PC tops Poyen to reach state tourney
NORMAN – Parkers Chapel's girls are going to the state tournament.
The Lady Trojans pushed past Poyen 48-38 in the 2A South Regional Tournament at Caddo Hills High School on Thursday and earned a berth in next week's 2A State Tournament at Melbourne.
The Lady Trojans improved to 18-4 and faced Murfreesboro in the semifinals on Friday.
It will be the first appearance in the basketball state tournament for everyone on PC's roster.
“I'm excited for these girls. They came out and they were ready to play tonight,” said PC coach Justin Welch. “Poyen fought hard. It was tied up going into the fourth. We were making our free throws. I tell the girls all the time, free throws are the difference between winning and losing. We did a great job on that.
“I'm just proud of this group. I knew we had the talent to make it to state. But this is a pretty tough region. You just never know until you get over here and start playing.”
The game was knotted at 31-31 going into the final period. Macie Wood hit two 3-pointers in the fourth and Taylor Fortune added another. The Lady Trojans drained 18-of-20 from the line in the game.
Ali Looney and Fortune scored 14 points apiece to lead Parkers Chapel while Wood finished with 10. Looney was 8-of-9 at the line. Welch credited his team's defense. “They came out and they hit a couple 3-pointers over extended hands. I told the girls to settle in and just keep playing defense. I told them those shots tend to not fall in the fourth period if you keep working ‘em. They stuck to the game plan and executed it very well,” he said.
Gracen Murphy led the Lady Indians with 17 points but she didn't score in the fourth quarter.
“Their best player, she scored but she earned every one of them,” said Welch. “Ali Looney did a great job on her. She's tough. Ali stayed on her the whole game. I thought she did a great job working her and defending her.
“It was a complete team effort. Anytime you face guard people, you better be ready to help on the back side. I thought the help-side girls did a fantastic job of moving their feet over there and stopping the ball.”
Poyen led 12-10 after one quarter
but PC was on top 23-17 at the half.
The Lady Trojans had to fight through Poyen's pressure down the stretch. Welch said taking care of the ball was a key in maintaining the lead.
“They tried to throw a press on us. We moved the ball around against their press and got layups off of it. We didn't panic and they did exactly what we've been working on,” he said. “Breaking the press was huge. The other thing was, in the fourth we did a really good job blocking out and getting rebounds and not giving them second chance points.”
The coach said his team matched Poyen's physical nature, also.
“We got some bumps and bruises tonight. It was pretty physical, but I thought we matched it,” said Welch. “We didn't shy away from it. I know Taylor has a nose pretty swollen right now. She got hit in the fourth period with about two minutes left in the game. I was about to pull her out and she came over to me and she said, ‘Coach, please, please don't pull me out.' I said, are you sure and she said, ‘Yes, sir.' She played the rest of that game like that.
“It's just an exciting day for these girls. They've earned every bit of it. I'm proud of them. I thought there was a lot of heart and those girls showed a lot of guts out there tonight. I'm very proud of them.”