The Morris Eagle varsity basketball team took home the third-place trophy from the J.T. Memorial Tournament in Haskell with a 64-45 win over the Checotah Wildcats.
The Morris Eagle varsity basketball team took home the third-place trophy from the J.T. Memorial Tournament in Haskell with a 64-45 win over the Checotah Wildcats.
The Eagles began tournament action last Thursday with a 67-41 win over the host Haskell Haymakers, then dropped into the thirdplace game with a 5734 loss to the Wagoner Bulldogs last Friday in the semifinal round.
The Morris squad will return to action Thursday with a trip to Okmulgee for a meeting with their county rivals, the Okmulgee Bulldogs. Thursday’s county battle will be the final game for the Eagles in the firsthalf portion of their regular-season schedule. In last Thursday’s opening-round win over Haskell, the Eagles led 13-4 after the first eight minutes of action and 32-19 at halftime.
The Morris gentlemen completed the double- digit victory by taking the final two frames by margins of 20-14 and 15-8, respectively, for a 67-41 decision.
The Eagles’ top scorer against Haskell was Tucker Kelsey with a team-best 17 points. Cody Smith also reached double figures for the Morris cage squad with 10 points.
Race Casey just missed double-digit scoring with nine, followed by Ryan Benavidez and Jerrick Raines with eight points each.
Other Eagle scorers against Haskell were Jaylen Zackery, Robert Woods, and Aksel N’Gotta with three points apiece and Dakota Chaney, Xavier Harjo, and Cruze Lawson with two points each.
In last Friday’s semifinal battle with Wagoner, the Morris offense was limited to just two points in the first eight minutes of action, while Wagoner put up 15 points in the frame to put the Eagles in a 13-point deficit.
Both teams tallied 11 points in the second period to keep the Eagles’ deficit at 13 points, 26-13, at halftime.
The Morris squad edged the Bulldogs 15-13 in the third quarter to go into the final frame trailing 39-28.
The Eagles were unable to overcome the early deficit in the final period with Wagoner outscoring the Morris gentlemen 18-6 in the final eight minutes of action to wind up on the short end of a 57-34 outcome.
Cody Smith was the top scorer for the Eagles against Wagoner with 15 points.
Other Morris scorers in the semifinal contest were Race Casey with six, Dakota Chaney five, Jerrick Raines four, and Ryan Benavidez and Tucker Kelsey two each.
In Saturday’s third-place game, the Eagles led 20-9 after one quarter of action and 31-22 at halftime. The Morris gentlemen extended their lead to 16 points (50-34), heading into the final frame with a 19-12 advantage in the third period, then put the finishing touches on their 64-45 win by outscoring the Wildcats 14-11 in the final stanza.
The Eagles’ top scorer against Checotah was Jerrick Raines with 20, followed by Tucker Kelsey with 18.
The remaining Morris points in the third-place win came on eight points by Cody Smith, seven points by Race Casey, five points by Ryan Benavidez, and two points apiece by Dakota Chaney, Aksel N’Gotta, and Evan Felts.
--- J.T. Dixon Memorial First Round
Morris 67, Haskell 41
Morris: 13 - 19 - 20 - 15 (67) Haskell: 4 - 15 - 14 - 8 (41) Morris Scoring: Tucker Kelsey 17, Cody Smith 10, Race Casey 9, Ryan Benavidez 8, Jerrick Raines 8, Jaylen Zackery 3, Robert Woods 3, Aksel N’Gotta 3, Dakota Chaney 2, Xavier Harjo 2, Cruze Lawson 2.
--- Semifinals
Wagoner 57, Morris 34
Wagoner: 15 - 11 - 13 - 18 (57) Morris: 2 - 11 - 15 - 6 (34) Morris Scoring: Cody Smith 15, Race Casey 6, Dakota Chaney 5, Jerrick Raines 4, Ryan Benavidez 2, Tucker Kelsey 2. --- Third Place
Morris 64, Checotah 45
Morris: 20 - 11 - 19 - 14 (64) Checotah: 9 - 13 - 12 - 11 (45) Morris Scoring: Jerrick Raines 20, Tucker Kelsey 18, Cody Smith 8, Race Casey 7, Ryan Benavidez 5, Dakota Chaney 2, Aksel N’Gotta 2, Evan Felts 2.
