Class B state tournament roundup: Fort Cobb-Broxton shocks top-seeded Mountain View-Gotebo; Pittsburg girls make history with quarterfinal win

A recap of all of Thursday's Class B state tournament action.

By Buck Ringgold

Okarche's girls, who were ranked No. 2 in Class A entering the playoffs, were on the verge of being ousted in the state quarterfinals.

However, a big fourth quarter enabled the Lady Warriors to move on to play another day.

Trailing 44-40 entering the fourth, Okarche outscored Garber, 21-8, the rest of the way as the Lady Warriors posted a 61-52 win in Thursday's Class A quarterfinals at Oklahoma City's State Fair Arena.

Okarche's win now sets up a semifinal matchup between the top two ranked teams in the state. The No. 2 Lady Warriors (26-3) will face No. 1 ranked Hydro-Eakly at 10:30 a.m. Friday inside State Fair Arena.

Garber, which trailed 27-26 at halftime, came back with a strong third quarter and took its four-point lead. But Okarche's Adyson Arms hit a basket right before the third-quarter period buzzer sounded, a harbinger of how things were going to transpire in the final quarter.

The Lady Warriors also got a big lift from Tyson Endres, who finished with 10 points and converted four baskets in the fourth quarter.

Okarche also got double-figure performances from Emma Stover with 15 points, Jalie Rother with 13 and Jadyn Rother with 10. Stover also had a double-double, grabbing 12 rebounds.

Garber (23-4), which was ranked No. 13 entering the postseason, was led by 18 points from Alyssa Johnson, 10 of those coming in the first quarter. Lelia Washington and Grace Howry added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Hydro-Eakly 52, Strother 42

The Lady Bobcats (28-0) opened Thursday's quarterfinal game by scoring the first 10 points, and ended up winning by 10.

Strother was able to bounce back from Hydro-Eakly's early charge with a 10-3 run of its own, but got no closer. The Lady Bobcats led 30-21 at halftime and extended it to 42-25 after three.

Rees Berkey led the Lady Bobcats with 24 points - eight of those in the third quarter - while adding eight rebounds and five steals. Her sister, Kira Birkey, added eight points.

Bradi Harman had 12 points and KK Harjo 11 for Strother (21-5), which was ranked No. 6 in the state entering the playoffs.

Caddo 50, Navajo 39

Behind a strong performance from junior Emily Robinson, the Lady Bruins advanced into Friday's semifinal round.

Caddo (24-1), the second seed in the Class A tournament and ranked No. 4 in the state, will play sixth-seeded Vanoss at 9 a.m. Friday at State Fair Arena in the semifinals.

Robinson scored eight points in the first quarter and ended up leading all scorers with 23 points. She also nearly had a double-double as she grabbed nine rebounds.

The Lady Bruins' defense played a big part in Thursday's win, forcing 25 turnovers. They got 21 points off of those turnovers.

Navajo (25-5), ranked No. 11 in Class A, got 13 points from Adison Warren and 11 from Abby Bates, who also converted three 3-pointers.

Seiling 62, Vanoss 32

Three players reached double figures in scoring for the Lady Wildcats (25-4) in Thursday's quarterfinal win.

Braci Nyberg led the way for No. 3 ranked Seiling with 23 points, followed by 21 from Kenly Gore and 12 from Aryahna Whetstone.

Seiling outscored Vanoss after one quarter, 15-5, and then took further command in the second quarter, going on a 25-7 run to build a 40-12 halftime advantage. Nyberg and Gore combined for 32 points and seven 3-pointers in the opening half.

Vanoss (22-4), ranked No. 5 in Class A, got nine points each from Alexus Belcher and Madi Faust.

Class A Boys State Tournament

Tushka 33, Arapaho-Butler 30

The magical run for Tushka continues.

Unranked when they began the postseason, the Tigers continued their momentum and are now two wins away from the gold ball.

In Thursday's Class A quarterfinal at State Fair Arena, the Tigers held off No. 5 Arapaho-Butler despite making just six field goals.

But Tushka (22-8) got it done at the foul line when it counted.

A free throw by Lex Simon with 1:19 left broke a 30-all score and gave the Tigers a one-point lead. Then Tagen Simon added two foul shots with 9.9 seconds left to extend it to three, as Arapaho-Butler missed the front end of a one-and-one three times down the stretch.

Cole Simpson had 11 points and Lex Simon added 10 for Tushka, which will now face No. 1 ranked and defending Class A champion Hydro-Eakly in Friday night's semifinals at State Fair Arena, set for 7:30 p.m.

Brett Griffith scored 16 points for Arapaho-Butler, which finished its season 25-6.

The score at halftime was even at 17-all, until Tushka got a 28-24 lead after three quarters.

Hydro-Eakly 64, Canute 46

The Bobcats had a tough time with Canute, leading just 28-26 at halftime and was up after three, 42-35, after Canute's Colby Maddox knocked down a buzzer-beating basket.

But Hydro-Eakly flexed its muscle in the fourth, doubling the total with a 22-11 edge to move into Friday's semifinals.

The Bobcats (25-3) also got a boost from Nolan Gore, who had nine points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of 3's.

With 18 points, Gore was one of three Bobcats in double figures. Carson Propps had 19 points, with Paxton Price adding 13.

For Canute (22-9), which was ranked No. 19 entering the playoffs, Kyron Whinery and Zachary Potter had 19 and 13 points, respectively. 

Caddo 50, Vanoss 47

A combined 43-point performance from DJ Dill and Kolton Neptune was just enough for the Bruins to upend No. 3 ranked Vanoss in Thursday's quarterfinal.

Dill, a sophomore, led the No. 4 Bruins with 23 points while Neptune, a senior, added 20. Both Dill and Neptune each had 12 points in the second half as well.

Caddo (25-4) trailed at halftime by six, but outscored Vanoss in the third, 19-8. The Bruins will take on Garber at 9 p.m. Friday in the Class A semifinals at State Fair Arena.

Brayden Cannon had 15 points for Vanoss, which finished 21-5.

Garber 57, Riverfield Country Day 46

Held to five points in the opening quarter, the Wolverines got back on track in the second quarter and went on to the quarterfinal win Thursday.

Solomon Bishop had 20 points and David Nagel added 18 for the No. 2 ranked Wolverines (24-3). Both players combined to score 23 points after halftime.

Braeden Clinton had 21 points for Riverfield (24-4).