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By: Chris Evans
The sixth ranked Guthrie Bluejays trailed to the ninth ranked El Reno Indians at the half by nine points, but would rally back to defeat the Indians 73-72, Tuesday night, inside Guthrie High School gymnasium.
Guthrie improves to 15-2 on the season while El Reno drops to 13-5. Both teams will be hosting regionals in two weeks. Guthrie will be the No. 3 seed and El Reno the No. 6 seed on the West side of the state. Capitol Hill is the No.1 seed and Harrah will be the No. 2 seed.
Guthrie with the win over El Reno is the North Division champion and will play Harrah, on Saturday, for the Suburban Conference championship at Western Heights High School at 7:00.
The Indians shot lights out in the first half by shooting 75% (19-25) from the field and built a nine point advantage at the half, 41-32. El Reno's field goal at the 5:00 mark in the second quarter, gave the Indians a lead that they would not relinquish until the 3:03 mark in the third quarter.
The Jays open the third quarter on a 7-0 run in the first 1:36 to close within two 41-39. However, El Reno would carry a 52-51 advantage into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Guthrie and El Reno would have four lead changes. Guthrie would take a 62-60 lead on a senior Kent McDonald bucket. It would be a lead Guthrie would not give up. In fact, Guthrie would have a lead as much as seven, 69-62, but the Indians would not go away silently.
El Reno would outscore Guthrie 10-4 in the final 90 seconds including two huge three point shots by Taylor Wedman and Jared Krittenbrink. However, junior guard Keaton Callins would make six of his seven free throws down the stretch to help preserve the win.
Guthrie now travels to Midwest City to take on rival Carl Albert Thursday night.
For post game interviews with head coach Pete Papahronis, Keaton Callins, and Clayton Smith please visit our podcast page by Clicking Here!