Jan. 23—Closing out games hasn’t been the strong suit for Tahlequah girls basketball this season.
At times, they took leads and let them wither away by the final buzzer. Other times, the Lady Tigers dug themselves into an early hole they couldn’t overcome. But in the last two games, the Lady Tigers have finished well, resulting in wins over Tulsa-Edison and Stilwell.
“Really, we have worked a lot on closing quarters out and we’ve done that well since Edison,” THS head coach David Qualls said. “We are trying to get the shots we want and execute properly. We hit a lot of make able shots tonight.”
At times, against Stilwell High School, the Lady Tigers looked like they were going to give up their lead, but strong play kept them in it. In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers started to hit a slump, allowing SHS to pull within 13 points.
“We had a stretch there in the middle that we didn’t take care of the ball,” Qualls said. “I don’t know if we came out relaxed on defense, but they came out and drove on us in the lane. It was a situation we hadn’t been in a lot this year, and hopefully, we learn from it.”
Straight out of the huddle, the Lady Tigers came out strong in the fourth quarter with a couple of baskets and defensive stops.
“Coming out strong was huge. They cut it to 13 and that is still within striking distance. We wanted to get the first basket and we did that right off the bat,” Qualls said. “We got the first basket and stringed some stops together, then just played well to close out.”
Early in the game, the Lady Tigers were playing some of their best ball of the season. Through the first half, Carsyn Gilbert had 12 points, while Lakyn Adams added nine in the second quarter alone.
Driving into the paint, the Lady Tigers were more aggressive in the early going leading to high-percentage shots. This led to the Lady Tigers leading 41-17 at halftime.
“Starting in the first quarter, we came out and got really good shots,” Qualls said. “We stayed balanced and that is something we talked about. Sometimes we shoot five or six threes in a row and we wanted to attack the basket more tonight, get some points in the paint, and I thought we did that. We played solid man-to-man defense and made them take some tough shots.”
The biggest bright spot for the Lady Tigers was the second quarter. Many times this season, THS has lost games in that quarter, but against SHS, it was completely different. The Lady Tigers actually had a game-high 24 points in that quarter, as Adams lead the way with nine.
That was important in building the Lady Tigers’ lead.
“Second quarter hasn’t been kind to us this year, but e were pretty dominant tonight, building that halftime lead up,” Qualls said. “The girls played well tonight and I was proud of them.”
Leading way to the win was a trio of players finishing with over 10 points for the first time this season. Throughout the year, Gilbert, Adams and Lauren Stephens all have score over 10 points, but for the first time, the full trio hit that mark. Gilbert led with 19 points, Adams added 17, and Stephens rounded out the trio with 12 points.
“It is always important to be balanced,” Qualls said. “Those three have been our catalyst this year. They did a great job tonight; they were aggressive and took great shots. Those three are key for us offensively.”
The Lady Tigers are back in action at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, at the Catoosa Invite. If they win, they will play at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, and if they lose, they play 10 a.m. on Friday.
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