CROWDER – The Colbert Lady Leopards are climbing the mountain, capturing another regional basketball championship Saturday with a 63-52 win over Preston.
The Lady Leopards’ 3-0 romp through the playoffs now has them playing in the shadow of the Kiamichi Mountains in Wilburton this week in the Area round. Colbert will face Oktaha at 6:30 p.m. Friday with the winner advancing to the state finals.
Colbert got there with a true team effort from start to finish. Ginavee Mowles scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds and four steals. Katherine Hair added 14 points and eight rebounds – seven in a second quarter stretch which turned the momentum for the Lady Leopards.
“Preston has a good team, a lot of quickness,” said Colbert Coach Chris Gillespie. “We had a really great game. In the first half Ginavee was just awesome. We’re excited and looking forward to a chance to play in the state tournament.”
Early on, it didn’t look promising for the Lady Leopards. Taylor Lyons picked up three fouls in the first quarter and was a virtual non-factor in the game. But Mowles scored 10 even though the Lady Pirates took a 17-13 lead.
Colbert began nagging the boards better in the second with 14 rebounds and a pair of corner threes from Mowles. They were able to grab a 31-30 halftime lead as well as all those boards.
But it was an 11-2 run to start the third which put the game out of reach. Colbert hit its first six shots of the second half, with Bailee Weger nailing a trio of three-point rainbows en route to a double digit lead.
Taytiana Gray filled in the gap left by Lyons with eight rebounds and four blocked shots to go with five points. Weger and Darian Bradford had nine each; Lyons and Samantha Cummins had two apiece.
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