Two of Tahlequah girls basketball’s leading scorers gave a preview of the season in a win over the Stilwell Lady Indians.
Carsyn Gilbert and Lakyn Adams combined for 38 points in the 58-16 win at home, Tuesday, Dec. 2. The guard duo took over the game for the Lady Tigers, as Gilbert led the way with 21 points and Adams added 17.
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“They know their roles; those are our two shooters,” THS coach David Qualls said. “Both of them are capable of what they did tonight. They’ll both tell you they left some points on the court, and they played so great for us tonight.”
Early in the game, the duo was the main offensive production for the Lady Tigers. After Lauren Stephens opened the year’s scoring, Gilbert and Adams finished the first quarter, splitting the last 16 points.
“I feel like we were playing together as a team, so most of my points were off play as we executed well, and that’s a team thing,” Gilbert said. “Sounds really good to start 1-0.”
In the second quarter, the Lady Tigers’ defense started getting in rhythm, forcing turnovers leading to some fast-break looks for the guards. This, with a strong defensive drive, led to the Lady Tigers’ taking a 34-12 lead.
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Tahlequah’s Lakyn Adams drives on a layup.
The lead helped THS slow down and take control of the offense in the third quarter. In the period, Gilbert and Adams each knocked down a 3-pointer, while Raylee McCarter had her best showing with 8 points.
Throughout the year, the Lady Tigers are going to attack teams with their speed and athleticism, but they also can slow the pace and move the ball when needed.
“It’s gonna be important [that we can control the pace],” Qualls said. “We’re athletic enough to play fast, but there are times we have to slow ourselves down. When we do that, we kind of give ourselves a moment of just calmness. We executed really well in that, got some good looks.”
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By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Lady Tigers had their starters out of the game and the clock was running.
“Always good to start 1-0; I thought we were ready to play,” Qualls said. “We came out and played with a lot of energy, which is good. I still think we’re capable of playing better, and it’s still not our best game, but I loved how active we were on defense. I thought that was kind of the deciding factor.”
Offensively, the Lady Tigers had a strong game, but the defensive attack and full-court press led to the scoring. Moe Wilson and Adams started getting steals at the top of the zone, leading to some fast-break buckets.
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Tahlequah’s Lauren Stephens dishes a pass.
“We played really good defense,” Gilbert said. “I feel like that’s one of our keys this season. It starts with the top of the two, three, and then it goes to the bottom. I feel like we can keep our energy up; it’ll just build from there.”
The Lady Tigers see the first test of the season playing back-to-back games at the Coweta Festival. THS opens the event, taking on Collinsville Thursday, Dec. 4, before turning around and playing the host CHS, Friday, Dec. 5.
“We’re gonna get a chance to play two quality opponents. Coweta was in the state semifinals last year,” Qualls said. “Collinsville is always solid. They won 17 games last year. They’re non-district games, so it’s almost like you can go get two more rounds in before you open up districts next week. We just want to continue to get better, and that’s really good competition. So we’re excited to kind of go see where we’re at.”
