How did Carl Albert girls basketball flip script to beat Shawnee in rematch? 'We over me'
MIDWEST CITY — Kyle Richey remembered the numbers from Jan. 9.
Twenty-two offensive rebounds allowed, including 15 in the first quarter of an eight-point loss at Shawnee. If the Carl Albert girls basketball coach and his team were to flip the script in the rematch, that is the statistic that required improvement.
“We cut down on that tremendously,” Richey said after the Titans defeated Shawnee, 49-44, in a Class 5A District 1 game Tuesday night at Carl Albert. “Right there was the biggest factor that we had in our pregame talk. Rebound and limit them to one shot. Now, did they get a few? They did. We’re never going to be perfect, but I thought that was the key to the game.”
Unofficially, Carl Albert out-rebounded the Wolves, 28-23. Officially, the Titans (16-4, 8-3) pulled within a half-game of Shawnee (14-7, 9-3) for second place in 5A-1 behind undefeated El Reno. The top-two teams in the district earn the opportunity to host their first two playoff games.
“That would mean everything to me, the girls,” Carl Albert senior Ausha Moore said. “I’ve never played here and not hosted, so that would definitely be weird. … Everybody loves playing at home. I love our crowd. They come support us. Playing at home would mean everything.”
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Carl Albert has three games – all at home – left in its district schedule (Crossings Christian, Western Heights, Altus), while Shawnee has just two, but one is against undefeated El Reno. Since Carl Albert and Shawnee split its two meetings this season, a points tiebreaker would come into play should they end the season with identical district records.
“Still have to take care of our business,” Richey said. “It could actually come down to Tuesday for the points tiebreaker.”
Since the January loss to Shawnee, Carl Albert has now won seven of nine games. After yielding a 13-2 Wolves’ burst that placed the Titans on the wrong end of a 37-33 deficit early in the fourth quarter, Carl Albert responded with a 13-4 surge of its own to take the lead for good.
“We just had to, especially me, make sure we are not in our heads and just keep going,” Carl Albert sophomore Audrey Plunkett said. “‘We’ve got this. We’re a great team.’ Individually, together. Just keep going and we got it.”
Moore led Carl Albert with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Plunkett accounted for nine points. Evi Mitchell and Essence Curry both finished with seven points, and it was Curry that pulled down the critical rebound of Shawnee’s potential game-tying three-point attempt that helped clinch the game.
“Just clean up our offense,” Moore said. “We’ve been practicing a lot, running our offense. I don’t think any team can really scout us because we haven’t ran our offense right all year. So working on our offense these past couple of weeks has really helped us a lot.”
Sophomore Daley Rice led Shawnee with 14 points.
Carl Albert senior post player Lanie Moore recorded seven points and three rebounds off the bench, while fellow reserve Skylar Anderson corralled four more rebounds.
“We have a motto ‘We Over Me,’” Richey said. “And the bench played unbelievable tonight. When we can go eight and nine deep we’re not going to fall off. The starters played great, but the bench gave them breathers. It was a good team victory tonight.”
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Hopkins keeps scoring for Carl Albert boys
On the basketball court, Quincy Hopkins has the reputation of being a staunch defender.
As of late, the Carl Albert senior is flashing the ability to fill up the stat sheet on the offensive end, as well.
“That is what I have been striving to do this whole season,” Hopkins said after posting a team-high 17 points in the Titans’ 70-54 win over Shawnee in a Class 5A District 1 boys’ basketball game Tuesday night at Carl Albert High School. “And defense starts it all. I love playing defense and getting after their best players.”
Hopkins’ performance continued a week of points and milestones for the 6-foot-4, 190-pound shooting guard. On Friday, Hopkins scored 15 points as the Titans atoned for an earlier loss to Guthrie and notched an impressive 19-point road win over the Bluejays. Three days before that, Hopkins went to Elgin and eclipsed a mark that so many high school basketball players strive for during their careers – 1,000 career points.
“It’s pretty simple to me,” Hopkins said. “To me, it means I am a part of history now forever at Carl Albert.”
Ryan Reynolds added 10 points for Carl Albert (16-4, 9-2 5A-1) winner of 13 of its last 14 games and embroiled in a fierce district race with both Guthrie and first-place Crossings Christian. After earning a split in the season series with Guthrie, Carl Albert can do the same against Crossings when the Knights visit on Thursday.
“Team defense, team rebounding and taking care of the ball is what we’ll have to do to get a crack at this on Thursday,” Hopkins said.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school basketball: Carl Albert girls, boys beat Shawnee
