Three years later, Pryor is one win away from worst-to-first turnaround

For The Oklahoman

Four years ago, East Central dispatched of Pryor in the opening round of regional play. It brought to an end an 0-23 season for the Tigers.

On Saturday night, Pryor will play to be the champion of Class 5A.

Chloe Martin scored 19 points, and sixth-ranked Pryor put together a furious second-half rally to knock off Woodward, 54-46, at the Mabee Center on Friday night.

“It’s awesome, honestly,” Martin said.

TULSA —

“We deserve it, because we’ve worked so hard to get here, considering where we were three years ago.”

Pryor (21-7) found itself in a world of trouble in the first half. The Tigers turned the ball over 12 times and made only six of their 20 field-goal attempts.

Then the second half was a complete reversal of fortune.

In the final 16 minutes, Pryor shot 11-of-21 from the field, made all four 3-point attempts and drained 13 of 14 freethrow attempts.

Beverlee Caraway scored 13 points for Pryor, who will face Tulsa Washington in the championship game. M’Kayla Hillman also tossed in 10 points for the Tigers, who will appear in the title game for the first time since winning a crown in 2003.

Kaylee Hurst led Woodward (23-5) with 13 points. Caylee Kline added 11 points for the Boomers, who watched a 22-15 halftime lead fizzle early in the third quarter.

“The energy coming out of the locker room, that was a complete turnaround for us,” Martin said.