Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
OKLAHOMA CITY – Okarche’s Sarah Griswold took a deep breath after Fayth Laughlin’s free throw went through the net.
Cyril had just taken its first lead of the game on Okarche, 18-17, with less than a minute gone by in the third quarter.
An 8-point first half lead had evaporated.
“I was nervous,” the senior post player said.
Griswold knew the Lady Warriors needed to take momentum back quickly. They did and never gave it back.
Okarche scored on its next possession and closed the game on a 25-1 run behind 10 second-half points from Griswold who finished with 14 and seven rebounds as Okarche hammered Cyril 42-19 in the quarterfinals of the Class A state tournament at Ron Norick Arena.
The win was the Lady Warriors seventh straight in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
“We told them, girls we’re going to win. Losing is not an option today and you know that,” head coach Kelli Jennings said. “We just needed to go have fun and control the game.”
Like it has all season, Okarche relied on its defense to key a victory.
Cyril missed its last 12 shots from the floor and didn’t score a point from the 7:02 mark of the third quarter to the final seconds of regulation. Okarche forced 16 Pirate turnovers.
The Lady Warriors (26-5) limited Cyril star Fayth Laughlin to five points on 1 of 8 shooting as well.
“We knew that was the key,” Jennings said of stopping Laughlin. “The girls executed that and did phenomenal.”
Sydney Johnson chipped in with seven to pace Cyril (20-6), but it wasn’t nearly enough.
The Lady Warriors got contributions from several players during their decisive run.
Rachel McDowell hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with nine points, point guard Bailey Baustert added two buckets and finished with seven. Madison Owens came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer and scored five points. Hannah Lee scored seven points on 3 of 4 shooting and added three steals.
Then there was Griswold, who struggled in the first half and hit just 1 of 3 shots with both misses coming from in close.
“I had three girls coming down on me and I didn’t know where to go,” she said.
Griswold said her teammates took the pressure off of her in the second half by finding open spots on the perimeter.
Griswold made 4 of 6 shots after half and hit 4 of 5 free throws as she continued to round into form after being slowed down late in the season by a bout of pneumonia.
“I told her, I don’t care if you miss 15 bump shots, you’re the best post player here,” Jennings said. “You go play like it and that’s what she did.”
Griswold said it boosted her confidence to put together a strong game on a big stage.
“I’m back and ready to go,” she said.
Okarche advances to play top-ranked and two-time defending state champ Seiling (25-1) Friday at 1:30 p.m. back at Ron Norick Arena.
Jennings played in high school for Lady ‘Cats head coach Brady Hamar.
“We respect what they do and that they’re two-time state champs,” she said. “But why not us?
