James out with broken wrist
The Eufaula Ironheads earned a tough, hard fought 47-42 win over the Spiro Bulldogs in the opening round of the Warner Invitational Basketball tournament on Thursday. It was an exciting game for both teams even though it would be a costly victory for Eufaula. With the Ironheads leading 19-16 with 2:09 seconds remaining in the first period, Eufaula guard Maddox Bridges made a steal and passed the ball to Jentry James who came down hard on the court after his shot attempt and left immediately with what was reported later as a broken wrist. James will be out for six weeks. Dusty Eby came in for James and did a good job with six-points scored and a couple of rebounds.
The Bulldogs were playing very physical in the paint but Ironhead Draven Gragg did a great job of battling for multiple rebounds and blocked shots. Eufaula led 19-18 at the half and they came out firing perimeter shots by Keaton Parish and Maddox Bridges. Bridges gave the Ironheads a 32-27 lead with just 1:47 left in the period. On the next play Gragg again grabbed a rebound by out-muscling his opponent and kicked it out to Dacen Hunter who scored. The momentum swung in the Ironheads’ favor after Bridges hit a long three-point shot at the horn to extend the lead 37-31.
The fourth period was nip-and-tuck as both teams traded shot for shot. The score was 41-34 after Gragg scored with a put-back but Spiro would not go away easily. Shawn Hogan was on fire for the Bulldogs and hit a three-point shot to cut the lead 41-37. Then Parish made a play on defense with a steal and was fouled as he scored. Parish made his free throw, which gave Eufaula a 44-37 lead.
On the next Spiro possession, Gragg again grabbed another important rebound and threw it to Parish who drove to the bucket but was fouled in a four-man collision with 1:07 remaining in the game.
After making a free throw the game stood at 46-40 until Bridges was fouled again where he made one of his two free throws to seal the 47-42 win.
“We knocked off the rust after a long holiday break. We were lucky to get out of here with a win. Spiro is a good team and we need to play better if we’re going to win this tournament,” Eufaula head coach Rob McKinzie said.
Parish and Bridges each finished with 15 points, Gragg added four points and Eby added six points.
Spiro was led by Shawn Hogan with 13 points, Cay Clark eight points and Brycen Graham added 10 points in the loss.
Lady Ironheads romp Wilburton
The Eufaula Lady Ironheads dominated the Wilburton Lady Diggers 59-21 on Thursday in Warner. It was a game that Eufaula head coach Nick Yarbrough played every player on the team. Eufaula had better and larger number of athletes than Wilburton. Allie Anderson started Eufaula off with a 5-0 lead including a three-point shot. Jadence Efurd played her best game of the year as she grabbed several key rebounds, forced turnovers and scored 12 points.
Eufaula led 20-6 after the first period. Jordas McClish did a good job defensively along with Maddie Ballard. The key for such a big lead was Eufaula’s ability to force turnovers, score in transition and out rebound Wilburton and they did in every category. Yarbrough quickly rotated players in and out beginning in the second period. Eufaula led 3316 at the half and came out in the third period and scored another 20 points with Efurd scoring the first points in the period to give Eufaula 35-16 lead.
After that Kambry Williams led the Lady Ironheads on a 13-0 run with Efurd hitting a short jumper to make it 47-16. Addie McKinzie hit a pair of three-point buckets, Lauren Gray scored three points after hitting a beautiful arch shot over her opponent. Johna Bumgarner came in and was excellent in the paint and forcing turnovers Hannah Beaver and Ariel Greenlee and Elaina Monroe played defense. Kylie Pendley also did a great job in relief as she scored from long range, Taklya Boiling sealed the 59-21 victory with a short jumper.
Efurd and Anderson led Eufaula with 12 points each and Mc-Clish added five points in the win.
Saturday
Class 2A No. 9 Warner finished third with a 58-42 win over Eufaula. For the Ironheads (5-5), Maddox Bridges finished with 15 points and Keaton Parish netted 12.
In girls action Warner took third place with a 54-35 victory over Class 3A No. 12 Eufaula. Allie Anderson and Kambry Williams both led the Lady Ironheads (6-4) with nine points.
