The 2023 Muscogee Nation Invitational basketball tournament concluded this past Saturday evening at the Henryetta Event Center.

The Dewar Lady Dragons were the top county cage squad in the girls portion of the 3-day event. The Lady Dragons earned wins over Davenport (39-38) and Schulter (36-22), respectively, in their two tournament contests last weekend to take home the Small School girls championship trophy.

The Preston Lady Pirates and Schulter Lady Bulldogs were next amongst the county teams competing last weekend with runner-up finishes at the 3-day event. The Lady Pirates finished runner-up in the Large School portion of the tournament, falling to the Buffalo Valley Lady Buffaloes by a 46-29 margin last Saturday, while the Lady Bulldogs were second to Dewar in the Small School portion of the tournament with their double-digit setback last Saturday.

The other tournament results involving county teams on Saturday were as follows: • Morris fell to Tahlequah Sequoyah 38-32 in the Large School third-place game.

• Wilson edged Henryetta 47-46 in overtime to take home fifth in the Large School bracket.

• Beggs knocked off Okmulgee 6020 in the Large School seventh-place contest.

The Lady Demons’ win over Okmulgee on Saturday was the first win for the Beggs cage squad in the 20222023 campaign.

Along with all of the exciting tournament action, one Okmulgee County athlete reached a special milestone during Saturday’s final day, as Preston’s Adrianne Wilson tallied her 1,000th point of her high school career with a second-quarter 3-point basket in the Lady Pirates’ title game against Buffalo Valley.

Below are summaries from girls games featuring Okmulgee County teams at the 2023 Muscogee Nation Invitational Tournament.

--- Large School First Round

Morris 76, Henryetta 27

The Lady Eagles took the opening frame by a 35-12 margin, then outscored their county foes 12-2 in the second stanza for a 47-14 lead at halftime. The Morris ladies extended their lead to 72-16 after a 25-2 advantage in the third quarter, while the Lady Knights came out of the final period with an 11-4 margin to make the final outcome 76-27 in favor of the Lady Eagles from Morris.

Maddie Moore was the top scorer for Morris in the opening-round win, finishing with a game-high 15 points. Reagan Bowling (14), Emma Duclos (12), and Marti Yaerger (10) also finished with double-digit scoring for the Lady Eagles in the win. Other scorers for Morris against Henryetta were Taylon Ray with six, Lillian Giddens five, Kaleah Barnett and Jessica Wilson three each, and Skylar Phillips, Firé Clark, Sutton Giddens, and Alexis Schell two apiece.

The Lady Knights were led in scoring by McKayla Greenhaw with 10, followed by Brooklyn Baughman with six, Kassidy Lee four, and Sutv Harjo three. Allana Lawrence and Graci Lollis rounded out the Henryetta scoring with two points each.

--- Preston 54, Wilson 24

The Lady Pirates came out of the opening period with an 11-5 margin, then outscored the Lady Tigers 14-10 in a back-and-forth second quarter to go into halftime with a 25-15 advantage. The Preston ladies took the final two frames by margins of 19-5 and 10-4, respectively, to walk away with the 54-24 decision.

Jadyn Roberts was tops offensively for the Lady Pirates with a gamehigh 15 points. Roberts was joined in double figures in the opening-round win by Savannah King with 11. Adrianne Wilson and Emilie Stidman just missed double-digit scoring for Preston with nine points apiece, followed by Shaunassi Jordan with six and Taylan Starr and Pheobey Finch two each.

Wilson was led in scoring by Janelle Proctor with 10, followed by Jayda Pinkston and Jaslene Proctor four each and Kailee Branson, Kaozong Yang, and Marah Shanks two apiece.

--- Buffalo Valley 67, Beggs 27

The Lady Demons trailed 20-8 after one and 38-15 at halftime. Buffalo Valley took the final two frames by margins of 13-7 and 16-5, respectively, to hand the Beggs ladies the opening- round setback, 67-27. Tessa Christy led the way offensively for the Lady Demons with 10 points. Other Beggs scorers against Buffalo Valley were Alyssa Antwine with six, Angel Aylor four, Destiny Clay three, and Bleu Hall and Mylah Williams two each.

--- Tahlequah Seq. 70, Okmulgee 21 The Lady Bulldogs were outscored 16-2 in the opening period, then matched the Lady Indians 8-8 in the second stanza for a 24-10 halftime deficit. Tahlequah Sequoyah came out of the final two frames with margins of 26-7 and 20-4, respectively, to hand the Okmulgee ladies the 70-21 defeat.

Skye Sanders led the Okmulgee scoring with 11 points, followed by Jaidyn Gatewood and Cora Love with three each and Rhonisha Smith and Mallory Rivas two apiece.

