Class 3A Quarterfinals Live Blog

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Class 3A quarterfinals hit the Big House in Oklahoma City on Thursday morning and afternoon. Prep Hoops Oklahoma had wall to wall coverage of the opening round with game recaps, stats and other notes from each game. Also, stay tuned later today for the Class 6A quarterfinals live blog as all of the basketball action shifts to the Lloyd Noble Center for Class 6A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>MILLWOOD 63, LINDSAY 51</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defending champion Millwood got the action started on Thursday as they would knock off Lindsay 63-51. The Falcons would outscore the Leopards 20-7 and that would give them an advantage that they would never give up. Despite Lindsay making several runs in the second half, specifically late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, the Falcons always had an answer. Lindsay would trail by as many as 20 in the second half but would continue to chip away at the lead, trailing by single digits on a few different occasions. But every time they would get there, the defending champs would slam the door shut on any comeback bid from the Leopards. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Millwood was led once again by their super sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1391439' first='Jaden' last='Nickens'], who finished with a game-high 20 points. All 20 points were scored in the first half as he would go 8-10 from the field. But foul trouble and inevitably fouling out would sideline Nickens for most of the second half. Nickens was the spark for the Falcons outscoring Lindsay 20-7 in the second quarter. The Leopards were led by their senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1625157' first='Mitchell' last='Henson'], who tried to will the Leopards back into contention several different times. He would finish with 19 points on 7-12 shooting as he had the mid-range jumper working throughout the second half. He scored 14 of his 19 points after halftime. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>CROOKED OAK 62, ROLAND 46</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#8 Crooked Oak is moving on to a semifinal date with defending champion Millwood after knocking off #4 Roland 62-46 on Thursday morning. The Ruf Nex would absolutely dominate the second half, outscoring the Rangers 36-18 in the second half to run away with the win. Roland's turnover troubles and cold shooting from the field helped advance the Ruf Nex on to the semifinal round. Crooked Oak trailed the Rangers 28-26 at halftime but they came out red hot in the third quarter while Roland just could not get anything going on offense. Crooked Oak also benefitted from having three players finish in double figures. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1495348' first='Daevion' last='Hill'] finished with a game-high 22 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds in the win. Star guard [player_tooltip player_id='1495347' first='Tymier' last='Adkins-Freeman'] also chipped in with 18 points, with most of his damage being done from the charity stripe and he scored 13 in the second half alone. Roland was paced by Peyton Whisenant, who finished with 14 points but they all came before halftime. The senior-led Ruff Nex now turn their attention to defending champion Millwood in the semifinals on Friday morning at 9AM. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>METRO CHRISTIAN 66, HUGO 34</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top-ranked Metro Christian got their state tournament run started Thursday with a 66-34 drubbing of Hugo. It was a close game for one quarter and then the Patriots flexed their muscles for the next three quarters. Metro Christian would outscore the Buffaloes 15-4 in the second quarter to take a commanding lead into halftime. They would outscore them 37-20 in the second half to leave no doubt that the Patriots are a team to take very seriously in Class 3A. They've been in the number one spot for the majority of the last two months and a balanced lineup has been a big reason behind that.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1696637' first='Mario' last='Darrington'] led the way for the Patriots with 13 points on 6-8 shooting. Two others finished in double figures with [player_tooltip player_id='1696646' first='Jackson' last='Sowards'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1696641' first='Brady' last='Cox'] finishing with 12 and 10 respectively. Athletic guard [player_tooltip player_id='1238739' first='Wyatt' last='Powell'] also chipped in with 9 points for the Patriots. Another big storyline in the game on Thursday was the shooting. Metro Christian simply couldn't miss from the field, shooting nearly 53 percent on the afternoon. Hugo would shoot 24 percent and just over 10 percent from beyond the arc. The top-ranked Patriots now turn their attention to the semifinals where they'll face a Prague team that had a similar dominant win on Thursday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>PRAGUE 63, CLAREMORE SEQUOYAH 45</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In our final Class 3A quarterfinal of the day, the trend continued as Prague would defeat Claremore Sequoyah 63-45 behind a runaway second quarter after a close first quarter. The Red Devils and Eagles were tied at 8 after one quarter and it was all Prague after that. The Red Devils would outscore them 20-7 in the second quarter and would be up 34-16 in the second and third quarters combined. The Red Devils started heating up and they could not be slowed down, handing Claremore Sequoyah a loss in their first ever state tournament appearance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles could just not get anything to fall on Thursday. They would shoot 31 percent from the floor and 8-36 from beyond the arc while Prague was hitting shots at a 54 percent clip. They were led by their senior leader Blestin Miller, who finished with 19 points in the win. The Red Devils now move on to the semifinal round and will face top-ranked Metro Christian. And as mentioned earlier, the Patriots were just as dominant in their quarterfinal win over Hugo. The close games turning into blowouts became a trend on Thursday. Hopefully we see some closer games on Friday morning in the semifinal round. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->