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OKLAHOMA CITY – For a brief moment, it seemed like Sequoyah had carried its momentum from an overtime victory over Chandler into the Class 3A state semifinals.
Triston Gibson opened the game with a strong move under the basket, scoring a layup to put the Eagles ahead early. If someone had told the senior he would go on to finish with career-high in, he likely would have been ecstatic — thinking his team was on its way to Championship Saturday.
Unfortunately for Sequoyah, that was far from reality.
No. 1 Millwood dominated every facet of the game, overwhelming the No. 5 Eagles with relentless pressure, rebounding dominance and high-powered scoring in a 92-44 rout Friday morning at Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City.
Despite the lopsided score, Gibson put forth a valiant effort in his final high school game, recording a career-high 16 points while pulling down 8 rebounds. He scored in every quarter, including a 3-point play in the fourth.
“Going into it, I had a lot of confidence,” Gibson said. “I genuinely thought we would win.”
With the win, the Falcons advance to face No. 3 Cascia Hall in the championship game at 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Sequoyah, meanwhile, saw its season come to an end at 29-3, with two of its three losses coming to the two teams vying for the Gold Ball.
After Gibson’s early layup, Millwood quickly took control, rattling off a 20-1 run while forcing nine first-quarter turnovers to seize a commanding lead.
By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles trailed 22-8, and the deficit only grew from there.
The Falcons (21-5) were relentless on the glass, grabbing 43 rebounds — including 22 offensive boards — while limiting Sequoyah to just 23 total rebounds. It was a familiar issue for the Eagles, who were outrebounded 98-63 in their two state tournament games while allowing a staggering 42 offensive rebounds.
The sheer dominance on the boards gave Millwood 30 second-chance points, leading to 33 more shot attempts than the Eagles. Sequoyah also struggled mightily with turnovers, committing 23 giveaways while forcing only three from the Falcons — resulting in a 30-0 discrepancy in point off turnovers.
That combination—coupled with Millwood’s hot shooting — spelled doom for the Eagles.
“Their pressure defense is tough to handle, and I felt like they sped us up early,” Sequoyah coach Fletcher Reed said. “When you give a team like that easy transition points, it allows them to feel confident, and they amp it up more and more and more. We didn’t have the best of starts, and they were able to get to an early lead.”
Leading the charge for the Falcons was Johnathan Vanburen, who poured in 25 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Millwood also got strong contributions from Braylon Goins (13 points, 1 rebound), Amari Barrett (12 points, 8 rebounds), Isaiah Wilks (12 points, 4 rebounds) and Marc Pressley (10 points, 2 rebounds).
The game got out of hand in the third quarter when the Falcons outscored Sequoyah 30-9. Goins knocked down two of his three 3-pointers in that frame, and Vanburen added 10 points as Millwood’s lead ballooned to 37.
“We felt OK going into the locker room because we handled the storm of the early stuff,” Reed said. “But then the third quarter was another bad start, and they kind of got rolling there and were tough to stop.”
Eestyn Prater — who was honored as the Ascension St. John / FOX23 News High School Athlete of the Week for his performances in the area tournament — capped his senior season with a team-high 17 points and 5 rebounds. He hit four 3-pointers in the game, including two in the second quarter that briefly gave the Eagles hope of a comeback.
After Friday’s game, a FOX23 News sports anchor presented Prater with his award, recognizing his crucial role in helping Sequoyah reach the state tournament.
“It means everything,” Prater said of the award. “It’s cool to get Athlete of the Week, and I’m very proud.”
Although the loss was humbling, the Eagles’ run to the state semifinals was historic.
Sequoyah captured its first-ever state tournament victory in thrilling fashion over Chandler and won 29 games, proving it belonged among the state’s elite.
While their quest for a state title ended in heartbreak, the foundation has been set for the Eagles’ future success. And though the final chapter for this season was written at the Big House, Sequoyah’s story is far from over.
“Today doesn’t do justice for what these guys did this whole season,” Reed said. “The game definitely got away from us, but that’s not what this group will be remembered for. I don’t even remember the score — I know we got beat pretty good. (What I told them in the locker room) was, ‘Think about how much fun we had yesterday. Think about the overtime win against Jones.’ We can go on and on about all the memories and the accolades this group has had this season, so we’re going to hang our hat on those and not really think a whole lot about today. It was awesome because it was the first semifinal for this school, and they’ve done something that’s never been done in school history.
