Af halftime, the Talequah girls basketball was already leading, but they wanted to come out of the locker room and put the Claremore Lady Zebras away.
Heading into the third quarter, the Lady Tigers held a 21-17 lead and ensured the second half wasn’t going to be close. With a 16-point, third quarter, THS put the Lady Zebras away for a 45-35 win.
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“They came out pressing us, which we knew they would do since they were trailing, but we broke that pressure,” THS head coach David Qualls said.
Four starters picked up a point in the third quarter, with a Lauren Stephens block leading to a Raylee McCarter fast break to open the half. After that, Stephens picked up two more buckets in the paint.
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Tahlequah’s Raylee McCarter turns up field after grabbing a rebound vs. Claremore, Tuesday, Jan. 13.
With 3:15 on the clock, Lakyn Adams hit the Lady Tigers’ first 3-pointer of the game. Adams added another deep ball while McCarter and Carysn Gilbert added makes in the paint.
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“In the second half, Lakyn heated up from outside, and that got us going,” Qualls said. “It started with our defense; we handled some pressure and beat the press to score some baskets.”
Already leading by 13, the Lady Tigers didn’t slow down in the final period. Adams hit her third 3-pointer of the day while McCarter picked up a paint basket and Stephens nabbed 3 points from free throws.
“This was another team that came in [with a good record] and playing really well,” Qualls said. “I thought we were ready to go tonight and played really good defense tonight. We controlled the game for the most part. We got out to a good cushion there in the second half and we went and finished the game.”
To start the game, the Lady Tigers were sharing the ball well and when they weren’t passing it off, they were ensuring solid off-ball movement. In the first quarter, neither team took control, leading to a 10-10 tie. In the second quarter, THS found a slight 21-17 edge thanks to a handful of fastbreaks from Gilbert.
Three Lady Tigers finished with over 10 points. Stephens led with 15 points, Adams added 14 and Gilbert put up 10.
THS is back in action at home, Thursday, Jan. 15 vs. East Central.
