray 5, Reagan Bowling 5, Alexis Schell 1.
--- Boys Game
Morris 55, Stigler 44
Morris: 11 - 16 - 14 - 14 (55) Stigler: 15 - 13 - 2 - 14 (44) Morris Scoring: Cody Smith 23, Ryan Benavidez 10, Xavier Harjo 9, Jerrick Raines 5, Tucker Kelsey 5, Race Casey 3.
