The Lady Savages Regional Tournament began with loss to a giant and ended with the Regional Tournament Consolation Title and will move on to the Area Tournament today (Thursday) to continue the quest for a State Tournament bid.
Boy oh boy, what a game last Saturday night. The Lady Savages opened the Regional Tournament at home in the winners bracket against a beast. Classen SAS came in as the 2nd ranked team in the state and ranked 6th nationally and, you might say, the Lady Comets were as advertised.
The Lady Savages had a great start and had the lead over Classen 8-6 halfway through the first period before the Lady Comets took off and nearly ran Tecumseh out of the gym on the way to a 33-10 lead at halftime.
While most people were wondering how much damage Classen could do in the second half, the Lady Savages were in the locker room planning their comeback and it was nearly miraculous. Adjustments were made in the locker room and a new resolve was brought back to the court by the Lady Savages.
The second half had a resemblance to a heavy weight championship fight as Tecumseh took control of the third quarter with a stingy defense, a patient offense and a barrage of three-pointers leading to a 19-7 advantage in the period. The Lady Savages had cut the Classen lead to 11 headed to the fourth to make a comeback manageable.
The fourth quarter was more of the same as the Lady Savages eventually cut the lead to five-points and possession of the ball twice in the final minutes. The T-Town ladies never ran out of effort but ran out of time as they gave the highly ranked Lady Comets a huge scare in the first round of Regionals narrowly dropping a 49-43 decision.
Kenzli Warden led the Lady Savages in scoring with 14-points, including two treys. Serenity Jacoway dropped nine-points for the Lady Savages, all from long range, including two bombs in the second half. Sami Schweighardt finished with eight-points with two big three’s in the important third quarter.
Jadyn Wilson also threw in two treys in the third quarter for six-points in the game. Reagan Berry tossed in four-points while Schantel Evans added two-points.
The loss dropped the Lady Savages to the Regional Tournament consolation bracket to meet Broken Bow at Byng on Monday night. Tecumseh took control early with an 11-3 first quarter advantage and the -outpaced Broken Bow 16-8 in the second to take an impressive halftime lead.
The third quarter essentially ended the game for Broken Bow as the Lady Savages led 47-18 to begin the fourth quarter. Tecumseh used the entire bench as Broken Bow won the fourth quarter 19-6 to make the final 53-37 as the Lady Savages advanced to the Regional Consolation Finals on Tuesday.
Jacoway was the leading scorer in the game as she led Tecumseh with 18-points, including three treys. Warden poured in 11-points in the Tecumseh win. Wilson and Schweighardt each had six-points while Evans, Cadence Oliver and Berry added four, three and two-points respectively.
The Lady Savages had a quick turn around after the Monday night game with a 1:30 afternoon game scheduled on Tuesday against Poteau; the team Tecumseh beat to win the District Championship a little over a week ago.
It was a slow start against Poteau in the early afternoon game, except for Warden who had eight-points in the first quarter, along with seven steals and an assist. Warden ended the game with 21-points and a whopping 12-steals, including 11 in the first half. Warden also pulled down seven rebounds in the win.
The Lady Savages led 15-8 after the first quarter and pushed the lead to 31-19 headed to the locker room in a tight second quarter. Tecumseh took complete control in the third quarter as they opened the second half with a 9-2 run to put the Lady Pirates on their heels.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the Lady Savages had doubled up Poteau 50-25 and were on the way to cruising to a 55-35 win as Tecumseh emptied its bench late in the game. After being outrebounded 11-9 in the first half, the Lady Savages took care of business on the boards by winning the battle after halftime 16-5.
Jacoway also had a great afternoon with 16-points, including three from beyond the arc and was 5-of-7 from the charity stripe while grabbing seven rebounds. Schweighardt led the Lady Savages in the second half with eight-points and also had a steal and an assist. Wilson fired in four-points and had two steals and three assists in the game.
Sadie Boatman had three steals in the second quarter and had two-points along with Oliver and Katie Overstreet. Evans and Berry were big inside without scoring. Evans dished out three assists in the win while Berry had an assist, a block, and a steal. Wilson, Schweighardt, Berry and Kaydee Lewis each had two rebounds in the win.
With the win, the Lady Savages reached the 20-win mark for the season and an overall record of 20-7 headed to Area. Three more wins for Tecumseh to make the State Tournament at the Big House in Oklahoma City.
The Lady Savages will continue their playoff journey at 1:30 today (Thursday) in Checotah.
