The Washington girls basketball team claimed the Konawa Invitational Tournament Saturday after defeating Class 3A No. 14 Holdenville 46-28.
They got 16 points from Breanna Lindert, 13 points from Preslee Johnson and 12 from Kelby Beller in the win.
First-year Washington head coach Kale Simon said his team overcame some obstacles on the way to winning the tournament.
“We haven’t been shooting the ball very well and it’s forced us to fight and earn our keep on the offensive end,” he said. “It’s something that we’ve needed to encounter and it’s forced us to get on the glass. That will help us moving forward.”
Star Spencer
Washington opened the tournament with a 76-22 win over Star Spencer.
A 26-0 opening quarter put the game on ice early. They led by 33 at halftime.
Lindert (18), Johnson (16), Rielyn Scheffe (12) and Beller (10) all scored in double figures.
“Defensively we haven’t forced as many turnovers and we have had to grind through possessions and it lets us grow on the defensive end,” Simon said. “It’s a good thing to happen to us. It’s getting us out of our comfort zone.”
North Rock Creek
The semifinals against Class 4A’s North Rock Creek was more competitive than the other games, but had a similar outcome with a 56-41 Warrior win.
Johnson (15), Beller (12) and Lindert (10) led the way in scoring for Washington.
The Warriors, now 11-0 and ranked No. 4 in Class 3A, will set their sights on Marlow when the Outlaws visit the Warrior Event Center.
Simon still sees plenty of room for growth in his team as they move forward in the season.
“We need to improve on our small habits in areas that lead to big gains,” he said. “Doing things at a high level is something we’re headed towards. We’re headed in that direction and the girls are doing a good job embracing the grind.”
Boys
The Warrior boys picked up two wins in the tournament and claimed third place.
They opened with an 85-27 win over Konawa.
Hayden Hicks blew up with a 25-point outing to lead all scorers.
Seth Bunch (13) and Jeremiah Tontz (12) also finished with double figures.
“We played well in the tournament,” Smith said. Konawa has a young team.”
The Warriors got out to a 25-4 lead to open the game and never looked back.
North Rock Creek
Washington punched the No. 17 ranked team in Class 4A right in the mouth to start the next game.
The Warriors led 15-7 after the first quarter and had a nine point lead at halftime.
“Then we got into a scoring match in the second quarter,” Smith said. “We got into their game in the second half after a good first half.”
The Warriors gave up 53 points in the second half and lost by a 77-71 final.
Hicks (25) and Andrews (20) were Washington’s top two scorers.
Harding Charter
They defeated Harding Charter School 55-53 in the third place game on Saturday in buzzer-beater fashion.
Andrews’ last bucket of the day was maybe his most important as it put the Warriors into the winner’s circle.
He finished with 10 points, while Hicks had 22.
Hicks averaged 24 points a game in the tournament.
It was an encouraging three days for the Warriors, now 7-4 on the season and ranked No. 16 in Class 3A.
“We’re starting to gel and our chemistry is starting to come together,” Smith said. “We’re starting to take it more seriously on defense because we know we can’t out score everybody but we can guard them.”
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