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Kiowa, Stuart advance to area tournaments

derek hatridge, mcalester news-capital, okla.
·3 min read

Feb. 18—ROFF — Noah Foris eyed his target as stepped to the line, took a deep breath and let his shot fly. He sent the ball through the net, securing the Cowboys' ticket to the area tournament.

Kiowa faced off against Tupelo in the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association Class B regional consolation finals on Saturday, where the Cowboys held off the Tigers for the 44-40 win and advance to the next round.

Cason Church and Eli Foris got the Cowboys on the board first with a pair of free throws, with Myer Medders adding a jumper for another score. Although the Tigers answered with scores of their own, Kiowa used buckets from Noah Foris and Cooper McClendon to take an 8-6 lead after the first period.

The back and forth continued into the second quarter, with Medders and Jaxon Wills answering Tupelo's scores to keep the teams neck-and-neck through most of the quarter. The Tigers next rattled off a scoring run to take the lead, but points from Noah Foris and Medders made it a slim 18-17 Tupelo lead at the half.

After trading scores to start the third quarter, Kiowa used free throws from Eli Foris and a swishing corner three from Church to pull into a 24-20 lead midway through the quarter. Jaxon Wills later added a pair of foul shots, but the Tigers scored to slim the lead down to one.

Tupelo followed that with a triple to take a two-point lead, but a foul on a rebound sent Church to the line — making both to tie up the game at 28-28 after three quarters.

The Cowboys turned up the dials in the fourth, using points from Noah Foris and Cason Church to extend the lead midway through the quarter. The Tigers looked to chip away, using a foul on a made bucket for three points and trim the Kiowa lead to three with 3:12 to play.

The two teams battled for their playoff lives down the stretch, but it'd be the Cowboys holding on to seal away the win.

Noah Foris led the way with 15 points, followed by Church with 11 points, Medders with seven points, Eli Foris with five points, Wills with four points, and McClendon with two points.

Kiowa joins Stuart in advancing to their respective area tournaments next week, scheduled for Feb. 23-25. The Cowboys will face Paden at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 at Ada, while the Hornets will face Kinta at 3 p.m. Feb. 23 at Henryetta.

Here are the complete regional tournament brackets for local Class A-B boys teams. These brackets will be updated as scores are reported:

CLASS A

AREA III

REGIONAL A-B AT KONAWA/QUINTON

FEB. 16

AT KONAWA

G3: Konawa 56, Webbers Falls 45

G1: Riverfield 68, Riverside 57

AT QUINTON

G4: Arkoma 70, Crowder 67 (2OT)

G2: Allen 67, Cave Springs 24

FEB. 17 AT STRINGTOWN

G5: Cave Springs 55, Konawa 47

G6: Riverside 76, Arkoma 45

FEB. 18 AT STRINGTOWN

G7: Cave Springs vs. Riverside, 3 p.m. (Winner advances to area)

G8: Riverfield vs. Allen, 7:30 p.m. (Both advance to area)

CLASS B

AREA III

REGIONAL A-B AT KIOWA/ROFF

FEB. 16

AT KIOWA

G3: Tupelo 72, Maud 52

G1: Earlsboro 61, Kiowa 41

AT ROFF

G4: Ft. Towson 46, Mill Creek 23

G2: Roff 66, Pittsburg 23

FEB. 17 AT ROFF

G5: Tupelo 45, Pittsburg 42

G6: Kiowa 43, Ft. Towson 33

FEB. 18 AT ROFF

G7: Kiowa 44, Tupelo 40 (Winner advances to area)

G8: Earlsboro vs. Roff, 7:30 p.m. (Both advance to area)

AREA IV

REGIONAL C-D AT MOSS/STRINGTOWN

FEB. 16

AT MOSS

G3: McCurtain 58, Calvin 29

G1: Moss 45, Stuart 43

AT STRINGTOWN

G4: Clayton 49, Whitesboro 42

G2: Stringtown 67, Battiest 60

FEB. 17 AT STRINGTOWN

G5: McCurtain 78, Battiest 65

G6: Stuart 56, Clayton 46

FEB. 18 AT STRINGTOWN

G7: Stuart 63, McCurtain 47(Winner advances to area)

G8: Stringtown 100, Moss 69 (Both advance to area)