Class 2A girls basketball: Pocola knocks off two-time defending champion Howe for first title since 2008
Bailey Lairamore knew how big the moment was.
Pocola had a three-point lead in the Class 2A girls basketball state championship with just under a minute left to play Saturday morning and Howe’s Shiloh Fletcher had already knocked down three big 3-pointers.
So Lairamore wasn’t going to let it happen again.
“After I missed the free throw,” Lairamore said. “I realized I had to pick something up for my team to make sure to secure the win and when I saw her put the ball down I just tracked it with my hand."
Lairamore stuck her left hand out and knocked the pass loose. Lairamore jumped on the ball before flinging it to a teammate. The defensive play all but sealed the deal as Allyssa Parker knocked down a free throw on the other end to put the game out of reach with just three seconds left.
More: Meet The Oklahoman's 2022 Class A-B All-Tournament boys & girls basketball teams
Pocola took down two-time defending state champion Howe 40-36 at State Fair Arena to win its first title since the wild shot in 2008. It’s Pocola’s third girls basketball title after also winning in 1995. The game was a rematch of the Le Flore County championship, the longest-running tournament in Oklahoma. Pocola won the game in overtime 66-65 in January.
Howe had hit a 3-pointer to send the game Le Flore County championship into overtime and this time Pocola coach Mark McKenzie was adamant on not letting that happen. Lairamore’s steal was exactly what he wanted.
“That was real big,” McKenzie said. “We needed to keep the ball and I knew they would be in foul mode and we hit some big free throws there late. We wanted to spread it out and win it at the free throw line. I felt we could win the game if it came to that. I told them don’t make this one as dramatic as 2008.”
It was a game of runs. Pocola jumped to a 8-2 lead over Howe but it was short-lived as Howe went on a 11-0 run to take the lead. Howe’s Fletcher was all over the court in the first half, racking up a team-high eight points and four steals. She broke the first-half tie with a 3-pointer behind the OKC Fairgrounds logo on the court to beat the halftime buzzer. Fletcher, an Oklahoma Christian commit, finished with 11 points and seven steals.
Pocola’s Mika Scott turned in a game-high nine points in the first half to lead Pocola. She was the most consistent scorer as the others tried to get going. She knocked down three of her five shots. Pocola opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a four-point lead. And as Fletcher knocked down a halftime buzzer beater, Pocola’s Lety Parga made one of her own before the third quarter buzzer.
Kylee Smith led Pocola with 12 points, Allyssa Parker and Kail Chitwood each added six points. Pocola bested Merritt in the quarterfinal behind Parker’s big game and Dale in the semifinal thanks to Chitwood’s last-second score in overtime. Scott, the only senior, recorded a double-double in the semifinal. This time it was Lairamore’s steal that sealed the win in the state championship for the first time since 2008.
“It’s bittersweet though,” McKenzie said through tears, pointing at the side of the court of State Fair Arena. “The last time I won it my daughter was right there. She’s no longer with us. And my mom was right there. She’s no longer with us. That’s tough. I miss my kid and the thing I see when I think about her is right there when I come off the floor in 2008 with her hands just red. It’s tough.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Class 2A girls basketball: Pocola tops Howe for first title since 2008
