Tigers basketball snares school’s first-ever athletic state championship

History was made this past Saturday afternoon at the historic Jim Norick State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City.

The Wilson Tiger varsity basketball program became the first athletic program at the Okmulgee County school to capture a state championship trophy with a 69-45 victory over the top-ranked and undefeated Calumet Chieftains in the championship game of the Class B state basketball tournament.

“I think a lot of it was that they really embraced that grind,” said Wilson head boys basketball coach Grant Proctor, about his team winning the first-ever state championship in school history. “Our end goal was to win a state championship and that’s not easily done.

“We were just making sure that we were all on the same page each and every day and taking the proper steps to get to our end goal.”

The Tigers, who earned the third state tournament appearance in program history on February 24 with a 63-40 victory over third-ranked and defending Class B state champion Fort Cobb-Broxton in the Area III consolation title game at Noble High School, began their journey towards the school’s first-ever state championship last Wednesday night with a 6550 victory over fourth-ranked Frontier in the opening round of the Class B state basketball championships.

The Wilson squad advanced to their first-ever state championship game with a 59-38 victory over the second-ranked Duke Tigers last Friday afternoon in the semifinal round, then handed Calumet its first loss of the season with the 24-point decision in the championship game.

“I think we knew, coming into the season, and particularly in the playoffs,” said Coach Proctor, about his team’s journey towards the state championship. “Our road, probably, wasn’t going to be the easiest just because we were one of the lower-ranked teams that made it to the state tournament.

“That never waivered our morale. We didn’t particularly care who we were playing against that day. We approached it the same, whether it was the No. 1-ranked team or an unranked team, we had a job to do and we were there to get it done.”

The Tigers’ run through the state tournament was fueled by the Shelburn brothers – Zion, Zabrien, Keshon, and Charles – who scored 178 of the team’s 193 total points in three games.

While the Shelburns were taking care of the offensive production at the state tournament, two other players contributed in other ways that were instrumental in the Tigers winning the state championship.

Sophomore Esiah King provided critical minutes in reserve throughout the state tournament, especially in Saturday’s win over Calumet. After Zion Shelburn was whistled for his fourth personal foul near the end of the first half, King took the floor at the start of the second half, allowing Coach Proctor to keep Zion Shelburn on the bench until he needed him in the fourth quarter.

“I thought Esiah played exceptionally well in the state tournament,” Proctor said, about King. “He did almost everything we needed him to do. He’s kind of our spark plug that comes off the bench (and) we, typically, put him in charge of guarding one of the better players. He’s capable of knocking down open shots, but, ultimately, he’s just a high-energy guy with a really high motor that can, kind of, translate to the style of play we want to continue do.”

Another valuable asset to the team’s success at the state tournament was sophomore Andrew Wilson. Wilson was a contributing factor on both ends of the floor for Coach Proctor, coming away with crucial defensive stops, as well as contributing in the rebound facet of the game by pulling down rebounds on both ends of the court and also having the vision to locate an open teammate for a scoring opportunity.

“Andrew Wilson is huge for us because he alters shots (on defense) at the rim,” stated the Wilson coach. “He rebounds well for us (and) he’s capable of making the dump-down passes and also shoots the ball well.”

See B1 for complete game details of the Tigers’ semifinal and championship wins at last week’s Class B state basketball championships in Oklahoma City.