Victory Christian Drops Top-Ranked Okemah

The Conquerors got a big performance from outside to knock off the No. 1 Panthers in the opening round.

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 6:10 pm

By: News On 6

Victory Christian Drops Top-Ranked Okemah

Originally Published: Mar 10, 2011 5:28 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The hot hand of Victory Christian’s Tim Smallwood led the Conquerors to a 64-46 upset of the top-ranked Okemah Panthers Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A State Playoffs.

The senior guard scored a game-high 25 points and shot 6-of-11 from 3-point range, including three consecutive from downtown in the first quarter. He scored 12 of Victory Christian’s 15 first quarter points to give the Conquerors a three-point lead after one.

Victory Christian’s lead continued to expand in the opening minutes of the second quarter due to a 10-2 run early, including five from Smallwood, to take a 25-14 lead. That 10-point lead held for the rest of the quarter and the Conquerors went into the locker room with a 33-22 lead.

The third quarter proved to be more of the same from Victory Christian, but the defensive presence on Smallwood gave Joe WIngfield space to operate.

Leading 41-34 late in the third, the freshman guard hit back-to-back from three-point range to give Conquerors a 47-13 lead. WIngfield finished the game with 13 points for Victory Christian.

Okemah senior Chris Boyd used his size advantage down low to score a team-high 19 points in the contest, with senior D.J. Gaines adding seven in the loss.

The Conquerors will now face off against the Northeast Academy Vikings at 6:30 Friday and continue their effort to claim their first boy’s basketball Gold Ball in more than 10 years.