THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Inola High School Athletics

Formidably challenged on the inside, Fort Gibson found an answer on the outside. Kayci Glover’s 15 points, all on 3-pointers and three coming in a second quarter run that put the Lady Tigers in charge, led the way offensively as they laid claim to another Jerry Oquin Tournament title on Saturday night, beating Victory Christian 45-35. It was a season-high for her in both points and treys, but certainly in the Glover tradition that brings memories of Allie Glover from 27 feet for the win at the 2014 Class 4A state championship game. There wasn’t quite as much riding on this one but a big early-season win nonetheless. “Allie’s still the best between the three of us,” said Kayci about those horse games with both Allie and Jodi. “This is a big win for now. That’s a great team, a great school, and we came out and competed liek we needed to. We got the win.” Which made Chuck London happy. He’s 5-0 in his first year as head coach. “She got going that’s for sure but that’s what you expect from seniors,” he said. Or Glover sisters? “I’ll take that as well,” he said. “Those were two good sisters.” Three 3s helped 4A No. 2 FGHS to a 25-14 halftime lead. Just as they did to start the game, the No. 8 Lady Conquerors (4-1) amped up their sophomore tandem inside game with 6-foot all-tournament selection Ruth Udomouh and 6-1 Jaxie Wakley. Three baskets by Udomouh, including a three-point play, and a jumper by Wakley made it a 28-24 contest when at the other end Shieldnight made a loose ball save off a miss form Glover and fed Reese Webb, who dropped one off the glass with 2:55 to go in the third to halt the charge. About a minute later, Shieldnight later came up with a steal and unsteady on a drive to the basket, pulled up and passed to Webb who connected again for a 35-24 lead. Webb, a freshman who played at Hilldale in middle school, had all of her seven points in the third. Shieldnight finished with eight points, second behind Glover. “We played well,” London said. “I was proud of our defense. That’s a tough matchup for anybody. They are big and athletic. Our kids did what they were asked to do.” FGHS had won the tournament six consecutive times before skipping last year’s event to take part in the Tournament of Champions. Boys: Fort Gibson 87, Inola 64 Ahead 18-17 after several lead changes in the first, the Tigers outscored the Longhorns 30-18 in the second and with the exception of a short run to begin the third, kept control of the third-place contest. Elijah Wright came off the bench to score all of his eight points, including two of Fort Gibson’s six 3s in the quarter, the last at the buzzer by Connor Calavan for a 48-36 halftime lead. Calavan went on to score a career-best 30. “He’s going to be a very, very good player for us. He’s still young, he’s still learning, but I’m glad he’s on my team,” said interim head coach Todd Dickerson, now 4-1 in place of Gary Hendrix, who remains on an extended personal leave. It was a good bounceback from a 57-54 semifinal loss to Victory Christian, Dickerson said. “I think we learned some things from that game. We did some things better, but we still got a lot to clean up and get better at,” he said. “We got some good players but to be as good as we want to be we have to do the little things better.” Seth Martin had 15 points and 14 rebounds, his fifth double-double. A third-quarter charge got Inola (2-3) within three at 52-49, but the Tigers answered with a 11-4 run that took up the final 4:12 of the period and it wouldn’t be any closer. All-tournament selection Carson Calavan had a pair of baskets in that run and finished with 18 points. Fort Gibson’s squads will host Oologah on Tuesday.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Inola High School Athletics

GLOVER 3S LEAD FORT GIBSON GIRLS TO INOLA CHAMPIONSHIP

MIKE KAYS

Muskogee Phoenix | 12/10/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Mike Kays