The old saying that ‘solid defense leads to good offense’ played out to true form Tuesday night as the Shawnee Lady Wolves upended the Tulsa Memorial Lady Chargers 57-30 in the opening round of the Class 5A regional playoffs at the SHS Performing Arts and Athletic Center.
Shawnee, 17-7, advances to the regional finals at home Friday against Pryor, which knocked off Claremore in the other first-round regional clash. The Shawnee-Pryor game tips off at 3:30 p.m.
“I liked the way we played hard and communicated,” said Shawnee Head Coach Wendi Wells. “It helped us being off (for rest) last week. Before that we had 15 games in four weeks.”
The Lady Wolves did much right, forcing 26 Tulsa Memorial turnovers while gathering 20 steals and dishing out 16 assists on 24 made baskets.
Shawnee shot 42.9% from the floor for the game and it would have been better had it not missed a few point-blank attempts.
“When you get to the playoffs there’s a lot of nerves, but I liked the way we played hard, crashing the boards and keeping the ball alive,” Wells said.
Josie Megehee and Tarilyn Thierry ignited the Lady Wolves’ offense with 22 and 14 points respectively.
Megehee was 10-of-22 shooting with five rebounds, six steals and a pair of assists while Tarilyn Thierry had an impressive statistical line, going 5-of-8 from the floor with four 3-point baskets. She also snatched five boards, handed out five assists and registered five steals.
“I talked with Tarilyn about defense leading to offense. That’s the best on-the-ball defense she’s played,” said Wells. “She guarded well out on the floor and it helped her get into a better rhythm offensively.”
Shawnee received nine points off the bench from Karma Mason, who was 4-of-7 from the field. Starter Chrishelle Milum followed with six points. Tatyanna Thierry sank a 3-point basket and Serenity Casteel chipped in two points. Daley Rice tacked on a free throw to go with five assists, four steals and three boards.
Eighteen of the Lady Chargers’ 30 points came from Mataya Hall, who was 6-of-11 from the field and 6-of-9 from the foul line.
Tulsa Memorial shot just 31.2% but at the same time only had 32 shot attempts on the night. That’s due to a relentless defensive presence by the Lady Wolves who turned the Lady Chargers over on numerous possessions.
Shawnee, which trailed early, did get off to an 11-7 start with 2:03 to go in the first quarter as Megehee tallied six and Tarilyn Thierry tossed in five for all of the Lady Wolves’ scoring. A Mason bucket just before the end of the period made it 13-7 going into the second.
Mason scored six more in the second quarter. Megehee had four, Tarilyn Thierry hit another trey, Milum had a bucket and Rice hit her free throw as the Shawnee lead was expanded to 29-15 at halftime.
In that second period alone, the Lady Wolves forced eight turnovers and got six steals off them, including three by Tarilyn Thierry, two by Rice and one by Megehee as Shawnee doubled up Tulsa Memorial by a 16-8 count.
Before halftime, Rice dished out four assists and Tarilyn Thierry totaled three through the first 16 minutes.
The Lady Wolves then hit the Lady Chargers with a 14-4 third quarter as Milum and Megehee each nailed a pair of baskets while Tarilyn Thierry and Tatyanna Thierry each knocked down a 3-point shot to make it 43-19 heading into the fourth.
In the final stanza, Megehee scored eight. Tarilyn Thierry canned her fourth and final trey. Serenity Casteel hit a 2-point bucket and Mason connected on 1-of-2 charity tosses.
