JAY — A dominant first quarter paved the way to an easy win for Sequoyah on Thursday afternoon.

The Class 3A No. 12 Indians outscored Life Way Christian (Ark.) 29-7 in the first quarter en route to a 74-35 rout.

With the win, the Indians (10-5) advance to the Tri-State Classic semifinals on Friday at 5:40 p.m. against Jay.

Leading the way for Sequoyah in the opening round was Caisen Green, who notched 15 points. B.J. Leach added 14 points, and Trinton Herron posted 10 points for Sequoyah, which led 47-11 at halftime.



Sequoyah girls win again

JAY — Courtney Jones had 19 points, and Audrey Ballou chipped in with 18 points to guide Class 3A No. 13 Sequoyah to a 50-31 victory over Owasso JV on Thursday.

The win puts Sequoyah in the Tri-State Classic semifinals, where the Lady Indians will take on Jay today at 4:20.

The victory is the third in a row for Sequoyah, which used a 19-3 first quarter to take control.



Lady Tigers fall in 2OT

MOORE — For the first time this season, Class 5A No. 10 Tahlequah won’t play for a spot in a regular-season tournament title game. The Lady Tigers dropped their opening-round game of the John Nobles Invitational in Moore, 65-60, to Class 6A No. 15 Choctaw.

Tahlequah trailed 17-4 early in the contest, and it looked like Choctaw was on its way to a blowout.

However, the Lady Tigers stormed back in the second quarter with hot 3-point shooting and defense. Choctaw led 31-28 at halftime.

The two teams went back and forth throughput the second half. With three minutes left in the fourth and the Lady Yellowjackets leading 50-46, the Tigers Whitney Wright drained a 3-pointer from the corner to cut lead to one point.

After the Yellowjackets knocked down a pair of free throws,  Alissa Hadley tied the game with a 3-pointer with 1:35 left.

Choctaw held onto the ball for the final 1:35 and was unable to get off a clean shot and sent the game into overtime.

Jessica Madison opened up the extra period with a 3-pointer. Randee O’Donnell and Girdner hit back to back shots to give the Tigers a 56-55 advantage with 1:51 left.

Choctaw’s Kiyra Baird tied the game with a free throw.

With five seconds left and the game tied, Choctaw turned the ball over, giving the Tigers the final shot. However, they couldn’t get a shot off and the contest went into a second overtime.

Choctaw grabbed a five-point lead before the Tigers’ Casey Beaston scored the team’s first points. Choctaw held on to win.

Sadie Marino led all scorers with 19 for the Yellowjackets.

Wright paced the Tigers with 13. O’Donnell had 10, and Hadley added eight points in the loss.



Tigers lose to Lions

MOORE — A trio of scorers in double figures wasn’t enough to send Tahlequah to a win over Moore on Thursday afternoon.

Dante Butler and Dorion Gigger scored 15 points apiece to propel Moore to a 78-52 victory in the first round of the John Nobles Invitational in Moore.

Dalton Cunningham paced Tahlequah with 14 points, while Will Carlile and Lain Wright both poured in 10 points apiece for the Tigers (4-11).

Moore used a 13-7 first quarter to take control, and a 28-12 third quarter put the game away.

Tahlequah will now play Ponca City today at 2:30.

-- CNHI News Service’s Michael Kinney contributed to this report.