Mikki Stone hit four 3-pointers, all in the first half, and finished with 15 points as Fort Gibson handed the rival Wagoner Lady Bulldogs a 35-30 defeat in a Class 4A Area III regional championship Saturday at Catoosa High School.
Stone’s touch, which offset a Wagoner defense aimed at stopping Oklahoma State signee Carissa Crutchfield, gave the Lady Tigers a 26-19 lead at the half. Crutchfield was held to nine points, well under her average.
“When they doubled down on Carissa driving the lane, Mikki stepped up,” FGHS coach Jerry Walker said. “It’s like picking your poison especially if she and our other perimeter people hit like they’re capable of.”
Ranked No. 4 in the Okrankings.com Class 4A coaches poll, Fort Gibson has beaten Wagoner twice since a 51-49 loss on Jan. 26 at Wagoner and will take an eight-game win streak into the area championship game Friday opposite Vinita, the team that beat them in last year’s semifinals and went on to win the 4A title, at Skiatook High School.
In addition to Stone’s shooting, Walker pointed to a spread set in the second half was critical. It slowed both offenses, as no one scored for over five minutes in the third quarter. Wagoner ended up outscoring the Lady Tigers 7-6 but two of those baskets came on layups by Janae McJunkins with under a minute to play in the period.
On the boys side, Fort Gibson beat Metro Christian 73-59 to advance as regional champion. The Tigers (20-4) beat Metro a third straight time with what Tigers coach Gary Hendrix called the “best game we’ve played all season.”
“Both of us had some wrinkles that we hadn’t seen but I just thought it was a great effort from our kids in all phases,” he said. “We handled the ball well, shot well, hit our free throws, played good defense, handed the press. It’s the kind of game you want to be playing at this time of year.”
Billy Waltrip had 31 points, including some clutch free throw shooting in the fourth quarter, to lead the Tigers. Casey Byrd had 16 points and Courtney Gaston added 13. Stephen Keese hit 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth and finished with nine points.
The Tigers, who as well as the girls team were semifinalists at state a year ago, will play McLain at 8 p.m. Friday at Skiatook for a state berth. A loss by either FGHS team and they would have to win a consolation championship on Saturday night, also at Skiatook.
Fort Gibson's boys, ranked sixth in the Okrankings.com Class 4A coaches poll, beat Metro, which drops into the consolation bracket, 57-43 on Jan. 12 and again at home on Feb. 5, 62-60.
The Tigers get the McClain-Vinita winner at Skiatook in the Class 4A Area III final Friday.
