Heading into the showdown with East Central Tahlequah girls basketball, head coach David Qualls knew they were going to see a lot of 3-pointers.
From the jump, the Lady Cardinals were shooting 3-pointers and making them at times; however, the Lady Tigers were prepared for the approach. Knowing they wouldn’t send many shots from the paint, THS only put the Lady Tigers at the line three different times for five shots.
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“We gave up a few offensive rebounds early, and for the most part, they are a jump-shot team,” Qualls said. “Our girls did a good job of not fouling when they got to the basketball to make them shoot tough shots.”
With East Central sending up a lot of shots behind the arc, the Lady Tigers knew they needed to respond throughout the game. Carsyn Gilbert led the barrage from deep with four 3-pointers, while Moe Wilson and Lauren Stephens each found one from 3-point range.
“You have to balance it out. It is hard to trade 2-pointers for 3-pointers,” Qualls said.
In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers hit a bump in the road when junior Lakyn Adams went down hard and missed some time in the second. Without Adams on the court, the Lady Cardinals cut a 6-point lead down to a tie and eventually a 2-point lead.
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Over the final minutes of the third, the teams traded the lead, leaving THS up 41-40 heading into the final period.
“We had some adversity when Lakyn got hurt and had to leave for a few minutes and they came back,” Qualls said. “We responded really well and I am proud of how we handled.”
With Adams returning in the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers had a plan to secure the win. Long possessions over the final eight minutes and a four-minute scoreless stretch saw THS’ lead jump to 10 points.
With the lead and a slow pace, the Lady Tigers started to get fouled as East Central attempted a comeback. The biggest difference in the game was THS going 12-12 from the free-throw line while the Lady Cardinals went 2-5.
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“Once we took the lead there and got it to 3 points, we still ran some sets to get some looks, but we didn’t want to try and force anything,” Qualls said. “We have improved at taking care of the ball. Now, we trust our girls to take care of it and hit free throws. We did a great job of icing the game at the free-throw line.”
Gilbert vs. East Central
Tahlequah’s Carsyn Gilbert moves past an East Central defender, Thursday, Jan. 15. Gilbert’s career-high 34 points led the Lady Tgers to a 58-50 win.
Gilbert posts
career-high
Gilbert had a career game to lead the Lady Tigers to a competitive win over East Central.
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The senior guard opened the Lady Tigers’ scoring with back-to-back points in the paint, and by the end of the game, she was hitting deep 3-pointers for a career-high 34 points. The huge game from Gilbert gave the Lady Tigers a 58-50 win at home, Thursday, Jan. 15.
Gilbert’s scoring day started with 7 of THS’ 9 points in the first quarter, 9 in the second, 7 in the third, and 11 in the final frame. Seven of her shots came from the inside, while also hitting four 3-pointers and going 8-8 from the free-throw line.
“She was balanced, she didn’t settle for the outside shot but also mixed it in,” THS head coach David Qualls said. “She did a good job leading us tonight and played a great game.”
