Red Oak advances to state title game

Red Oak forward Grayson Nix rolled on the floor clutching his ankle.

Attempting to stop a Leedey drive to the basket, Nix had stepped in front of guard Ty Goss and ended up stepping on top of his foot, hitting the State Fair Arena court in obvious pain.

With the help of an assistant coach, Nix hobbled off the floor and to the trainer’s area behind the bench.

“It definitely didn’t feel good,” Nix said. “But I knew I needed to get back in the game.”

As his team expanded its lead against Leedey to 17 points after the first quarter, Nix re-entered in the second quarter and proceeded to pick up right where he left off.

Nix finished with 23 points and seven rebounds as Red Oak took down Leedey 62-41 in the semifinals of the Class B boys state tournament.

Red Oak was led in scoring by Nix, but fellow seniors Jacob Armstrong added 16 points and Cash Balentine scored 14.

“Being here makes you want to push a little harder and gives you that extra drive to want to get it done,” Nix said. “I saw my teammates fighting for me, and I knew I needed to get out there and finish up.”

Red Oak had a spell in the third quarter when it went ice cold from the field, missing eight straight shots and going scoreless for nearly seven minutes.

As Leedey began to slowly inch its way back, getting the game within 11 points at 33-22, coach Trey Booth said he told his guys to play their game.

“We kinda played not to lose there for a little bit,” Booth said. “I told them to pick things up. If you can’t get excited and ready to go for this game, you need your oil checked.”

A quick 12-3 run from Red Oak pushed its lead to 45-25 midway through the fourth.

Leedey struggled to score, shooting less than 32 percent from the floor as Red Oak scored 22 points off 15 Leedey turnovers.

Leedey was led in scoring by Ty Goss, who finished with 14 points.

Red Oak will face off against Earlsboro for the championship on Saturday at noon.