Published: March 02, 2008 09:01 pm            

Lady Tigers roar into Class 2A State

Byng — After qualifying for their school’s second Class 2A girls state tournament in four seasons, members of the top-ranked Konawa Lady Tigers were due to rent a movie or two and retire to coach Gordon Garner’s house for a post-game celebration Friday night.

There was no word on the theme of the movie they watched, but off their performance against shell-shocked Rush Springs in the area championship game, something to do with Custer’s Last Stand might have been appropriate.

In a symbolic reversal of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the Lady Tigers scalped the Lady Redskins, 74-23, to continue their dominant run through the preliminary rounds of the playoffs and firmly establish themselves as the team to beat when the best in Class 2A assemble later this week in Edmond and Oklahoma City for the state tournament.

Although assignments won’t be official until Monday, Garner said he expects to play an opening-round game at Edmond Santa Fe Thursday against an opponent to be determined Saturday in loser’s bracket action at area sites around the state where the other four 2A qualifiers were chosen.

Konawa (26-0) prepped for Friday’s laugher by dominating Vanoss (68-34) in the district tournament and 13th-ranked Healdton (55-41) and No. 18 Latta (58-38) in the regional. Nothing the Lady Tigers had done in the earlier rounds, though, compared to the punishment they handed out to a Rush Springs club that entered Friday’s game with a losing (11-15) record overall but a spotless playoff slate that included an upset of No. 12 Wright City in last weekend’s regional championship game (also at Byng).

The Lady Redskins actually led, 6-4, after a putback of an offensive rebound by Gina Graham three minutes into the game, but Konawa sophomore Kassandra McClain drained a 3-pointer off a feed from senior Hilary Kuestersteffen just 26 seconds after Graham’s bucket to give the Lady Tigers the lead for good.

McClain’s trey ignited an eye-popping 21-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to make it 25-6 heading to the second quarter, and Konawa went on to score 23 in a row and 60 of the game’s next 71 points — a spurt capped by a pair of McClain free throws to make it 70-17 with 5:26 left.

“I thought we were a little unsound early the ballgame (Graham’s layup was the third for the Lady Redskins in as many minutes),” Garner said. “I think the girls were just a little pumped up or a little nervous. I’ve never been part of an area tournament game like this.”

Although McClain’s first and last points of the evening bookended 24 of the most impressive minutes by a Konawa team in Garner’s four seasons at his alma mater, the real star of the first three quarters was center Rehea Grant.

A 5-10 senior, Grant had already wrapped up her 24th double-digit scoring effort of the season before the first quarter ended, and by halftime she had compiled a statistical portfolio that included 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots and an assist. Grant finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in less than three quarters, and she was one of 11 Konawa players to score in the game.

“Rehea just dominated,” Garner said. “Right now she is so focused.”

Grant’s layup with 4:03 left in the first quarter (her third basket of the period) to cap a fast break started by a steal by fellow senior Erin Fixico made it 9-6, and the lead grew to 11-6 on a steal and layup by another of Konawa’s four senior starters, Kelsey Howard, eight seconds later.

Fixico’s putback of her own miss at the 3:19 mark made it 13-6, Howard drained a 3-pointer from the corner off one of McClain’s five assists to give the Lady Tigers a double-digit lead with 2:38 left in the quarter, and Grant’s steal and layup a minute later put Konawa up 18-6.

McClain — a 5-5 dynamo who is one of the state’s best rebounders for her size — hit the first of two foul shots at the 1:07 mark after grabbing a rebound at the other end, and senior Amber Lamb tipped her missed second shot back to McClain, who fed Lamb for a layup to make it 21-6.

Another McClain rebound (she finished with five) led to two free throws by fellow sophomore Sydney Stoup with 24.8 seconds left in the quarter, then Grant capped her 10-point first quarter with a putback of her own miss seven seconds later to cap the remarkable Konawa run to end the period.

The lead grew to 30 (44-14) on a nice lob from Fixico with 5:05 left in the third quarter, to 41 (57-16) on a fast-break layup by Stoup with 34 seconds left in the period and to 50 (66-16) on a Lamb basket early in the fourth quarter. Konawa’s starters were long gone by that point (they went to the bench with 1:47 left in the third quarter), and Garner’s second and third-teamers finished up.

Stoup continued to be one of the state’s top players off the bench, rebounding from a quiet first half (she picked up two quick fouls and had only the two early free throws before the break) to finish with 13 points, two steals and two assists. Howard had seven points and three of Konawa’s 14 steals; McClain had eight points to go with her five assists and five rebounds; and Lamb hit 3-of-5 shots and finished with six points, four rebounds and two steals.

The Lady Tigers rebounded from their shaky start defensively to force 28 turnovers and limit Rush Springs to nine field goals in 36 attempts, and Grant’s 10 rebounds led Konawa — which hit 29-of-58 shots — to a decisive 36-20 advantage on the boards.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.