Pocola girls’ rally at state falls short
Pocola’s girls basketball team was unable to manage its offense in the Class 2A state quarterfinal on Wednesday at Jim Norick Arena on the state fairgrounds in Oklahoma City against Merritt, falling behind by as much as 18 in the third quarter before fighting back and losing 56-48.
“Our kids could have laid down early and got blown out,” Pocola head coach Mark McKenzie said. “They came back and battled and made a game of it.”
Pocola (21-7, ranked ninth) struck first with a basket by Allyssa Parker, but Merritt (27-3, ranked third) soon took control with a 7-2 spurt. The girls in maroon and white trailed 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Parker drilled three straight layups late in the second quarter, including one while weaving through a triple team defending her, to get Pocola within 21-18 with 50 seconds before halftime. With 40 seconds left, Pocola regained the ball on a jumpball possession change. However, a turnover on the wing at the 32-second mark turned into a Merritt 3-pointer 10 seconds later, sending Pocola into the break trailing 24-18.
Merritt had 15 points off turnovers for the game, including 10 in the first half. Despite trying to press Merritt in the halfcourt at a couple of points, Pocola only scored four points off turnovers. Pocola ended the game even with Merritt in the turnover aspect at 12 each.
“We wanted to be patient on offense because we knew how good they were,” McKenzie said.
Still, Merritt gained separation. After a 3-pointer by Piper Warren to get Pocola within 29-24, Merritt
went on a 15-2 run for a 44-26 margin.
Pocola faced a 47-30 deficit to end the third quarter.
Nevertheless, McKenzie did not give up on his girls’ ability to compete.
“They’ve done that all year. Those kids are going to compete for all four quarters. Hopefully, that’ll carry into next year,” McKenzie said.
Pocola whittled its way back until it got within 5447 on a Riley Jerrell trey from the right corner in the last minute.
Parker led Pocola with 16 points (7-of-10 shooting, 2-of-2 free throws), six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
“They were double-and triple-teaming her. They made it tough on her,”
McKenzie said.
Lety Parga scored 12 while Jerrell had six points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Warren had eight points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Kylee Merritt had six points, three rebounds and a steal.
McKenzie said he will be back next season, expecting all of his players of a seniorless group to return. The coach who led Pocola to state championships in 2008 and 2022 hopes to lead them to another gold ball when the last state tourney at Jim Norick Arena takes place next March.
“They’re all juniors. They’ll all be back next year,” he said. “That would be a nice one to win, to win the last one here.”