Talihina Seniors Lead Tigers Past Stratford

Three seniors combined for all of the Tigers' points in the semifinal win over Stratford.

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 6:11 pm

By: News On 6

Talihina Seniors Lead Tigers Past Stratford

Originally Published: Mar 11, 2011 5:57 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The No. 2 Talihina Tigers held off a third quarter push by the Stratford Bulldogs Friday to win 71-56 and advance to the Class 2A State Championshp game.

The Tigers jumped out to a big lead early, thanks to the hot hands of seniors Jace Chancellor and Jordan EagleRoad. The two combined for 19 Talihina’s 26 first quarter points, with classmate Taggart Lockhart scoring the other seven to take a 26-14 lead at the end of the first.

Stratford came roaring back in the second quarter, capitalizing on Talihina’s inability to convert.

After Chancellor hit on a second-chance three-pointer in the opening minute of the quarter, Stratford put together a 17-2 run to tie the game 31-31 with 1:15 left in the half.

EagleRoad connected on a buzzer-beating layup to take a two-point lead into halftime.

The Bulldogs started the second half quickly, hitting back-to-back layups to take a 35-33 lead one minute into the second half. However, the Tigers’ seniors responded, EagleRoad and Chancellor scored five points each on four consecutive possessions to take a 43-35 advantage.

Talihina wouldn’t surrender the lead from that point on.

The Tigers’ seniors scored did all of the scoring, EagleRod leading all scorers with 27 points, Lockhart scoring 24 and Chancellor adding 20 points.

Stratford senior Dalen Qualls led the Bulldogs in scoring with 30 points, finishing his high school career with more than 3,000 points. Senior teammate Tommy Lawson contributed 10 points.

Talihina will now take on the Preston Pirates, who knocked off defending 3A champion Millwood and defending 2A champion Pawnee, for the Class 2A Gold Ball.

Read more at CoachesAid.com