Caddo boys win area, Lady Bruins back to state

The defending state champion Caddo boys cruised back to the state tournament with an area championship while the Lady Bruins also punched their ticket with a consolation title in Class A playoff action last weekend in Madill.

Caddo rode a monster third quarter to a 53-46 triumph over Wright City in its lone area tournament contest while the girls belted Bryan County Conference foe Tushka, 51-30, to wrap up a dominant run through the loser’s bracket. The Lady Bruins also toppled Wright City, 47-34, after putting a 52-30 walloping on Talihina in round one.

The Lady Bruins were slated to meet Red Oak at 1:30 Thursday in the state opener at State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City with the boys battling Drummond at 6 p.m.

Area Championship Caddo 53, Wright City 46 (boys)

Senior D.J. Dill put on a clinic in scoring the first 10 Caddo points of the contest and then pumped in 12 of the final 14 to seal the area title win.

Caddo held a slim 13-12 lead after one quarter but Wright City answered in the second to go on top 27-26 at the half.

The crucial third period ended up being the key to the game as Dill poured in nine and fellow senior Carson Culbreath notched eight points in fueling a 20-6 burst that put the Bruins in front and extended that lead to 46-33.

Dill wrapped up the game with a gamehigh 28 points as Culbreath also hit double figures with 11. Parker Bearden notched five, Kale Brister and Gavin Mc-Michael scored four each with Braden Tyson adding one.

Caddo Girls

The Lady Bruins wasted no time in putting the blitz on Talihina in the first game of the area as they built a 21-0 advantage while throwing a first quarter shutout behind 11 points from Jaycie Nichols.

It was 36-3 at the half and 47-9 at the end of three quarters.

Nichols finished with a game-high 18 points with freshman Kayden Prince also hitting double figures with 11. Jordyn Nichols and Harlee Taylor each canned two treys on the way to eight points apiece. Rylan Peevyhouse added three while Kadey McKay and Ressa Dill scored two each.

Caddo followed up with a 47-34 win against Wright City in a game that wasn’t fully decided until the fourth period.

The Lady Bruins were up 12-8 after one quarter and 17-11 at halftime before Wright City answered with a 15-14 scoring run in the third to narrow the gap to just five points. Caddo, however, responded once more with a 16-8 blitz in the last stanza that put it away. Prince scored nine in that final flurry and wrapped up with a team-high 17 points for the game. Jaycie Nichols pitched in 11, Jordyn Nichols had nine, McKay added eight and Taylor rounded out the scoring with two. In the finale versus Tushka, Caddo held an 8-4 edge after a low-scoring opening frame but erupted for 36 points over the following two stanzas to clinch another return to state. The Lady Bruins outscored their conference mates 19-9 in period number two and 17-4 in the third as well. Jaycie Nichols led three double digit contributors with 18 points as Prince tossed in 16 and McKay contributed 12. Jordyn Nichols scored three and Taylor had two.