By RICHARD STROUD
WAGONER – Having regained their offensive mojo somewhat in last Friday's win at Jay, the Sequoyah Indians had no problems against an overmatched Wagoner Bulldog squad in an 80-43 road win Tuesday night.
In winning for the eighth time in their last 10 outings, the fourth-ranked Indians used offensive rebounding and pressure defense to overwhelm the host Bulldogs.
"We played good defense," Sequoyah head coach Larry Grigg said.
The Indians forced 21 turnovers, including six during a third quarter in which they outscored the Bulldogs 18-8 to take a 57-34 lead after three periods.
The first half was dominated by Sequoyah's inside duo of Travis Sanders and Ramsey Nofire. Both players finished with 10 points after two quarters of play, with Sanders getting eight of his in the first as the Indians (14-5) took a 21-11 lead. Six of those points came on offensive rebounds on consecutive possessions midway through the quarter as the Indians took a 10-point lead.
After Wagoner (8-12) used their own offensive rebounding to pull within six early in the second, it was Nofire's turn to be the go-to scorer for the Indians. The 6-2 senior scored eight points over the final three minutes of the first half, including back-to-back buckets on long outlet passes, as the Indians stretched their lead to 13 at the break.
"Our rebounding on the defensive end was not good at times," Grigg said. "That's something that hurt us in the second quarter."
Terran Pettit stole the inbounds pass to start the third quarter and turned it into a three-point play, sparking Sequoyah on an 8-2 run that put the game out of reach. The Indians would not lead by less than 17 points the rest of the game.
"We shot decent." Grigg said. "But we need to shoot better against teams that run zone in the playoffs.We had open looks tonight and just didn't hit them."
Sanders and Nofire were the only Indians in double figures, but seven other Sequoyah players had at least six points. Kialo Vann also had four assists to go along with his six points. Anthony Easiley led the Bulldogs with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Sequoyah 80, Wagoner 43 (boys)
SHS 21 18 18 23 – 80
Wagoner 11 15 8 9 – 43
SHS: Travis Sanders 10, Ramsey Nofire 10, Geoff Little 8, Cody Fourkiller 8, Jarrett Travis 8, Terran Pettit 7, Ramsey Butler 6, Stuart Polk 6, Kialo Vann 6, Kiwah Gilbert 4, BJ Ketcher 4, Shane Brittain 3.
WHS: Anthony Easiley 11, Paul Golden 8, Trevantae Walters 7, Jordan Lewis 6, Michael Adams 4, Jimmy Carter 3, Vernon Johnson 2.