--- Consolation Semifinals Wilson 47, Okmulgee 34

The Lady Bulldogs came out of the opening period with a narrow 11-10 advantage, then edged the Lady Tigers 10-7 in the second stanza for a 21-17 lead at the halftime break. Both county squads tallied 11 points in the third quarter to send the loser’s bracket contest to the final eight minutes of regulation with Okmulgee still clinging to a 4-point advantage, 32-28. In the final frame, the Lady Bulldog offense was limited to just two points, while the Lady Tigers lit up the scoreboard for 18 points in the final quarter to walk away with the 47-34 decision.

Wilson was led offensively by Janelle Proctor, who finished with a game-high 16 points. Brooklyn Weeks was next for the Lady Tigers with 10 points, followed by Kaozong Yang with seven, Jayda Pinkston five, Jaslene Proctor four, Kailee Branson and Marah Shanks two each, and Gracie Bear one.

The Lady Bulldogs were led by Jaidyn Gatewood with 15. Other Okmulgee scorers in the loser’s bracket contest were Tori James with eight, Skye Sanders six, and Rhonisha Smith five.

--- Henryetta 40, Beggs 29

The Lady Knights took the low-scoring first period by a 6-1 margin. The scoring picked up in the second stanza with Henryetta coming out on top - 17-10 - to go into halftime with a 23-11 advantage. The Lady Demons made it a 29-22 contest after escaping the third quarter with an 11-6 margin, while the Henryetta ladies put the finishing touches on the 40-29 victory by outscoring their county foes 11-7 in the final frame.

Kassidy Lee led the Lady Knights in scoring with a game-high 15 points. McKayla Greenhaw was next for Henryetta with 14, followed by Brooklyn Baughman with eight, Allana Lawrence two, and Serenity Rex one.

The top scorer for the Lady Demons in the loser’s bracket game was Mylah Williams with eight points. Other Beggs players to tally points against Henryetta were Alyssa Antwine and Payton Crook with seven each, Konner Stanton three, and Tessa Christy and Bleu Hall two apiece.

--- Semifinals

Buffalo Valley 55, Morris 51

The Lady Eagles came out of the opening frame with a 13-8 advantage, then edged the Lady Buffaloes 11-9 in the second stanza for a 24-17 lead at the intermission. Buffalo Valley cut the Morris lead to one, 39-38, with a 21-15 advantage in the third period, then complete its second-half comeback with a 17-12 edge in the final quarter to hand the Morris ladies the 55-51 defeat.

The Lady Eagles’ top scorer in the semifinal contest was Maddie Moore with a game-high 20 points. Reagan Bowling also reached double figures for Morris with 18. Other Lady Eagle scorers against Buffalo Valley were Skylar Phillips with five, Kaleah Barnett and Jessica Wilson three each, and Marti Yaerger two.

--- Preston 36, Tahlequah Sequoyah 30 The Lady Pirates trailed 9-5 after one and 15-7 at halftime. The Preston squad took the semifinal contest into the final eight minutes of action with a narrow 21-20 advantage after outscoring the Lady Indians 14-5 in the third quarter. The Lady Pirates capped off second-half rally with a 15-10 margin in the final stanza to advance to the title game with the 36-30 victory.

Adrianne Wilson was tops in scoring for Preston with 14 points, followed by Jadyn Roberts with nine and Shaunassi Jordan five. Emilie Stidman and Savannah King rounded out the Lady Pirate offense with four points each.

--- Seventh Place

Beggs 60, Okmulgee 20

The Lady Demons took the opening period by a 13-4 margin, then outscored the Lady Bulldogs 13-2 in the second stanza for a 26-6 lead at the intermission. The final two quarters also went to the Beggs ladies by margins of 20-9 and 14-5, respectively, to award the Lady Demons their first win of the season, 60-20, as well as the seventh-place finish. Mylah was one of three Beggs players to tally double-digit scoring in the contest, finishing with a game-high 14 points. Payton Crook and Konner Stanton also reached double figures for the Lady Demons with 11 and 10, respectively. Other Beggs scorers against Okmulgee were Tessa Christy with eight, Alyssa Antwine five, Alexis Tecumseh and Bleu Hall four each, and Angel Aylor and Destiny Clay two apiece.

The top scorer for the Lady Bulldogs was Skye Sanders with nine, followed by Tori James with eight and Mallory Rivas three.

--- Consolation Finals

Wilson 47, Henryetta 46; OT The opening frame went to the Lady Tigers by a narrow 11-10 advantage, while the Lady Knights came out of the second quarter with a 14-9 margin to send the fifth-place contest to the halftime break with Henryetta in front by four, 24-20. The Henryetta ladies extended their lead to 36-26 with a 12-6 advantage in the third period, while the Wilson ladies overcame the 10-point deficit by taking the final stanza 15-5, sending the game to a 4-minute overtime period with the score knotted at 41-41.

