Tecumseh girls cruise in Class 4A district playoff as Lady Savages now face Classen SAS; big second half lifts Tecumseh boys to district title

By Buck Ringgold

POTEAU — Facing a long bus trip in their playoff opener, Tecumseh girls coach Eldon Gentry II was hoping his players might find some energy.

He noticed his Lady Savages displayed enthusiasm even before they got off the bus for Friday's Class 4A Area III District 8 playoff against Poteau, and that carried over into the game.

Tecumseh raced out to a big first-quarter lead and maintained a sizable advantage throughout as the Lady Savages posted a 58-27 win at Sherman Floyd Fieldhouse.

"I thought we came out early and we were firing on all cylinders, which I was kind of worried about since we hadn't played since last week and then we had a two-and-a-half hour drive down here," Gentry said. "But we got about halfway here and the energy on the bus really picked up.

"Some nights you have a feeling, you can tell by your girls how they act if they're going to have a pretty good night, and we came out, took care of business early and that's what got us in a position to kind of take care of business the rest of the way."

Tecumseh (18-6) jumped out to a 21-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and allowed only one 3-point basket the next quarter to extend its margin to 31-8 at halftime.

The Lady Savages then went up by 29 points, 44-15, after three quarters and led by as many as 35 points in the fourth.

"I think we had good energy; we came out and we were like ready," said junior guard Kenzli Warden. "Our bench was good. I thought we were ready to play and we did really good; worked together as a team (Friday).

"We were all excited, and definitely trying to get focused and just get ready to play because we hadn't played on Tuesday, so we were just ready to get a game in this week."

The Lady Savages now face a huge challenge on Thursday in the 4A regional semifinals.

That comes in the form of 4A contender Classen SAS, which knocked off 6A contender and previously undefeated Edmond North on Thursday. The Lady Comets have lost just once all season, which was to an out-of-state foe in a tournament in Arizona.

But the Lady Savages will have the home-court advantage, since they will get to host Thursday's regional semifinal.

"They're the best team in the state, in any class," Gentry said. "We look forward to the opportunity to compete; not that we're going in confident or really even scared. We know it's an extreme challenge; they're really, really talented and a well-coached, all around team; they're unbelievable.

"We're just going to try to preach to our girls that we get a chance to compete. We don't look at it as we have to play Classen as much as a chance that we get to play Classen."

Warden is just as eager for her team to take on the Lady Comets.

"I'm ready; I'm a little nervous but I'm excited at the same time," she said. "I'm just ready to play them."

The Lady Savages, regardless of Thursday's outcome and their future in the playoffs, have already put together a strong season despite losing four starters from the year before. Gentry added his five starters Friday were all underclassmen.

"Five of our six losses were to teams ranked in the top five in their class," he said. "We're really young; we started four sophomores and a junior (Friday), so we've really exceeded expectations, but I've got a great group of girls I get to coach every day."

Warden ended up leading all scorers with 17 points, and also grabbed nine rebounds and had five steals.

"I thought I did pretty good; I wasn't shooting the ball very good, but I tried to make up for it on defense and just help my teammates out and make good passes," she said. "I think my team did pretty good; we worked well as a team and just played hard together."

Also in double figures for Tecumseh was senior Schantel Evans, who came off the bench and scored 12 points. Sophomore guard Jadyn Wilson also gave the Lady Savages an early lift, scoring seven points and distributing two assists in the opening quarter.

Brooklyn Garner had eight points for Poteau (9-12), which drops into the consolation round at the 4A regionals next week. The Lady Pirates will play an elimination game at 1:30 p.m. next Friday in Byng.

Tecumseh 74, Poteau 40 (BOYS)

At halftime of Friday's 4A Area III District 8 playoff, the Savages held a narrow 33-29 lead.

It was a drastically different story in the second half, as Tecumseh used strong defense to push that lead even further. The Savages held Poteau to 11 points in that span and one 3-point basket after the Pirates hit six first-half 3's.

"It was one of those deals where they shot the ball really well here at home in the first half, and we didn't defend very well, gave up some second (chance) shots," Tecumseh coach Bryant Edwards said.

"We just told them (at halftime) we've got to get back to basics; get back to limiting one bad shot, then get a rebound and get out in transition and push the ball. We shot the ball pretty well in the second half."

Tecumseh opened the second half on a 9-0 run to set the tone. The Savages then scored 29 of the first 35 points that half as the lead grew to 27 points, 62-35, midway through the fourth quarter.

"We also rebounded better in the second half. ... We started limiting them to more contested shots and getting rebounds," Edwards said. "We clamped down a little bit there in that second half; we just weren't playing good defense in the first half. But I give (Poteau) credit; they shot the ball well there early."

Sophomore Jase Edwards had a big role in Friday's win, as he led all scorers with a career-high 35 points, 19 in the second half. His previous high was 34 in a game last month against Jones.

Edwards also hit six 3's and was 11-of-18 from the field and 7-of-9 from the foul line.

"I just kept confident in my shot and not really let the defense try to really pressure me," he said.

But like his coach, Jase Edwards believed it was the Savages' defense that provided the difference in the team's play each half.

"You've just got to communicate on defense and just make them work for every shot. ... Then (in the second half) we really kept our momentum going on offense and really just had it together and just finished up the game right there," Jase Edwards said.

Also for Tecumseh, Jaxon Myers scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

The Savages now take on highly ranked Classen SAS in Thursday's regional semifinal, set for 8 p.m. at Tecumseh.

"They're pretty good, they're pretty good," Bryant Edwards said. "We're going to have our hands full.

"We'll be back to work Monday getting ready for them. The good thing is we've got them at home; that's the only positive we've got."

Poteau (2-17) got 13 points from Wyatt Gamble and 10 from Dean Odom. Gamble made two 3's and was 5-of-6 from the line.