The Morris Lady Eagle varsity basketball team came up one win shy of their first state tournament appearance in 12 years this past Saturday evening at Verdigris High School.
Lady Eagles come up short in State cage bid
The Morris Lady Eagle varsity basketball team came up one win shy of their first state tournament appearance in 12 years this past Saturday evening at Verdigris High School.
For the second time in the last three seasons, the Lady Eagles found themselves one win away from snapping their state tournament drought.
For the second time in the last three seasons, the Morris cage squad had their State dreams dashed in the consolation finals of the Class 3A area tournament.
In 2021, the team to derail the Lady Eagles’ State bid was the Hugo Lady Buffaloes, who defeated the Morris ladies 37-35 in Henryetta.
This season, the fifth-ranked Kiefer Lady Trojans denied the Lady Eagles one of the eight spots in this week’s Class 3A state basketball championships, handing the Morris cage squad a season-ending 5244 defeat in Saturday’s area consolation title game.
The Lady Eagles have had their season end at Verdigris High School the past two years, losing to Tahlequah Sequoyah by a 38-22 margin in the area consolation semifinals.
The Morris squad finishes the 2022-2023 campaign with a 20-8 record and ranked 11th in Class 3A, including finishing runner-up at both the J.T. Dixon Memorial Tournament in Haskell and the Warner Eagle Cherokee Classic and fourth at the 2023 Muscogee Nation Invitational.
The Lady Eagles found themselves in the loser’s bracket of the area tournament last week following a 76-40 loss to 2-time defending Class 3A state champion Jones in the regional championship game in Morris on February 25.
The Morris ladies began their journey through the loser’s bracket last Thursday afternoon with a 55-45 victory over the 14th-ranked Tahlequah Sequoyah Lady Indians, then advanced to Saturday’s consolation title game with a 63-59 decision over the 20th-ranked Adair Lady Warriors Friday afternoon in the consolation semifinal round of the Class 3A, Area IV tournament at Verdigris High School.
Below are summaries from the Lady Eagles’ run through the loser’s bracket of the Class 3A, Area IV tournament last weekend at Verdigris.
Class 3A Area Tournament Consolation Quarterfinals
Morris 55, Tahlequah Sequoyah 45
The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 10-2 advantage after the first eight minutes of action, then went into the halftime break in front by a commanding 32-9 lead after outscoring the Lady Indians 22-7 in the second period.
The Morris offense went cold from the field in the third quarter, as Tahlequah Sequoyah took the frame by a 21-7 margin to send the contest to the final eight minutes of regulation with Morris leading by nine, 39-30.
The scoring went back and forth in the final stanza with the Lady Eagles escaping with a slim 16-15 margin to walk away with the 55-45 decision and keep their season alive for at least one more day.
The top offensive performer for the Morris cage squad against Tahlequah Sequoyah was Maddie Moore with a team-best 14 points. The duo of Skylar Phillips and Marti Yaerger joined Moore in double figures in the elimination contest with 13 points apiece.
Other Lady Eagle scorers last Thursday were Kaleah Barnett with seven, Emma Duclos and Taylon Ray three each, and Alexis Schell two.
--- Consolation Semifinals Morris 63, Adair 59
The Lady Eagles escaped the opening frame with a narrow 9-8 advantage, then outscored the Lady Warriors 21-17 in the second stanza for a 30-25 lead at the intermission.
The Morris squad extended its lead to 18 (49-31) after a 19-6 margin in the third quarter and opened the final period of regulation with a 10-8 run to lead by 20 (59-39) and appeared on their way to a decisive victory.
Adair battled back in the final frame, using a 15-0 run to cut the Morris lead to five, 59-54, late in the quarter.
After Skylar Phillips made a pair of free throws for a 7-point advantage - 61-54, Adair scored five points in a 5-second span to make it a 61-59 contest.
Phillips calmly sank two more charity tosses with 10.7 seconds remaining, while the Morris defense kept Adair off the scoreboard in the final seconds of regulation to walk away with the hard-fought 6359 victory and advance to the area consolation title game.
Phillips led the way offensively for the Lady Eagles against Adair with a 16-point performance. Alexis Schell also tallied double-digit scoring in the win, finishing with 12 points.
Other Morris scorers against Adair were Emma Duclos with eight, Regan Bowling seven, Marti Yaerger and Maddie Moore six each, Kaleah Barnett five, and Jessica Wilson three.
--- Consolation Finals Kiefer 52, Morris 44
The Lady Eagles struggled offensively in the first half, finishing with six points in each quarter - all by Maddie Moore. Kiefer tallied a total of 22 points (9 in the first, 13 in the second) in the first half for a 10-point (22-12) lead at halftime.
The Morris squad found its offense in the third period, doubling up on the Lady Trojans 20-10 in the frame to deadlock the score at 32-32 with eight minutes remaining in regulation.
The Lady Eagles were unable to continue their offensive dominance in the final stanza, as Kiefer took the quarter by a 20-12 margin to hand the Morris ladies the season-ending defeat, 52-44.
Moore was the top scorer for the Lady Eagles in contest, finishing with a team-best 26 points.
The remaining Morris scoring against Kiefer came on six points by Kaleah Barnett, five points each by Marti Yaerger and Emma Duclos, and two points by Jessica Wilson.
--- Class 3A Area Tournament Consolation Quarterfinals
Morris 55, Tahlequah Sequoyah 45
Sequoyah: 2 - 7 - 21 - 15 (45) Morris: 10 - 22 - 7 - 16 (55) Morris Scoring: Maddie Moore 14, Skylar Phillips 13, Marti Yaerger 13, Kaleah Barnett 7, Emma Duclos 3, Taylon Ray 3, Alexis Schell 2.
--- Consolation Semifinals Morris 63, Adair 59
Adair: 8 - 17 - 6 - 28 (59) Morris: 9 - 21 - 19 - 14 (63) Morris Scoring: Skylar Phillips 16, Alexis Schell 12, Emma Duclos 8, Regan Bowling 7, Marti Yaerger 6, Maddie Moore 6, Kaleah Barnett 5, Jessica Wilson 3.
--- Consolation Finals Kiefer 52, Morris 44
Kiefer: 9 - 13 - 10 - 20 (52) Morris: 6 - 6 - 20 - 12 (44) Morris Scoring: Maddie Moore 26, Kaleah Barnett 6, Marti Yaerger 5, Emma Duclos 5, Jessica Wilson 2.
