Seiling gets date vs. Caddo for shot at back-to-back titles
Emily Robinson caught the ball in the post and immediately made a move to the basket.
Robinson, a forward from Caddo, has been the Bruins’ go-to scorer all season long. And when her team needed her most, she accepted the challenge once again.
“I just felt like I can take it to the hoop,” Robinson said. “I was very confident in my shot that game.”
Robinson rose and made the basket through some contact. She stuck her tongue out through a smile as she ran down the court. It was at that moment she knew.
“I just have a mindset that no one can guard me,” Robinson said.
Robinson’s big game led Caddo to a 49-45 win over Riverside to advance to the Class A girls basketball state championship game at State Fair Arena. Robinson turned in an all-time performance with 36 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bruins to the win.
Robinson’s 36 points ties her at 14th on the all-time single-game scoring list, just below Howe’s Stephanie McGee (2004) and Tulsa Holland Hall’s Gabby Gregory’s (2018) 37-point games. Alva’s Jaden Hobbs holds the record with 45 back in 2014.
“We just had to push through,” Robinson said. “We’ve been playing great all season and just to get to this point is a great achievement and to play in the state championship tomorrow is just a blessing.”
Caddo’s road to victory against Riverside wasn’t easy.
Riverside came out of the gates hot, just as it did in the quarterfinal. Riverside opened the game on a 9-1 run, leading to a 9-3 first-quarter lead. But that’s where everything changed.
Robinson wasn’t going to go down without a fight and she showed it. She scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the second quarter alone and gave Caddo the lead with a 3-pointer. She threw an emphatic fist as the shot fell through the cylinder and the crowd erupted.
Caddo held a 23-15 lead at halftime and never gave it back, no matter the run Riverside went on. The game was close in the final quarter as Riverside’s Karliey Parker had it going offensively. She finished the game with 21 points. But she fouled out with 1:31 left to play in the game.
With her out, Riverside (27-2) looked different offensively and tried to play through the post with Terayna Jones and Alexis Parker. But in the final moments, Robinson was fouled and she sealed the game from the free throw line.
Riverside’s Mahle Jim and Alexis both finished the game with eight points to anchor Karliey. For Caddo, Jaycie Nichols turned in nine points to help Robinson.
Caddo (26-2) will take on the defending state champion, Seiling, for the Class A title at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work,” Robinson said. “We’re going to have to push through, we’re going to have to play a full four quarters and then never give up. We made it this far; we might as well just keep on playing.”
Seiling 69, Okarche 48
Kenly Gore crossed the ball over to her left as the Okarche defender approached.
As she drew the wing defender, Gore fired a pass to Braci Nyberg, who was wide open in the corner. Nyberg rose and knocked down the 3-pointer, hitting nothing but net.
A few plays later, Keirstin Briggs drove to the lane, around an Okarche defender, and flung a pass to Teagan Hamar in the corner. Hamar rose and knocked down a 3-pointer of her own.
It was no secret. Seiling’s drive-andkick set was working, and the Cats were knocking down the shots.
With efficient outside shooting, Seiling took down Okarche 69-48 to advance to the Class A state championship. The Wildcats knocked down 13-of-26 (50%) of its 3-pointers. Seiling will have a chance at back-to-back titles when they face the Caddo at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s a great feeling to beat a good team like they are,” Seiling coach Brady Hamar said. “It was a great performance by our kids shooting in the first half. We didn’t shoot it well yesterday and we come right out and knock down the shots we needed to.”
Seiling (26-1) came out of the gates on fire from behind the arc and it put Okarche (24-6) in a big deficit. The hot shooting from the Cats only continued in the second quarter, which led to a 41-26 halftime lead. A majority of Seiling’s first-half baskets came from behind the 3-point line. Seiling knocked down 11of-20 3-pointers in the first half. The Cats made just three other field goals from the field.
Gore set the tone for Seiling early, as she turned in 20 first-half points. She shot 5-of-10 from the 3-point line in the first half. Even though Gore didn’t score in the third quarter, her presence was felt as Okarche began to key in on her defensively. Seiling ended the third quarter with a 20-point lead. And the Cats coasted from there.
“She was absolutely on fire,” Hamar said of Gore. “She shot it bad the first half yesterday and then had 18 or something (points) in the second half it was crazy. She just carried it right into the first half today. And she can do that. She can flatout shoot. Usually, she’s distributing but she got open shots today and knocked them down.”