Heavener's Logan Hinds drives against Wister's Skyler Johnson
By CRAIG HALL
WISTER—In a matchup of two of the top seeds in the upcoming LeFlore County Tournament, Heavener’s boys sealed the win with a late run while the Lady Wolves finally put away Wister’s girls in overtime in the earlier game here Thursday night.
Heavener’s boys, seeded third in the LCT, fell behind early, then grabbed the lead after the first few minutes of the second game, but could never shake free of the fourth-seeded Wildcats until late in a 55-40 win.
In the first game of the night, the two teams went into overtime before Heavener’s girls controlled the extra session to take a 46-38 win.
After Wister’s boys jumped out to a fast lead, Heavener quickly came back to take the lead. The Wildcats stayed within striking distance until an 8-0 run by Heavener midway through the fourth quarter finally sealed the victory over the visitors.
Heavener's Luke Culpepper gets the shot off despite the efforts of Wister's Tyler Gibson and Cody Luman
Logan Warren had just hit a three to cut the lead to 41-29 when the Wolves went on the clinching run. Tyler Hamm got it started with a basket, followed by a pair of baskets by Trevor Smith sandwiched around a score by freshman Noah Davis.
That pushed the Wolves’ lead to 49-29. Wister made a little run with a three by Dalton Brown and three points by Cody Luman, but it was too little.
The game was played at a frantic pace in this matchup of teams with the best inside games of the county, along with Poteau. Wister featured Luman and Tyler Gibson, who teamed up for 26 points while Heavener’s big guys, Smith, Hamm and Shaun Bradley countered with 30.
Bradley was a force on the inside for Heavener, blocking several shots and altering many more. Heavener also got a boost from the play of the freshman Davis, who came off the bench to score 14 points.
Smith was the leading scorer in the game with 18 points, followed by Davis’ 14 for Heavener. Gibson paced the Wildcats with 17 while Luman had nine.
While the second game was not all that dramatic down the stretch, that certainly was not the case in the first game.
The girls’ game was tight throughout as the lead never got bigger than four points until overtime. After the two teams ended regulation knotted at 37, Heavener went on a quick run on a basket by Logan Hinds followed by steals and layups by Jordan Kannady and Amber Holt for a 42-36 lead.
Skyler Johnson hit a pair of free throws for Wister to cut the margin to four points, but those were the only points the Lady Wildcats would score in overtime.
Forced to foul in the final minute, Krista Doyle and Kannady each hit a pair of free throws for the final 46-38 score.
Hinds led Heavener with 14 points, followed by Holt and Sadie Watkins with 10 each. Kayla Newton, who dominated play inside early for the Lady Wildcats, finished with 15 points, 11 in the first half.
Heavener plays at Pocola tonight in its final game before the Christmas break while Wister is off until after the break.
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