While the finish wasn’t what they hoped, Caddo ended tremendous basketball seasons for both girls and boys in the Class A State Tournament at State Fair Arena last weekend in Oklahoma City.
The Lady Bruins notched a solid opening round 44-40 win over Red Oak in overtime before bowing out in the semifinals of a 53-40 decision to state runnerup Oklahoma Bible.
Caddo boys, meanwhile, were on the brink of a possible championship repeat after downing Drummond, 60-40, in round one and avenging an earlier loss to Seiling with a 54-35 triumph in the semifinals. The Bruins however went cold in the second half of the championship tilt in a 56-38 loss to Okarche.
Girls
The Lady Bruins looked to be off and running in the opening round, scoring the game’s first seven points against Red Oak before the Lady Eagles roared back to go in front 10-8 at the end of one quarter.
It was seemingly a nip-and-tuck battle the rest of the way with Caddo claiming an 18-14 edge at intermission before Red Oak responded to go in front 25-23 after three stanzas while improving their shooting percentage from 18 percent to 43 percent after the break.
Caddo, meanwhile, gradually improved its shooting throughout the game, hitting clutch shots down the stretch including a Harlee Taylor three pointer that put the Lady Bruins up 35-34 with 2:30 left.
Red Oak however tied it up and the two clubs exchanged layups, giving the Lady Bruins the final shot at the win before Kadey McKay’s trey was right on target but rimmed out to force overtime.
A Jaycie Nichols threepoint play put the Lady Bruins ahead 40-37 in overtime but it was two McKay free throws with 45 seconds to go that proved to be the decisive points.
Jaycie Nichols notched 14 points and seven rebounds while McKay contributed 13 points and eight boards in leading the charge for the Lady Bruins.
Rylan Peevyhouse and Kayden Prince scored six apiece, Taylor had three and Jordyn Nichols posted two.
The going got a lot tougher against Oklahoma Bible as Caddo didn’t have quite the success slowing down the Lady Trojan shooting that canned 51 percent for the game, including five three pointers.
OBA took a 19-13 lead after one quarter and left the Lady Bruins playing catch up the rest of the way. Caddo closed the gap to 29-26 at intermission but could never get over the hump as the lead swelled to as many as 13 points in the final period.
Jaycie Nichols pitched in 12 points and McKay added 11 as the only two Lady Bruins in double figures. Jordyn Nichols and Prince tallied seven apiece with Peevyhouse tossing in three points.
Boys
While the first half offensive performance in the opening round win wasn’t quite up to standard despite holding a 20-13 lead on Drummond, the Bruins got back in a groove after the break by scorching the nets for 67 percent shooting.
Caddo completely doubled the first half scoring effort by going up 40-26 at the end of three frames and kept the pedal to the throttle throughout the final quarter.
Senior D.J. Dill was the offensive catalyst, posting 22 points and 14 rebounds while also dishing out six assists.
Carson Culbreath connected for three treys and also hit double figures with 13 points and pulled down six boards. Kale Brister and Parker Bearden finished with seven points apiece, Gavin McMichael scored six, Corbin Stoner added three with Braden Tyson tossing in two.
Caddo wasted little time in getting the offense rolling in the Seiling victory, grabbing a 16-13 edge after one period and 30-21 at the break. The Bruins really poured things on with a 12-2 flurry to start the third quarter and never looked back.
For the game, the Bruins connected on 20 of 39 field goal tries for 51 percent shooting.
Dill fueled the attack with 20 points and eight rebounds as Brister tallied double figures as well with 14, hitting five for five at the charity stripe.
McMichael posted six points, Culbreath had five, Bearden scored four, Tyson pitched in three and Rance Richardson added two.
The first half of the championship was a virtual barnburner as Caddo claimed a 20-19 lead through one period before Okarche answered to go in front 32-31 at the half in the toe-to-toe heavyweight slugfest.
That’s when things went sour for the Bruins as after hitting 50 percent from the field in the first two quarters they sank just two shots over the final two periods, which equated to just 11 percent.
Okarche was in front 44-35 after the third and outscored Caddo by a 12-3 margin in the fourth.
Culbreath and Bearden scored 10 points apiece while Dill was limited to just six points. Brister also tallied six with Tyson, McMichael and Richardson all ending with two.