EDMOND —
The Deer Creek Lady Antlers signed up for a trip to the state tournament with a win in the area finals Thursday night against Carl Albert. Deer Creek took a 40-47 win from the Lady Titans at Edmond Memorial High School on the strength of their defense, heads-up passing and outside shots that started going up early and fell late.
The Carl Albert defense had left the Antlers open from outside for much of the game, but Deer Creek mostly failed to capitalize from beyond the arc until moments were left in the third quarter. Down 30-29, DC’s Ashley Gibson took the ball, looked to pass, saw a defender move off, then calmly stepped behind the line and drained a 3-pointer from the corner in front of her own bench to put the Antlers up for good.
Moments later DC point guard Alexa Adair found Dakota Vann under the basket for 2, and seconds after that Adair closed out the period with a 3-pointer of her own to put the Lady Antlers up 37-32 going into the final frame.
“We’re comfortable taking those shots,” Adair said of the 3-pointers, “but our defense won out tonight.”
The Deer Creek defense limited Carl Albert to only two buckets in the fourth quarter, and Whitney Jones grabbed two big rebounds on CA 3-point misses late.
“We talked a lot about momentum swings,” Deer Creek coach Totsy Manning said. “Big games mean big momentum swings. We just told them to keep the swings that weren’t in our favor small.”
The game began with a number of early fouls, including a charging call on Gibson early. Carl Albert went to the line went to the line three times in the first, but converted only 3-of-6 from the charity stripe, a trend that continued throughout the game. The Lady Titans went 12-for-19 from the line, compared to Deer Creek’s 13-for-14.
Gibson hit her first 3 of the contest in the first, and Bayli Blanchard had 4 points in the period, before finding Gibson on a give-and-go along the baseline that put Deer Creek up 12-8 after one.
The Titans’ shooting came alive in the second period, as four CA players scored to close the gap. Adair hit a pair of free throws, Jones scored on an assist from Vann after a Gibson defensive rebound, and the Deer Creek faithful in the Bulldog gym came to their feet after a loose ball call went against the Lady Antlers. Four points from reserve Abbey Renner helped keep DC up 20-19 at the half.
After Deer Creek took control at the end of the third quarter, they pushed the lead to 10 midway through the fourth, before a pair of 3-pointers from Carl Albert’s Gioya Carter closed the gap a bit.
Carter led all scorers with 25 points, 17 of which came in the second half and 15 of which came on 3-pointers.
Gibson led Deer Creek with 14 points, bolstered by 10 from Jones, 7 apiece from Adair and Vann, 5 from Blanchard and 4 from Renner.
“I’m really proud of this team,” Manning said. “They accomplished a lot. They truly pulled together as a team and made sacrifices to make this a great team.”
The win puts Deer Creek into the state tournament, which begins on Thursday at Tulsa’s Mabee Center.
“It feels amazing, quite amazing,” Gibson said of the win.
“We stuck together as a family,” she said of the Lady Antlers’ run. “Now we just need to stay together, be strong and finish.”
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Related Photos
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Deer Creek seniors Ashley Gibson (33) and Alexa Adair accept the Lady Antlers' area championship trophy Thursday night.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN The Deer Creek Lady Antlers pose with their area championship trophy.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Deer Creek's Rachael McKean sets up a play against Carl Albert Thursday night.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Lady Antlers Dakota Vann and Whitney Jones (13) move down the court on a fast break Thursday night.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Deer Creek's Alexa Adair works against Carl Albert's Shamika Smith Thursday night.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Deer Creek's Whitney Jones moves past a Carl Albert defender in the area title game Thursday night.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Deer Creek's Bayli Blanchard drives inside on Carl Albert Thursday night.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Carl Albert's Gioya Carter defends Deer Creek's Ashley Gibson Thursday night.
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DREW HARMON | THE EDMOND SUN Deer Creek seniors Ashley Gibson (33) and Alexa Adair celebrate after the Lady Antlers' area championship Thursday night.
Discussion
Lady Antlers top Carl Albert, make state
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Central Oklahoma softballers make World Series again
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The Warriors put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in a bid to pull out a late win and force a deciding game in the best-of-three series, but left fielder Devyn Frazier made a running catch in foul territory for the final out to set off a wild celebration on the field.
UCO improved to 47-11 — a school-record for wins — with its 23th consecutive home victory and advanced to the Division II World Series for the second straight year. The Bronchos will face Armstrong Atlantic in the eight-team World Series at 11 a.m. Thursday in Salem, Va.
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Central Oklahoma golf coach picks up award
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Bond led the Bronchos to perhaps the best season in school history in 2012-13 with top-five finishes in 10 of their 12 tournaments. UCO won three titles, including the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association crown and its first-ever regional championship, and finished 10th in the Division II national tournament. -
Workman's blast cranks UCO's engine; Bronchos cruise to 5-2 win
Nicole Workman’s solo home run gave Central Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos went on to topple Winona State 5-2 in the first game of the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional Friday night at the Edmond North High School Softball Complex.
Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
WSU scored two runs and had runners on second and third on with just one out in the top of the seventh, but Kalynn Shrock got the final two batters to close out her fourth straight complete-game outing of the postseason and put the Bronchos in control of the best-of-three series. -
Richters rip competition at KickingBird
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Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
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OC would have advanced to the semifinals with a win, but completed a terrific turnaround from an 8-34 season in 2012. The Eagles made only the second national-tournament appearance in the program's history, with the other coming in 1972, when OC finished third in the NAIA World Series. -
Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. -
Arthur Hills eating up Bronchos
Central Oklahoma’s struggles continued at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Friday.
The Bronchos made 10 double bogeys and two triple bogeys en route to a season-high 329 score on the rugged 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International, leaving UCO in 10th place with a three-round total of 975.
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Athletes of all ages or sporting experience are invited to register for the event. Community members are also encouraged to register to volunteer with more than 300 volunteer opportunities available.
Similar to the summer Paralympic Games, athletes may register for multiple adaptive sports, which include cycling, indoor archery, outdoor archery, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, shooting, table tennis, track and field, wheelchair basketball, and, for the first time at the UCO Endeavor Games, paratriathlon. The paratriathlon will be limited to athletes over the age of 16 with previous paratriathlon experience. -
Deer Creek drops Carl Albert again for state title
They did it again.
The Deer Creek girls soccer team knocked off rival Carl Albert in the Class 5A state soccer title game for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Antlers, led by freshman Lauren Haivala’s two goals, topped the Titans 2-1 May 10 at Noble High School.
On May 7, Deer Creek blanked Tulsa Edison 2-zip in the semifinals for a chance to play for its fourth state championship in girls soccer. - More Sports Headlines
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