State championship quest waylaid by Spartans

Oklahoma Baptist finished off cross country season with a 15th place men’s finish and 22nd place women’s finish at the NAIA National Championship at Fort Vancouver, Wash., Saturday.

Stroud’s Tigers are one win closer to claiming the Class A gold ball after a 21-13 triumph over Pawnee in Friday night’s second-round playoff match. The Tigers are one of eight teams remaining in contention for the 2009 championship.

The turnover bug bit the Chandler Lions hard Friday night and the visiting Verdigris Cardinals took full advantage, earning a ticket to the Class 2A quarterfinals with a 14-13 win.
Leading 13-7 with just under two minutes left in the third quarter, Chandler’s Brandon Cummings tried to ignite a sputtering Chandler offense on a 3rd-and-13 pass from his own 24-yard line, but the Cardinals had no part of it. Senior Brandon Melton picked off the Cummings offering and traveled 37 yards to tie the game at 13 with 1:42 remaining. Tyler Hansloven then converted the extra point to give the Cardinals a 14-13 lead. its first of the contest.
“We knew coming into the game that we couldn’t lose the turnover battle, “ said Chandler head coach Neal Bacon.

Host Varnum outscored Earlsboro 26-18 in the last quarter Friday night for a 46-43 victory.

Oklahoma Baptist collected a 70-66 win at Southwestern Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon, withstanding a late 12-3 run.

Jay Gavin scored 20 points, Larry Sanders 17 and Virginia Commonwealth never trailed in an 82-69 upset of No. 17 Oklahoma on Saturday night.

It seemed the plan for No. 22 MidAmerica Nazarene Saturday evening was to keep Oklahoma Baptist from using its most popular weapon. While the Pioneers held Nate Brumfield to nine points, they didn’t slow down the Bison, who won 80-71.

St. Gregory’s Cavaliers, with four players in double figures, posted a 71-60 win over visiting Avila College Saturday afternoon to improve to 4-0 on the year.

With three players scoring in double figures, Asher raced to a 54-39 victory over Tupelo Friday night.

Brayle Brown, all 6-foot-4-inches, sat on the ground, staring into nowhere.
Kevin Dukes, at 260 pounds already a mountain of a young man, sobbed uncontrollably.
Cooper Ansell, one of 20 Shawnee seniors, had that dazed look of finality.
While dazed and confused Shawnee wondered what went so heartbreakingly awry Friday night, Bixby’s fans and players went delirious after recording a stunning 28-21 playoff victory at Jim Thorpe Stadium.

The second-ranked Dale Lady Pirates outscored 10th-ranked Amber-Pocassett 17-5 in the first quarter and cruised to a 51-35 victory in a girls high school basketball clash Friday night.
Brenna Burnett poured in a game-leading 19 points and Kaylee Wilkins added 15 for the Lady Pirates, who kept their perfect record intact at 3-0.

The Liberty Academy girls, behind a 21-5 first quarter and a double-double from Charity Fowler, rolled to a 65-46 basketball victory over Lawton Christian Friday night.
Fowler fired in 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Blair Johnson tossed in 18 points for the Lady Eagles, who improved to 5-2 on the season.

James Turney registered a double-double with 34 points and 14 rebounds as the Macomb Hornets opened the 2009-10 basketball season with a 72-55 triumph over Sasakwa Friday night.

Brandon McCoy led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points as the Meeker Bulldogs opened the 2009-10 basketball season with a 59-49 win over the Wellston Tigers Friday night.
Zack Wood and Nathan Bellymule joined McCoy in double figures with 12 apiece as Meeker outscored Wellston in very quarter but the fourth.

Megan Maloy and Jordon Lasley scored 14 points apiece as the Earlsboro Lady Wildcats secured a 49-33 win over host Varnum Friday night.
Lorren Brannon tallied 12 points and Arion Harris was next with seven as Earlsboro evened its season record at 2-2.

Oklahoma Baptist absorbed its first women’s basketball loss in a defensive struggle against NCAA Division II’s 12th-ranked team, Central Oklahoma, 61-56 Friday.
The Lady Bison had its worst shooting game of the young season, missing all nine second-half three-point attempts and hitting 39 percent from the field for the game.

If Southern Mississippi wants a place in the Conference USA championship game, the Golden Eagles must defeat a Tulsa team that appears vulnerable after five straight losses.

Mike Leach wants his Texas Tech team to leave behind last year’s loss at Oklahoma when the Red Raiders play the Sooners on Saturday.
The 65-21 rout last November ended Tech’ unbeaten season and eliminated their chance of playing for the national title. The win kept the Sooners ahead of Texas in the BCS standings and sent OU to play for the national championship against Florida.

One win down, four to go.
The Lions of Chandler and the Tigers of Stroud each prevailed last week in the first round of the 2009 football postseason, and second-round action looms tonight as the crews keep hopes alive of reaching the big show.

Pin the ears back and let fly.
That’s the defensive trademark of the Bixby Spartans, who will try to put a snafu in Shawnee’s Class 5A state championship dreams.