In overtime, the Lady Tigers led 45-43 late in the frame, then Brooklyn Baughman put the Lady Knights on top 46-45 with a go-ahead 3-point basket with 8 seconds left in the extra quarter. After Baughman’s go-ahead basket, the Wilson squad quickly raced down the court in hopes of attempting a game-winning shot before the final buzzer. The Lady Tigers found Jayda Pinkston near the basket with Pinkston getting off a shot attempt before the buzzer sounded that touched nothing but nylon to give the Wilson cage squad the thrilling 47-46, overtime, victory, and the consolation championship trophy.

Baughman and Janelle Proctor led their respective teams in scoring with 23 points each.

Other Wilson scorers in the overtime win were Brooklyn Weeks and Kailee Branson seven each, Gracie Bear six, and Pinkston and Kaozong Yang two apiece.

Other Henryetta scorers were McKayla Greenhaw with eight, Kassidy Lee six, Graci Lollis four, Sutv Harjo three, and Allana Lawrence two.

--- Third Place

Tahlequah Sequoyah 38, Morris 32

The Lady Eagles took the opening frame by a 1512 margin, while Tahlequah Sequoyah came out of the second period with a 13-5 advantage to go into halftime with a 25-20 lead. The Morris offense was held to just two points in the third quarter, while the Lady Indians tallied eight points in the stanza to extend their lead to 11 points, 33-22, heading into the final eight minutes of action. The Morris ladies doubled their foes 10-5 in the final period, including back-to-back 3-point baskets by Emma Duclos in the final minute of regulation, but were unable to complete the comeback attempt, suffering the 38-32 setback.

Maddie Moore and Jessica Wilson led the way offensively for Morris with 10 points each. Duclos was next for the Lady Eagles with seven, while Kaleah Barnett rounded out the Morris scoring with five points.

--- Championship

Buffalo Valley 46, Preston 29

The Lady Pirates were outscored 8-3 in the opening period and went into halftime trailing 21-15 following a narrow 13-12 deficit in the second quarter. Buffalo Valley made it a 32-23 contest by edging Preston 11-8 in the third stanza, then came out of the final frame with a 14-6 advantage to hand the Lady Pirates the 46-29 loss and the runner-up trophy.

Adrianne Wilson, who reached the 1,000-point plateau in the second quarter, led the way offensively for Preston with 12 points. Other Lady Pirate scorers in the title game were Shaunassi Jordan with six, Savannah King five, Emilie Stidman four, and Taylan Starr and Jadyn Roberts one each.

--- Small School

Dewar 39, Davenport 38

Both teams tallied 10 points in the opening period, then Dewar came out of the second quarter with a 12-10 advantage for a 22-20 halftime lead. Davenport cut the Dewar lead in half, 31-30, with a narrow 10-9 margin in the third stanza. The Lady Dragons matched the Lady Bulldogs 8-8 in the final frame to earn the 39-38 victory.

Ally Burney led Dewar in scoring with a teambest 11 points. Melanie Burney and Maikya Carter were next for the Lady Dragons with eight points each, followed by Bre Harvell with six, Laynie Taylor five, and Victoria Hill one.

--- Schulter 39, Davenport 34

The Schulter ladies came out of the opening frame with an 11-5 advantage, while Davenport took the second stanza 9-4 to send the tournament contest to the intermission with Schulter clinging to a 1-point lead, 15-14. Davenport used a 10-8 margin in the third quarter for a 24-23 lead with eight minutes remaining in regulation. Schulter rallied in the final period, outscoring its opponent 16-10 in the frame to walk away with the 39-34 decision.

The top scorer for the victorious Schulter Lady Bulldogs was Caidence Campbell with 11 points. Other Schulter scorers against Davenport were Macee Henderson with eight, Payton Campbell seven, Addiemae Kanada six, Angel Vinyard four, Alyssa Evans two, and Alexis Hurt one.

--- Dewar 36, Schulter 22

The Lady Dragons edged their county rivals 8-5 in the first period, while both county squads tallied four points in a low-scoring second quarter to give Dewar a 12-9 lead at the halftime break. The Lady Dragons took the final two frames 11-4 and 13-9, respectively, to walk away with the 36-22 decision.

Dewar was led in scoring by Melanie Burney with a game-high 10 points. Other Lady Dragon scorers against Schulter were Bre Harvell with eight, Ally Burney and Maikya Carter six each, and Sommer Bess, Laynie Taylor, and Victoria Hill two apiece.

Schulter’s top scorer in the county battle was Addiemae Kanada with nine points, followed by Macee Henderson with seven, Alyssa Evans five, and Payton Campbell one.