Saturday’s basketball roundup

Howe’s girls are going back to the state tournament while Heavener lost to Sequoyah Tahlequah for the regional championship Saturday night

In other games, Talihina beat Wister for a regional championship, Spiro fell to Keys 49-46 in the regional championship game, Poteau’s boys stayed alive and Pocola was eliminated.

Howe avenged last week’s 58-42 loss to Sasakwa in the regional championship with a 57-53 win in overtime at Ada to send the Lady Lions back to Oklahoma City for the state tournament.

The Lady Lions led going into the fourth quarter before falling behind and rallying to send the game into overtime. This will be the fourth straight year for Howe to make the state tournament, a new school record, and improves the Lady Lions’ record to 29-2 on the season.

“This is really emotional,” said coach Chris Brown. “All our kids are so amazing. Their practice habits and super and they work so hard.

“It’s never been as emotional about going to a state tournament as it is tonight. These kids have overcome a lot.”

Randa Grant led Howe with 16 points while Brianna Hillebrand added 13 and had a big impact in the overtime session where Howe outscored Sasakwa 10-6, Tori Kellogg made four big free throws late to help seal the win.

The Lady Lions’ seniors will make their fourth trip to the state tournament. They have never lost at home or lost a conference game in those years.

Heavener actually led Sequoyah at the end of each quarter and until 1:20 was left in the game but Taylor Collins and Shaylee Manley fouled out in the fourth quarter and the Lady Wolves’ 16-game winning streak came to an end. The loss drops Heavener to 22-3 on the season going into the area tournament.

The Lady Wolves play Vian Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Muskogee.

Heavener’s effort was marred by 28 turnovers and the fact Sequoyah shot 14 free throws in the second half while the Lady Wolves only shot two.

“We were in the middle of them,” said Heavener coach Jody Fincher. “We played great defense. If we had played smart and taken care of the ball we would have beaten them by double digits. I am very proud of our kids. This is far from over.

“They were disappointed we didn’t win,” Fincher said of his players.” I know they came to play. We’re not satisfied to lose by four. We were here to win and were confident coming into the game.”

Collins led Heavener with 15 points. Megan Bottoms added 11, all in the first half.

Talihina’s boys had an easy time in the regional championship game against Wister, winning 88-29. This was the fourth time the Tigers have beaten Wister this season.

Spiro led most of the game before falling to Keys 49-46 in the regional tournament’s championship game at Muskogee. The Bulldogs led 37-29 after three quarters before Keys made the comeback to win.

Poteau’s boys advanced to the area tournament with a 45-39 win over Muldrow, the fourth time the Pirates beat the Bulldogs this season.

Josh Ross led the Pirates with 12 points while Britt Brown and Wilson Klutts each scored 10.

Pocola’s boys were eliminated Saturday afternoon with a 71-54 loss to Sequoyah Tahlequah in a losers’ bracket game.