“Yes, we didn’t perform to the best of our ability today, but in the long run, we made history.”
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Triston Gibson opened the game with a strong move under the basket, scoring a layup to put the Eagles ahead early. If someone had told the senior he would go on to finish with career-high in, he likely would have been ecstatic — thinking his team was on its way to Championship Saturday.
Unfortunately for Sequoyah, that was far from reality.
No. 1 Millwood dominated every facet of the game, overwhelming the No. 5 Eagles with relentless pressure, rebounding dominance and high-powered scoring in a 92-44 rout Friday morning at Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City.
Despite the lopsided score, Gibson put forth a valiant effort in his final high school game, recording a career-high 16 points while pulling down 8 rebounds. He scored in every quarter, including a 3-point play in the fourth.
“Going into it, I had a lot of confidence,” Gibson said. “I genuinely thought we would win.”
With the win, the Falcons advance to face No. 3 Cascia Hall in the championship game at 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Sequoyah, meanwhile, saw its season come to an end at 29-3, with two of its three losses coming to the two teams vying for the Gold Ball.
After Gibson’s early layup, Millwood quickly took control, rattling off a 20-1 run while forcing nine first-quarter turnovers to seize a commanding lead.
By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles trailed 22-8, and the deficit only grew from there.
The Falcons (21-5) were relentless on the glass, grabbing 43 rebounds — including 22 offensive boards — while limiting Sequoyah to just 23 total rebounds. It was a familiar issue for the Eagles, who were outrebounded 98-63 in their two state tournament games while allowing a staggering 42 offensive rebounds.
The sheer dominance on the boards gave Millwood 30 second-chance points, leading to 33 more shot attempts than the Eagles. Sequoyah also struggled mightily with turnovers, committing 23 giveaways while forcing only three from the Falcons — resulting in a 30-0 discrepancy in point off turnovers.
That combination—coupled with Millwood’s hot shooting — spelled doom for the Eagles.
“Their pressure defense is tough to handle, and I felt like they sped us up early,” Sequoyah coach Fletcher Reed said. “When you give a team like that easy transition points, it allows them to feel confident, and they amp it up more and more and more. We didn’t have the best of starts, and they were able to get to an early lead.”
Leading the charge for the Falcons was Johnathan Vanburen, who poured in 25 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Millwood also got strong contributions from Braylon Goins (13 points, 1 rebound), Amari Barrett (12 points, 8 rebounds), Isaiah Wilks (12 points, 4 rebounds) and Marc Pressley (10 points, 2 rebounds).
The game got out of hand in the third quarter when the Falcons outscored Sequoyah 30-9. Goins knocked down two of his three 3-pointers in that frame, and Vanburen added 10 points as Millwood’s lead ballooned to 37.
“We felt OK going into the locker room because we handled the storm of the early stuff,” Reed said. “But then the third quarter was another bad start, and they kind of got rolling there and were tough to stop.”
Eestyn Prater — who was honored as the Ascension St. John / FOX23 News High School Athlete of the Week for his performances in the area tournament — capped his senior season with a team-high 17 points and 5 rebounds. He hit four 3-pointers in the game, including two in the second quarter that briefly gave the Eagles hope of a comeback.
After Friday’s game, a FOX23 News sports anchor presented Prater with his award, recognizing his crucial role in helping Sequoyah reach the state tournament.
“It means everything,” Prater said of the award. “It’s cool to get Athlete of the Week, and I’m very proud.”
Although the loss was humbling, the Eagles’ run to the state semifinals was historic.
Sequoyah captured its first-ever state tournament victory in thrilling fashion over Chandler and won 29 games, proving it belonged among the state’s elite.
While their quest for a state title ended in heartbreak, the foundation has been set for the Eagles’ future success. And though the final chapter for this season was written at the Big House, Sequoyah’s story is far from over.
“Today doesn’t do justice for what these guys did this whole season,” Reed said. “The game definitely got away from us, but that’s not what this group will be remembered for. I don’t even remember the score — I know we got beat pretty good. (What I told them in the locker room) was, ‘Think about how much fun we had yesterday. Think about the overtime win against Jones.’ We can go on and on about all the memories and the accolades this group has had this season, so we’re going to hang our hat on those and not really think a whole lot about today. It was awesome because it was the first semifinal for this school, and they’ve done something that’s never been done in school history.
“Yes, we didn’t perform to the best of our ability today, but in the long run, we made history.”
Continue reading...
