Cyril Holds off Frustrated Frontier to Advance

Originally Published: Mar 4, 2011 10:41 AM CDT

Stephany Speck
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Cyril Lady Pirates muscled their way past the frustrated Frontier Lady Mustangs to advance in the state tournament with the 45-40 win.

Cyril’s Jessica Potter drained a 3 in the beginning of the second quarter to take the 15-13 lead, which they refused to relinquish for the remainder of the game. The Lady Mustangs nipped at their heels throughout the final quarter, but couldn’t narrow the gap to within five points.

Potter’s three-pointer was the turning point of the game. Cyril took the momentum and ran with it. The Lady Pirates’ ball-handler, Shelbi Laughlin, kept the swagger going, hitting a trey of her own to extend the lead further. On the next possession, teammate Chelsea Reynolds hit a three to bring the score to 23-13 before Frontier’s coach called a timeout to regroup with just three minutes left before halftime.

The Lady Mustangs played tight defense on Laughlin, who muscled back. The Lady Pirates’ Shelbi Skaggs did what she does best—edging her way inside the paint for a quick shot of the glass. Standing at six-foot, Skaggs made it look easy to shoot over the Lady Mustangs’ defense.

Despite Frontier’s efforts, their shots simply weren’t falling. Cryil managed to stay out of reach of Frontier to advance to their third-straight state championship appearance.

Cyril will play in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m. at the OKC Fairgrounds.