Energized Chargers ground Eagles
ACKERMAN – It wouldn't go down as a Class 2A, Region 2 game despite it being between two district opponents, but Friday night was a game that Chris Pettit wanted his Choctaw County Chargers dominating.
With the Region 2 tournament on the way next week, both
Eupora and Choctaw County both wanted to get some momentum going into the postseason. It was senior night and Pettit was concerned with how his seniors might attack the game, but they did it the right way.
A dominant start made for a game that was never in doubt for the Chargers as the team rolled over rival Eupora 74-33.
“I've never liked senior night,”
Pettit said. “I've been a part of a lot of them and a lot of them are like ‘it's my turn to shine,' but my kids came out and knew it was a game that we needed to play well. I thought especially the seniors played well. We have not been very good defensively the past several games and we challenged our guys. I thought we did a much better job keeping guys in front of us.”
It was a chance to celebrate some great careers at Ty Cobb Gymnasium for seniors Devon Jordan, Cole Hood, Calvin Roberts and Royce Mosley and the group helped the team come out on top. For Choctaw County, however, it wasn't just an upperclassmen show. The Chargers had some big games from Caleb Cunningham and Garrick Alston to go along with Roberts and the team took off from there.
The first quarter set the tone for Choctaw County. The Chargers managed to jump out to a 16-0 lead before the Eagles could get a basket as Roberts and Cunningham sparked the start. It was 21-7 at the end of the frame and Eupora had already dug itself into a hole.
“They're a very big team so our plan was to try and stop the inside and I think we did a decent job of that, but they shot the ball really well,” Eupora coach Austin Burl said. “They came out on fire and we weren't. I want to see us play with more intensity and stay focused throughout the game. I just think our heads weren't in it, but I think it was good for us to see them again before we play them in the game that counts.”
After letting up a bit late in the first quarter, Choctaw County went back to work in the second. Shots started falling and the lead grew as the Chargers built it to 42-17 at the break. It was 65-28 at the end of the third quarter as a running clock came into play and made for a quick finish.
Cunningham led Choctaw County with 20 points and was an efficient 8-of-10 from the field and 4-for-5 from the freethrow line. Roberts had a big night on senior night finishing with 16 points. Alston scored 13 points and was very active in the second half.
For Eupora (3-15, 0-5 Region 2), Mark Pittman led the team with seven points.
The two teams will be playing yet again on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the Region 4 tournament at Calhoun City. The Chargers are the No. 3 seed and the Eagles the No. 6 seed with the winner taking on No. 2 Calhoun City in the semifinals on Thursday evening.
Girls Game
Playing with short numbers, the Lady Eagles were no match for the Lady Chargers in this blowout loss.
Choctaw County got a 18-2 lead and never really looked back. Eupora managed to close the lead a bit in the second quarter scoring 10 points and making it 24-12, but only scored six points in the second half on the way to defeat.
“We were playing team ball,” Eupora coach Cody Ramer said. “We just couldn't get our shots to fall. We missed 15 free throws and any time you miss 15 free throws, you can't win a game like this. We're low on numbers and girls got tired and made some mistakes. In the second half, we stopped playing team ball and started playing selfish.”
Senior Destinee Love scored 14 points to lead the way for the Lady Chargers with Jaraya Woodard and Jaila James dropping in 10 points. Along with Love being honored after the game for senior night was Haleigh Robinson.
Junior guard Katrelya Pratt led the Lady Eagles with six points but on 1-of-16 shooting and 4-of12 from the free-throw line.
Eupora fell to 6-14 for the year and go into the Region 4 tournament as the No. 6 seed after finishing 0-5. The Lady Eagles will play Bruce at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday night at Calhoun City.
For Choctaw County, it has a matchup in the semifinals against East Webster on Thursday at 7 p.m. It's a rematch for the Lady Wolverines after dropping their only game of the district schedule to the Lady Chargers, who knocked them down to No. 3 in the seeding.
Choctaw County coach Carl Hathorn's No. 2 team goes in with much momentum and looks to make a run. Friday was a chance to get out to a big lead and let a lot of players play to get them prepared.
“One of the things that I wanted to do was to keep the rhythm going into the division playoffs,” Hathorn said. “I played my starters and my normal reserves in the first and second quarter and then I started subbing. I'm going to need some of those players down the line so I needed them to get that experience.”