Craig leads Blachard to Noble Tournament championship
NOBLE — Carly Craig never came off the floor for Blanchard.
The way the senior point guard was playing against Bridge Creek during the Noble Tournament finals, it made sense to keep her in the game.
Craig commanded Blanchard's offense and finished with 23 points, leading the Class 4 A Lions to a 64-48 victory Saturday night.
Craig, the daughter of Blanc hard football coach and athletic director Jeff Craig, made five 3- pointers and helped the Lions win the Noble Tournament for the second consecutive year. She was also named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
“Every once in a while, we'll try to get her a breather, but we needed her out there,” Blanchard coach Jennifer Schneeberger said. “She was hitting, so I wasn't going to mess that up. She's a heck of a player.”
Along with Craig, Lauren Coffman had a big game for Blanchard, finishing with 19 points.
With Craig and Coffman producing on offense and the Lions playing outstanding defense, they took a 16-4 lead into the second quarter.
Blanchard (7-2) stayed in the driver's seat and had a 25- point lead at halftime.
The performance Saturday capped a dominant tournament for the Lions, who beat Southeast and Noble to advance to the title game.
“We saw some different things that we don't normally see in conference,” Schneeberger said. “You got one day to prepare, so it's good for us to have that experience.”
Lainey Morrow led Bridge Creek with 30 points in the loss. The Bobcats are 8-1.
Nelson, Pitts lifts Tulsa Union over Bixby in PCI championship
Kaylen Nelson took two dribbles at the free-throw line and knocked down the first. Ta kyla Pit ts walked over and emphatically gave her a high five. Nelson took the support and knocked down the second free throw.
All night the duo had been overbearing, and Nelson's two free throws gave Tulsa Union a 2-point lead with 27 seconds left. It turned out to be the winning points as Tulsa Union topped Bixby 47-45 in the Putnam City Invitational championship game on Saturday.
The championship win gave Tulsa Union the win that it just missed out on last year when Putnam West took the crown on a last-second buzzer-beater.
“We were a game better this year than we were last year but the goal is still the same,” Tulsa Union coach Joe Edmond said. “we played three really talented teams and won them all. We'll enjoy it until midnight and then get ready for Muskogee on Tuesday.”
Tulsa Union' s win didn' t come easy. It' s starting forward was disqualified early in the second quarter after being called for a pair of technical fouls. That's when Nelson and Pitts took over. And the pair combined to score 23 of Tulsa Union's 47 points to outmatch.
Bixby did everything it could to stay in the game that came down to the final possession. But even Gracy Wernli, who put in 20 points on the night, couldn't lift them over Tulsa Union's pair of Pitts and Nelson.
With Nelson play throughout the tournament, she finished as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. An award, Redmond felt like she deserved.
“She's so poised, she's so calm, she's so disciplined and everything you want an 18-year-old lady to be,” Redmond said of his senior .“She' s an excellent leader vocally and just the way that she carries herself. So, when you have that, it's hard to have a bad day. She means everything to us.”
Tip-ins
• Classen SAS snuck past Moore 55-54 to secure third place of the Putnam City Invitational on Saturday.
•After winning the Putnam City Invitational last year on a last-second shot, Putnam West finished this season as the consolation champion. Putnam West bested Putnam North 49-44 on Saturday.