Sapulpa keeps El Reno out of ‘comfort zone’ to reach finals
NORMAN — Elise Hill seems to always come through for Tulsa Holland Hall.
Whether it’s the regular season or a big state tournament game, the Dutch know they can lean on their star senior.
“Elise is one of those players that always comes ready,” Holland Hall coach Crystal Lawson said. “She wants to play the game.
“She has to do a lot for us. We count on her to bring the ball up the floor. We count on her to score. We count on her to defend one of their best players. Elise is our everything.”
Hill had another great game Friday morning. The guard finished with 25 points as Holland Hall defeated Carl Albert 56-41 at Lloyd Noble Center.
Holland Hall (24-3) — which will play Sapulpa in the finals at noon Saturday — dominated, and Hill was a big reason why. She hit 7 of 18 shots and was 8 of 8 on free throws. She also had six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Holland Hall led 18-8 at the end of the first quarter and cruised from there.
Along with Hill, Sophia Regalado had a stellar performance, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Overall, it was a great day for the Dutch.
“One of the best feelings in the world,” Regalado said. “Our team has worked so hard for this.”
Leading Carl Albert (22-6) was Ariana Diaz, who had 13 points. Kennedy Cofer was second on the team with eight.
Carl Albert struggled for the most part but won the turnover battle 14-12.
“I thought they executed our game plan very well,” Lawson said of her team. “A few more turnovers than what we had set as a goal.
“Other than that, we were really focused on defense yesterday in practice. They’re a great team with a lot of great shooters, and I thought we did a great job containing their catch-and-shoot 3s in transition.”
Sapulpa 58, El Reno 44
Stailee Heard and the rest of the Sapulpa girls basketball team weren’t happy with how their season ended last year.
The Chieftains, who won the 2021 title, went down in the state semifinals against El Reno, leaving frustrated and disappointed.
Heard doesn’t want that feeling again, and the Oklahoma State signee was on a mission to get some revenge Friday.
Heard had a dominant performance as she led Sapulpa to a 58-44 victory against defending runner-up El Reno at Lloyd Noble Center, advancing to the Class 5A state title game against Tulsa Holland Hall.
The 5-foot-11 Heard filled the stat sheet, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals.
The Chieftains (24-2) led for most of the game and had a 19-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. They kept their foot on the pedal after that and remained in control.
“We were the better team,” Heard said. “We just had to play like it. Can’t have mental brain farts. We just have to stay locked in.”
Riki McQuarters was also solid for Sapulpa. She had 14 points and five rebounds and made 5 of 6 shots from the field. Tyla Heard was third on the team with nine points and had eight rebounds.
“I thought our defense was really good,” Sapulpa coach Darlean Calip said. “We were pretty aggressive. We wanted them to make tough shots. We didn’t want them to get in their comfort zone.”
Reagan Bugaj had a stellar performance for El Reno (19-6) in the loss. She had 20 points and hit 8 of 10 shots, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
Pauline Black-Harmon had eight points, while Emmary Elizondo and Lilly Thomas each had five.