The Morris varsity basketball program closed out their regular-season schedule this past Friday evening with a trip to Kellyville.
Eagles need OT to ‘corral’ Ponies
The Morris varsity basketball program closed out their regular-season schedule this past Friday evening with a trip to Kellyville.
The Morris cage squads will enter the postseason on a winning note following Friday’s sweep of the host Kellyville Ponies and Lady Ponies.
The Lady Eagles began the evening with a 66-33 victory, while the Eagles needed an extra 4-minute, overtime, period to complete the road sweep, defeating the host Ponies by a 68-62 decision.
The Morris cage squads will begin postseason play this Friday with Class 3A, Area IV, District 3 tournament at the Don Shoemake Sports Complex in Morris. The Lady Eagles have been awarded a bye in the district tournament and will automatically advance to next week’s regional tournament in Morris, as Dove Science Academy in Tulsa does not field a girls basketball team in 2022-2023. The Eagles will begin posteason play Friday against the Raptors at 7:30 p.m.
In Friday’s girls game at Kellyville, the Lady Eagles escaped the first period with a narrow 14-12 margin, then outscored the host Lady Ponies 25-6 in the second stanza for a 39-18 lead at the halftime break.
Kellyville took the third quarter by a 15-11 advantage to cut the Morris lead to 17 points, 44-29, with eight minutes remaining in regulation.
The Lady Eagles blanked the host squad 16-0 in the final frame to walk away with the convincing 66-33 victory.
The Morris offense was led by the duo of Skylar Phillips and Kaleah Barnett with 12 points apiece. Reagan Bowling also finished in double figures in the regular-season finale with 11 points.
Other Lady Eagle scorers at Kellyville were Marti Yaerger with nine, Maddie Moore seven, Emma Duclos and Jessica Wilson six each, Alexis Schell two, and Taylon Ray one.
In Friday’s boys contest at Kellyville, the Eagles trailed 14-7 after one, then blanked the host Ponies 20-0 in the second stanza for a 27-14 advantage at halftime.
Kellyville took the third quarter 2515 to cut the Morris lead to three, 4239, heading into the final frame of regulation, where the host Ponies came out with a 13-10 advantage to send the contest to a 4-minute overtime period with the score deadlocked at 52-52.
In the overtime period, both teams tallied a combined 26 points with Morris coming out on top by a 16-10 margin for the 68-62, overtime, victory.
Tucker Kelsey led the way offensively for the Eagles with a team-high 28 points, including 12 points in overtime. Xavier Harjo joined Kelsey in double figures with 20 points.
Other Morris scorers at Kellyville were Ryan Benavidez and Cody Smith with seven each, Koen Burgess three, Cruze Lawson two, and Race Casey one.
--- Girls Game
Morris 66, Kellyville 33
Morris: 14 - 25 - 11 - 16 (66) Kellyville: 12 - 6 - 15 - 0 (33) Morris Scoring: Skylar Phillips 12, Kaleah Barnett 12, Reagan Bowling 11, Marti Yaerger 9, Maddie Moore 7, Emma Duclos 6, Jessica Wilson 6, Alexis Schell 2, Taylon Ray 1.
--- Boys Game
Morris 68, Kellyville 62; OT
Morris: 7 - 20 - 15 - 10 - 16 (68) Kellyville: 14 - 0 - 25 - 13 - 10 (62) Morris Scoring: Tucker Kelsey 28, Xavier Harjo 20, Ryan Benavidez 7, Cody Smith 7, Koen Burgess 3, Cruze Lawson 2, Race Casey 1.
