 |
|||||||||||||||
|
By: Chris Evans
The Deer Creek Antlers jumped out to 22 first quarter points against the sixth ranked Guthrie Bluejays, but was able to manage just 22 points in the games final three quarters.
Head coach Pete Papahronis’s Bluejays improved to 9-1 on the season with a 60-44 victory over the 18th ranked Antlers, in Edmond, on Tuesday night. The Jays also improve to 4-1 in conference play including a 4-0 mark in the North division. Deer Creek falls to 6-7 on the season and has now lost six of their last eight games.
The contest started out back and forth until the Antlers went on a 9-0 run in 1:39 and forcing the Jays to call a time out with 2:54 to play in the opening quarter trailing 16-8. The Antlers would push their lead to as many as 11 points, but Guthrie was able to cut the lead to just seven by the end of the quarter, 22-15.
The Jays would then outscore Deer Creek 17-10 in the second quarter, but was not able to take the lead until much later in the game. Guthrie would tie the game at 26-all, 28-all, 30-all, and then junior guard Donte' Foster last bucket of the half tied the game at 32-32 at the half.
Both teams shot well in the first half with Guthrie shooting 42% on 13-31 shooting with Deer Creek shooting a touch better by going 13-26 from the field for 50%. Guthrie committed just 6 turnovers in the half while Deer Creek had eight give away’s.
Foster finished with a game high 28 points with 15 of those coming in the first half. The standout Junior was 5-9 from three point land and was 7-8 from the charity line.
Unfortunately, Foster would be the only Jay to reach double figures. Senior Kent McDonald finished with eight points, senior Jon Washington had seven, freshmen Kentrell Brothers added six, sophomore Devon Hall had five, junior guard Keaton Callins had four points, and junior Clayton Smith rounded out the scoring with two points of his own.
Leading the way for the Antlers was senior guard Jason Phillips with 11 points as he was the only Antler in double figures, as the Bluejays limited Senior standout Kyle Ferguson to just eight points.
Guthrie ended the third quarter with an 8-0 run sparked by Washington and his inside play by scoring back-to-back buckets in :23 seconds.
Deer Creek would be able to manage just six points in the quarter alone, which allowed Guthrie's to hold a 47-38 lead at the end of the quarter. This lead marked the Bluejays biggest margin in the first three quarters at nine. The Bluejays, however, would quickly push their lead into double figures in the final quarter.
Assistant coach Doug Russell complimented the Jays and their improvement from the free throw line as Guthrie went 13-21 for 62% from the stripe. While not overly impressive numbers, the 62% showed considerable improvement from their 37% and 33% performances in their games last week against El Reno and Harrah.
Russell said the Jays work on free throws everyday for twenty minutes and that each kid shoots at least 100 free shots each practice.
Guthrie must now turn their focus to the talented field of the Carl Albert Tournament. The Bluejays first game is at 1:00 on Thursday against the Tigers of Ardmore High School, a team in which the Jays defeated back on December 28th in the Ardmore Holiday Festival 66-58, a tournament the Jays went on to win.
Guthrie will play the winner/loser of the Tulsa Union/Edmond Memorial game. The other side of the bracket will feature Carl Albert playing Del City and Millwood taking on Midwest City on Thursday.
For more post game coverage please visit our podcast page. Triple Play Sports 105.1 FM will not broadcast any of the tournament games this weekend, but Guthrie Sports Page will have game reports.