Okarche Defeats Seiling in Overtime, Heads to Class A Finals

Originally Published: Mar 5, 2010 2:31 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – After Okarche and Seiling went back and forth throughout regulation, Okarche’s Kristen Meyer took over in the extra period to give the Lady Warriors a 47-40 victory and a trip to the state finals.

After having two points in the first four quarters, Meyer scored eight of Okarche’s 10 points in overtime. She went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and outscored Seiling 8-1 by herself to start the final frame. The Lady Cats never recovered.

“Kristen is capable of doing that all the time, and stepped up right when we needed it,” said Okarche head coach Cherie Myers. “Several others kept us in the ballgame until she could get to playing.”

Okarche’s dominance in overtime came after the two teams stayed close for the first 32 minutes. Seiling took a four-point advantage into halftime and built that to six on the first possession of the second half, but that was the biggest lead either team held in regulation.

Okarche erased its deficit at the end of the third quarter and the teams went into the fourth tied at 29. The Warriors took their first lead of the second half on their first possession of the fourth quarter, and the teams traded baskets for the rest of regulation.

With the score tied at 37, Seiling threw a long in-bound pass to Kari Trammell under the basket for a potential game-winning shot. But Trammell was called for traveling, giving the ball back to Okarche with less than five seconds left. The Warriors attempted a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was blocked to force overtime.

Seiling’s Chelsie Livingston led all scorers with 18 points, and Trammell finished with 12. Okarche had a much more balanced offensive attack. Megan Schaefer led the team with 11 points and Meyer finished with 10.

Okarche will now move on to face Chattanooga in the Class A finals. The two teams met earlier this season, and Chattanooga came away with a 53-41 victory.

“They’ve been No. 1 all year until this last week, so we have nothing to lose,” Coach Myers said. “We’ve seen them and they beat us, so we owe them one right now.”