Pocola pummels Pawnee, falls to Okemah
Pocola girls basketball started the Class 2A Area IV playoffs with a 64-35 win against Pawnee on Thursday in Wilburton, recovering from a slow start and keeping its energy up after a first-half run.
Pocola faced an early 7-2 deficit. After a timeout, Kail Chitwood hit a 3-pointer from the left wing, sparking a 15-2 run.
“It’s been the last two games with a slow start, timeout and come out of it and refocus,” Pocola head coach Shane Amos said. “We settle in, and a little execution starts happening. I’m proud of how we responded.”
Allyssa Parker made a layup at the end of the first quarter and hit one off a pass from Bailey Lairamore on Pocola’s first possession of the second for a 17-9 lead.
“We were worried about energy, coming off a game like Saturday. I was proud of the effort,” Amos said, referring to the regional final loss to Hartshorne.
During an 11-0 secondquarter run that made the score 28-12, Parker corralled a transition pass after it was deflected by a Pawnee player and laid it up. Pocola entered halftime ahead 36-18 with Parker scoring 21 of her game-high 23 points in the first half.
Lairamore drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to start an 8-0 run for a 51-28 lead to end the third quarter.
Chitwood posted 16 points while Lairamore finished with 15 points and Kylee Smith had five.
On Friday against 11thranked Okemah, Pocola started from behind and lost 49-44.
Parker, who had 13 first-half points put Pocola within 15-8 with a layup with five seconds left in the first quarter.
Parker hit a reverse layup with 3:38 left in the half. Smith blocked a shot with two seconds left in the half, but Pocola trailed 27-21 at halftime. Pocola was within 36-33 at the end of the third quarter.
Kail Chitwood drove to the basket and hit a layup midway through the fourth with Pocola trailing 41-38, but was called for an offensive foul.