The Checotah Wildcats edged out the Eufaula Ironheads 40-39 in a nailbiter with a packed crowd at Eufaula’s Perry Anderson Gymnasium. It was a battle from the opening tip with Keaton Parish drawing blood as he hit a long three pointer to give Eufaula the lead. RJ Womack had one of his best games as he grabbed multiple rebounds and forced steals for the Wildcats, who trailed 6-4 after the first period.
The second period started off with another steal by Womack but Dusty Eby hit a long three-pointer to give the Ironheads a 9-4 lead. The Wildcats would go on a five-point run to tie the game at nine apiece.
Maddox Bridges would shine in the second period as he scored
seven points. The Wildto cats began to play aggressively as Tyler Orman tormented the Ironheads defensively. Kamden Miller got hot in the paint and Elijah Thomas was hitting short jump shots to make the game 19-17 with 1:27 to play.
Womack again forced a turnover and passed it to Miller who made a layup to tie the game 1919 at the halftime time break.
The third period was a defensive battle as neither team scored in the first two minutes of play. Checotah began to outrebound Eufaula and converted them into points as Miller gave Checotah a 21-19 lead. Thomas scored the game’s next six points as the Ironheads had a hard time covering him, giving Checotah a 27-19 lead.
Maddox Bridges hushed the crowd with a three-point bucket that made the game 27-22. Womack then grabbed another rebound and scored. The Ironheads began to score from the perimeter as Bridges and Keaton Parish combined for five points to make it a 29-28 game. Womack scored again from the foul line making it a 30-28. Dacen Hunter then scored and got fouled to make it 30-30. Eufaula grabbed the rebound but Womack made the block and steal and passed it to Aum Patel who hit the hoop from long distance to make it a 33-30 game to end the third period.
The final period was score for score with Eufaula getting the edge as Bridges and Jentry James hit three-pointers and Draven Gragg made a layup to give the Ironheads a 37-35 lead with 3:54 yet to play. Orman continued to play a big part in the game as he used his athleticism to drive the ball up court.
Womack tied the game at 37 and grabbed another defensive rebound by Bridges made the steak and scored as he drove to the goal. In the next play, Miller was fouled by Jaxon Lange. Miller made one of his two free throws to make it a 39-38 game with 1:56 on the clock. Both teams turned the ball over on the next couple of plays and with 58.1 seconds Eufaula head coach Rob McKinzie called a timeout.
On the next possession, Thomas made the steal and scored to give Checotah a 40-39 lead with 32.5 seconds left to play. James took the Ironheads next shot but missed and Bridges grabbed the loose ball but traveled, giving the ball back to the Wildcats.
On their next possession, Aum was called for traveling. Eufaula drove to the paint with just 16.3 seconds on the clock and missed, Womack grabbed the rebound. Eufaula then made a play with .5 seconds and missed the Hail Mary lob as the horn sounded and the Wildcats jumped in jubilation as they edged their rival 40-39.
“This is exciting and it’s all about the team. They played hard and never gave up. I told them to believe in themselves and they came out and executed the offense like we wanted to. I’m so proud of these guys. RJ made some big plays for us on both ends of the court. That last rebound was huge for us but I’m just so excited and happy for the team right now,” Checotah head coach Malcolm Warrior said.
“This is just one of many for coach Warrior. We played hard and I’m so happy for the team. Those are my brothers out there and we played like family tonight. We never gave up,” Checotah guard Tyler Orman said.
Elijah Thomas led Checotah with 18 points, Miller nine, Patel six and Womack finished with five points.
Eufaula was led by Maddox Bridges with 18 points, Parish 11, James and Sparks each had three points.
