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Oklahoma 5A girls basketball quarterfinals: Dramatic second-half rally lifts Tulsa Rogers past Carl Albert; McAlester fends off late Midwest City rally

Rogers trailed by 13 points in the second half.

By Buck Ringgold I Photos by Josh Cleary

NORMAN - Tulsa Rogers was in a dire situation at halftime. 

Though coach Carlin Adkism implored the Lady Ropers to get back on track in the second half of Thursday's Class 5A quarterfinal, Rogers still was in a heap of trouble, trailing Midwest City Carl Albert by 13 points.

But someway, somehow, the light came on for the Lady Ropers and they executed a stunning reversal of fortune on a Carl Albert team that entered the state tournament having lost just twice.

Tulsa Rogers scored 35 of the game's final 45 points to seize control, and the Lady Ropers turned a 13-point second-half deficit into a 12-point win to stun the Lady Titans, 49-37, at Norman North High School.

"This is a resilient group," Adkism said. "We've been going through adversity all year, and I think early on, when our schedule was real tough the way it is, that has made us come and play hard like that.

"They just don't give up. They keep cool, they're always working together and they believe in each other, and when you buy in and you believe, anything can happen, so I'm very proud of them."

Down by four entering the second quarter (12-8), the Lady Ropers scored just four points that period and trailed, 20-12, at the break.

"We were down eight, and I told them we had missed eight points worth of layups," Adkism said. "We just had to stay in it and calm down. ... I told them, 'You're here for a reason, because you're a good team.

"You're a good team and you believe, so we're going to go out here and work each possession at a time,' and that's what we did."

It didn't happen right away, as the Lady Ropers suddenly found themselves trailing by 13, 27-14, in the third.

But they roared back, ending the quarter on an 18-3 run to actually going in front, 32-30, to start the final quarter.

"We just really couldn't drop our energy; we had to keep fighting and none of us could give up," Rogers sophomore forward Nellie Simmons said. "We couldn't give up because we came down here for a reason. We couldn't give up, we had to keep fighting."

The Lady Ropers (17-8) opened up a six-point advantage, 38-32, before Carl Albert senior guard Azya Poole hit two foul shots with 3:24 left to cut the Rogers lead to four.

Carl Albert then had possession of the ball, but Simmons proceeded to swat away a shot. Though the Lady Titans got the ball back, they missed another shot, and Rogers junior forward Julianna Matlock grabbed the rebound.

It was all Lady Ropers from there.

They reeled off nine straight points, the first four coming from junior guard Raegan McQuarters. Then a pair of steals from freshman guard Saniyah Morrison each resulted in baskets on the other end by Simmons as the lead grew into double digits.

Morrison capped the game-breaking run with a free throw as Rogers went from 13 down to 13 up, 47-34, with 39 seconds to go.

"We just had to get it out of our minds and get it out of our feelings and just keep on," Matlock said. "We knew what the situation was and we were willing to come back, and all of us were cheering each other on and making sure we weren't going to give up at this time."

Adkism added the Lady Ropers were able to contain the Lady Titans' outside shooters, including Poole.

"We had to get after their shooters and make sure they don't make their shots," he said. "Contesting their shots was what we were hoping for, and then make them put the ball on the floor."

McQuarters led all scorers with 21 points, 15 of those coming in the second half. Morrison added 10 points while the Lady Ropers' frontcourt of Matlock and Simmons combined to score 16 points.

Carl Albert (23-3) got 14 points from sophomore Saliyah Landon, with Poole adding nine.

And now, Rogers suddenly has another quick turnaround, this time advancing to Friday's semifinals. The Lady Ropers take on McAlester at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the University of Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

"We can't just say that we're going to come out here and beat everybody; we actually have to try (Friday) because it's just going to get harder from now," Simmons said.

McAlester 42, Midwest City 39

The Lady Buffaloes seemed to be in great shape in the closing minutes of Thursday's 5A quarterfinal.

McAlester held a 10-point lead with under three minutes left, and the Lady Buffs' fans were anticipating a return trip to Norman on Friday for the semifinals.

But Midwest City made things very interesting down the stretch, and in fact the Lady Bombers had one more chance to force overtime. However, a desperation 3 at the buzzer failed to draw iron, and McAlester hung on in a win that was definitely too close for comfort.

With 2:42 left, the Lady Buffaloes enjoyed a 40-30 lead after two foul shots from Elizabeth Milligan, whose clutch free throws in the final seconds in last week's one-point win against Grove in the area round sent the Lady Buffaloes to state.

Midwest City, though, kept chipping away at its deficit. Put-back shots from Taniya Looney and Latasha Mitchell made it a five-point game, 40-35.

After McAlester's Stevie Stinchcomb went 1-of-2 at the line with 34 seconds to go, Mitchell got a runner to drop for a four-point score.

The Lady Buffs once again made 1-of-2 shots at the line, this time from Jada Ponce. With five seconds left, Midwest City's Mya Brown got a rebound and subsequent put-back to make it a one-possession game.

Midwest City then got the ball back after forcing a turnover inside the final second. But the potential game-tying shot was off-target, and McAlester (20-5) was able to escape with the win.

Stinchcomb led all scorers with 24 points, 16 of those in the first half. She also made three 3-pointers.

Milligan added eight points for McAlester, which led 25-17 at halftime and 32-28 through three quarters.

For the Lady Bombers (16-10), Looney scored 10 of her 12 points after halftime and Bryanna Williams finished with 10 points while making three 3's.

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