By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
MOORE – Maci Attalla watched as her junior teammate drove to the basket, swerving past two defenders for a game-deciding layup.
Attalla, a senior, never doubted the outcome. She and her teammates believed – even through a 15-4 run by Lawton Ike to open the fourth quarter of the 2019 Class A Area Tournament championship game Thursday night.
Anderson’s lay-in gave second-ranked Piedmont a 52-50 lead over the eighth-ranked Eagles with 55 seconds remaining. One possession and two Delanie Crawford free throws later, the Wildcats punched their ticket to the Class 5A State Tournament with a 54-50 win.
“There was a little bit of nerves there,” Attalla, who helped lead Piedmont in the second half, said of the last two minutes. “But I trusted my teammates. We knew we needed to get things done and that we would make it happen. That play by Tyeshia was big.”
Piedmont started the game with a 6-0 run and led by at least five points all the way until the final three minutes. The Cats carried a 31-23 lead into halftime and a 46-35 advantage into the fourth quarter. Lawton Ike, however, started a 10-2 run with four minutes remaining, capped by a three-pointer from senior Ginger Reece to tie the game 50-50 at the 1:06 mark.
“We really made a lot of good plays in the fourth quarter, we just didn’t finish,” Piedmont coach Eric Carr said of the final minutes leading up to Anderson’s layup. “We didn’t shoot well and missed a couple of layups and then Ty just saw the lane and attacked.
“It’s funny, she’s been struggling at finishing at the basket, but she took it in there without fear and finished for us.”
The Cats were fueled by sophomore Delanie Crawford in the first half. She scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the first 16 minutes, including 12 in the first quarter. Senior Regan Crawford also scored eight of her 12 points in the first half.
Attalla helped keep Piedmont’s momentum going out of the break, scoring six of her 13 points in the third quarter while also helping shut down Ike star, sophomore Mikaela Hall down the stretch. Hall dominated the paint early in the game, scoring 15 points in the first half. However, Attalla and the Wildcats held her to just six points in the third and fourth quarters.
“It’s all about how we’re a family and how we trust each other,” Attalla said of how her team found a way to adjust and come away with the Area title win. “We know we’re going to make shots and we know we’re going to get stops when we need to. And we just go out there and have fun with it.”
Attalla and the Crawford sisters combined for all but six of Piedmont’s points. Anderson scored four, including the game-deciding bucket, and junior Rain Peyton chipped in two.
Carr was not only thrilled with the team punching its ticket to state, but also how the group performed through adversity.
“We haven’t really played in that type of game all year,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve won a tight game where it was back and forth and we had to get big stops at the end. We got to experience something a little different tonight and it will benefit us and be something we can draw from.”
Piedmont now turns its focus to the state tournament next weekend in Tulsa. It’s the team’s second appearance in the last three seasons, having lost in the semifinals in 2017. For Attalla and her teammates, all the hard work is paying off.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group of girls. These girls are my family and we’re having a great time doing it.”
