Pirates, Lady Pirates improve to 16-3
The Preston varsity basketball program earned their eighth sweep of the season Tuesday evening with a pair of wins over the Kellyville Ponies and Lady Ponies.
The road sweep puts the Pirates and Lady Pirates at identical 16-3 season records.
The Lady Pirates began Tuesday’s road meeting with Kellyville with a 61-29 thrashing over the host Lady Ponies, while the Pirates earned their seventh-straight win in the nightcap, rallying to defeat the host Ponies by a 57-50 margin.
The Preston cage squads are scheduled to return to action Friday at Morris for a showdown with their Okmulgee County rivals, the Morris Eagles and Lady Eagles. Friday’s county battle in Morris will get started with girls action at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game at approximately 7:30 p.m.
In Tuesday’s girls game at Kellyville, the Lady Pirates turned a narrow 11-8 first-quarter lead into a commanding 32-13 advantage at halftime by taking the second period by a 21-5 margin.
The Preston ladies doubled up their conference foes 14-7 in the third quarter, then closed out the decisive 32-point victory by outscoring the Lady Ponies 15-9 in the final frame.
Adrianne Wilson led the way offensively for Preston in the win, finishing with a team-best 12 points. Jadyn Roberts also reached double figures for the Lady Pirates on Tuesday with an 11-point performance.
The trio of Ashlynn Foster, Emilie Stidman, and Savannah King were next in the scoring column for Preston with eight points apiece, followed by Shaunassi Jordan with six, Josie Cope four, and Taylan Starr and Pheobey Finch two each.
In Tuesday’s boys contest, the Pirates trailed 1916 after the first eight minutes of action, then were edged 12-10 in the second stanza to go into halftime down by five, 31-26.
The Preston squad trimmed the deficit to four, 4036, with eight minutes remaining in regulation following a narrow 10-9 margin in the third quarter, then completed the second-half comeback bid by outscoring the host Ponies 21-10 in the final frame to walk away with the 57-50 decision.
The Pirates’ top scorer against Kellyville was Giorgio Dunn-Spencer, who finished with a team-high 17 points. Malachi Ligons was next for Preston with 15, followed by Jervais Goree with 13 and Keyton Smith 10. Kareffren Bagby accounted for the Pirates’ final two points in Tuesday’s win.
--- Girls Game
Preston 61, Kellyville 29
Preston: 11 - 21 - 14 - 15 (61) Kellyville: 8 - 5 - 7 - 9 (29) Preston Scoring: Adrianne Wilson 12, Jadyn Roberts 11, Ashlynn Foster 8, Emilie Stidman 8, Savannah King 8, Shaunassi Jordan 6, Josie Cope 4, Taylan Starr 2, Pheobey Finch 2. --- Boys Game
Preston 57, Kellyville 50
Preston: 16 - 10 - 10 - 21 (57) Kellyville: 19 - 12 - 9 - 10 (50) Preston Scoring: Giorgio Dunn-Spencer 17, Malachi Ligons 15, Jervais Goree 13, Keyton Smith 10, Kareffren Bagby 2.
