Foul concerns limited Josie Megehee’s play in the first half.
No worries as Megehee, a senior, scored 17 of her game-high 20 points over the final two quarters as the Shawnee Lady Wolves rallied for a come-from-behind 48-33 victory over the Pryor Tigers in a Class 5A regional final Friday afternoon at the SHS Performing Arts and Athletic Center.
Shawnee (18-7) advances to play Coweta at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the winners’ bracket of the area tournament at Jenks High School.
Megehee knocked down two 3-point baskets with both coming in the third quarter on her way to nine points in that period and eight points in the fourth off four 2-point buckets. Her other three points came off a trey in the opening quarter.
“I told Josie she’s got to relax a little bit. She’s the ultimate competitor,” said Shawnee Head Coach Wendi Wells. “I told her to play your game and she did a great job of controlling her emotions in the second half.” Megehee was joined in double figures by junior Daley Rice with 13.
“Daley fills up the stat sheet with rebounds, assists and deflections. She’s a coach’s dream,” Wells said.
Wells also praised the play of Tarilyn Thierry, who ended up with five points and three assists.
“She played great defense. She kept us in the game early with here defense,” said Wells.
Rounding out the Shawnee scoring were Tatyanna Thierry with four and Chrishelle Milum, Allyson McAlister and Karma Mason with two apiece.
Anna Raymond fired in four 3-point shots and led Pryor with 14 points.
Except for an 8-7 first quarter advantage, the Lady Wolves trailed the entire first half and were down by a 19-12 count with 3:10 to go before halftime.
Shawnee sliced the deficit to 19-16 at halftime after a Rice bucket and a steal and layup by Tarilyn Thierry with eight seconds to go.
Several turnovers and anxiousness were shown by the Lady Wolves which led to being down at the break.
The second half turned out to be a huge turnaround.
Not only did Shawnee outscore the Lady Tigers by a 19-6 count in the third, the Lady Wolves launched the second half with a 9-0 run.
Megehee had seven of the night as she scored the first basket. Rice had the next and Megehee followed that up with a 2-pointer and a trey to make it 25-19 with 4:58 remaining in the third.
After Raymond sank the third of her fourth 3-pointers, Shawnee scored eight more unanswered points to go up 33-22 with 48 seconds left in the third.
That 8-0 spurt was triggered by a Mason basket off a Rice feed. A Tarilyn Thierry trey off a kick-out pass from Megehee, a Rice free throw and a long rebound and foot race for a layup by Megehee.
Another Raymond 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to 33-25 with eight seconds to go.
Then Tayanna Thierry scored off the glass at the buzzer to make it 35-25 going into the fourth period.
The Lady Wolves went on to outscore Pryor 13-8 in the fourth quarter.
Megehee drove the baseline and scored and Rice later had a bucket as the Shawnee advantage was expanded to 39-25 with 6:53 remaining.
The Lady Wolves’ lead swelled to 45-27 with 4:35 left after two baskets by Megehee and a Rice score off another Tarilyn Thierry pass. Megehee’s second 2-pointer during that spree was a layup after a long delivery downcourt by Tatyanna Thierry.
Shawnee snatched one more 18-point cushion after Megehee scored off a putback and Rice converted the second of two foul shots to make it 48-30 with 1:56 remaining.
