The Eufaula Lady Ironheads (13-12) toppled Tecumseh 43-29 to win the Class 4A District Championship under new head coach Jason Radomski.
“Anytime we win district is an accomplishment but we aren’t stopping here. We celebrated the win Friday night and now we are looking to Thursday. This is Coach Dom’s first year as a head coach so I’m glad we were able to get him his first district championship and hopefully many more to come,” Eufaula forward Johna Bumgarner said.
The Lady Ironheads came out with Johna Bumgarner hitting a three-pointer. Maddie Ballard and Elaina Monroe followed that up with their own. Ariel Greenlee forced a turnover and gave it to Bumgarner who scored another threepointer to close out the first period with a 12-7 lead.
Tecumseh struggled against Eufaula’s rotation and play in the paint. Jadence Efurd, Greenlee, Olivia Hamby, Kate Pippenger and K. Thompson were instrumental in the Lady Ironheads’ success as they used their size and physicality to overwhelm Tecumseh in the battle for rebounds. The third period was all Eufaula as they outscored Tecumseh 16-9. The Lady Ironheads had five different players score in the period that included three, three-point buckets.
The defense of play by Jadence Efurd, Maddie Ballard, Bumgarner, Lauren Gray and Pippenger was outstanding as they closed out the third period with a 3320 lead.
With a 34-26 lead and 4:13 on the clock the Lady Ironheads came out of a timeout and took several minutes off the clock by keeping the ball away from their opponent.
The fourth period saw a lot of great defensive plays as Efurd made a huge block then passed the ball to Bumgarner for a score and Monroe forced a turnover as Eufaula went on to defeat Tecumseh 43-29.
“ It was a really big win for our girls. Winning District in 4A(Toughest girls basketball class in the state) is not easy. Only 32/68 teams accomplish that.
“This season they have really bought into our system and culture change. We got off to a slow start this season but they stayed with it the whole time and we have just kept getting better & better along the way.
“We talk about adversity a lot and how we are going to handle it when times are tough or we fail. We have to find a way to learn from those moments & get better.
“I am extremely proud of the girls. All the credit for everything we have accomplished up to this point goes to each girl on our team,” Eufaula head coach Jason Radomski said.
Maddie Ballard led Eufaula with 11 points, Bumgarner 10 points, Monroe eight points and Efurd finished with five points.
Tecumseh defeats Eufaula on last second shot
The Tecumseh Savages won the battle in the second half against their game against the Eufaula Ironheads as they outscored Eufaula 22-12 in the fourth period and hit a three-point basket in the games final seconds to win 69-67 for the Class 4A District Championship.
The Ironheads (1710) started fast as Jentry James scored 10 of his 18 points in the opening period. Eufaula had to slow down the play of Aveon Stokes who led the Savages with 18 points. Dacen Hunter and Logan Plant did a good job of forcing the Savages out of their shooting lanes while Keaton Parish and Maddox Bridges fought for rebounds against a tough Tecumseh team.
The Savages out scored Eufaula 20-15 in the second period and trailed 36-34 at the halftime break. Eufaula guard Ty Sparks was a thorn in the Savages side as he scored 12 of his 14 points in the third period while Tecumseh held Bridges scoreless in the third period.
Eufaula led 58-47 early in the fourth period but Stokes along with Cred Wright and Jekhi Owen slowly chipped away at the Ironheads’ lead and before you knew it they had tied the game 63-63 with 2:20 to play.
Hunter would give Eufaula a 65-63 lead with 57.2 seconds on the clock. However, Stokes sliced his way to basket for as score making it a 66-65 game. Hunter against would battle in the paint and score to give the Ironheads a 67-66 lead with 25.8 seconds in regulation. Tecumseh then called a time out with 13.2 seconds to play. The Savages then set up their last offensive play that left Samson Martin open in the corner and fan’s watched as Samson scored a three-pointer to give the Savages a 6967 win over the No.18 ranked Eufaula Ironheads.
Jentry James led Eufaula with 18 points, Sparks 14 points, Parish 12 points, Hunter and Bridges each had nine points.
Aveon Stokes led the Savages with 18 points, Creed Wright 16 points, Jekhi Owens 12 points and Samson Marin finished with five points.
Week in Review: EUFAULA 59, SILO 45 — Maddox Bridges lit the boards up for Eufaula as he finished with 22 points, 18 of them coming in the second half. The Ironheads (176) led 26-23 at the break after a 15-15 first period.
SILO 36, EUFAULA 34 — Johna Bumgarner had 17 points to lead the Lady Ironheads (12-11).
TAHLEQUAH 55, EUFAULA 43 — The turning point of Monday’s contest was the third period as Eufaula was out scored 21-11. The Lady Ironheads (12-12) trailed just by four at the break, 22-18. Johna Bumgarner had 11 points in the loss.
