The Morris Lady Eagle varsity basketball team suffered their first loss of the postseason this past Saturday evening at the Don Shoemake Sports Complex in Morris.
The Morris Lady Eagle varsity basketball team suffered their first loss of the postseason this past Saturday evening at the Don Shoemake Sports Complex in Morris.
The first setback in the playoffs came by a 76-40 margin at the hands of the third-ranked, and 2-time defending Class 3A state champion, Jones Lady Longhorns in the championship game of the Class 3A, Area IV, regional tournament.
The regional title loss puts the Lady Eagles into the loser’s bracket of this week’s Class 3A Area IV tournament at Verdigris High School, where the Morris ladies will need to win threestraight games to punch their ticket to the state tournament for the first time since 2011.
The first obstacle standing between the 11th-ranked Lady Eagles and the state tournament is the 14th-ranked Tahlequah Sequoyah Lady Indians Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the consolation quarterfinals of the area tournament. A win over Tahlequah Sequoyah will put the Morris squad into Friday’s consolation semifinal contest at 1:30 p.m.
against the winner of Thursday’s other loser’s bracket game between Tulsa Central and Adair, while a loss Thursday will bring the Lady Eagles’ season to a close.
The Morris ladies found themselves in Saturday’s regional title game after defeating the Tulsa Central Lady Braves by a 55-38 margin in last Thursday’s winner’s bracket contest in Morris.
In last Thursday’s winner’s bracket showdown with Tulsa Central, the Lady Eagles led by a 7-point margin, 16-9, after one quarter of action, then went into the halftime break with a 30-15 advantage after outscoring the Lady Braves 14-6 in the second period.
Tulsa Central made it a 39-30 contest with eight minutes remaining following a 15-9 margin in the third quarter.
The Lady Eagles doubled up on their opponents 16-8 in the final frame to walk away with the 55-38 victory and a spot in Saturday’s regional title game.
Skylar Phillips was tops offensively for Morris last Thursday with a team-best 18 points. Phillips was joined in double figures by Kaleah Barnett and Maddie Moore with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The remaining Lady Eagle scorers against Tulsa Central were Alexis Schell with six, Marti Yaerger, Emma Duclos, and Reagan Bowling three each, and Jessica Wilson one.
In Saturday’s title meeting with Jones, the Morris ladies were edged 17-13 in the opening frame, then were outscored 1810 in the second stanza to trail by 12 (35-23) at halftime.
The Lady Eagles were unable to overcome the double-digit deficit in the second half, as Jones took the final two quarters by margins of 21-7 and 20-10, respectively, to hand the Morris squad the 76-40 defeat.
Maddie Moore and Skylar Phillips led Morris in scoring on Saturday with nine points each. Jessica Wilson was next offensively for the Lady Eagles with seven, followed by Kaleah Barnett and Reagan Bowling with five apiece, Marti Yaerger three, and Taylon Ray two.
--- Class 3A Regional Tournament First Round
Morris 55, Tulsa Central 38 T. Central: 9 - 6 - 15 - 8 (38) Morris: 16 - 14 - 9 - 16 (55) Morris Scoring: Skylar Phillips 18, Kaleah Barnett 11, Maddie Moore 10, Alexis Schell 6, Marti Yaerger 3, Emma Duclos 3, Reagan Bowling 3, Jessica Wilson 1.
--- Championship
Jones 76, Morris 40
Jones: 17 - 18 - 21 - 20 (76) Morris: 13 - 10 - 7 - 10 (40) Morris Scoring: Maddie Moore 9, Skylar Phillips 9, Jessica Wilson 7, Kaleah Barnett 5, Reagan Bowling 5, Marti Yaerger 3, Taylon Ray 2.
