By Mike Kays
Coach Terry Scott’s chance at his 400th win Saturday afternoon at Ron Milam Gymnasium fizzled with a sore-legged group, one moreso than the others, in a fourth-quarter slump.
A one-point game at the end of three quarters turned into a somewhat misrepresented lopsided affair, as Muskogee lost its second game of the season to Class 5A No. 2 Tulsa Booker T. Washington, 53-38.
With senior guard Micah Smith nursing a sprained ankle but playing, and the 6A No. 10 Roughers (12-7) coming off a week that included an overtime win over No. 1 Jenks and a road victory Friday at Owasso, the combination factored into a fatal 16-2 fourth quarter after Smith’s buzzer jumper made it a 37-36 game through three frames.
Smith, said Scott, text-messaged him after the game saying he wanted to play.
“I knew he wouldn’t be 100 percent, but he said they wanted this for me,” Scott said, noting publicly for the first time being at the brink of 400. “They hadn’t beaten them in two seasons and for him, this was his last chance.”
Scott, who came to Muskogee from Tulsa Central, coached track at Tulsa Washington from 1982 to 1986, his first coaching job.
Smith, who finished with five points, was out of the gym early and not caught for comment.
Washington coach Shea Seals’ primary plan was to shut down the outside shooting game and except in spurts, the Hornets did just that in moving to 16-3 on the season.
“We knew Micah was slowed but he’s still capable of beating you,” Seals said. “It’s like I tell my kids, we’re out to challenge everything — shots, rebounds, passes. I think we did today.”
The Roughers fought their way through eight first-quarter turnovers and sparked by back-to-back 3s from sophomore Eugene Timmons coming off the bench to start the second frame, knotted the game at 17 with a 12-5 run. Timmons’ third field goal of the quarter tied it. His nine points were a team-high, but his second-half contributions amounted to one free throw.
A Roughers defense that broke down as BTW answered with a 15-7 run to close the first half reversed itself in the third quarter, holding the Hornets scoreless until 6-foot-4 forward T.J. Smith scored off his own midcourt steal with 2:38 on the clock. Muskogee owned a 12-5 edge on the scoreboard in the period.
Scott wasn’t discouraged.
“Knowing what we’ve been through this week, no,” he said. “We’re still in good shape. We’re in a good position in playing out the rest of the regular season.
“I told the kids with us getting the fifth seed in our area bracket that that’s where I was at Central as coach in ’06 and won the whole thing (in 5A).”
Faulk missed by a basket a double-double for Muskogee with eight points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Tulsa Washington 72, MHS girls 26
Another rough start made for an insurmountable afternoon for the Rougherettes (2-17).
Down 29-1 before getting a field goal, Muskogee jelled a bit in the second quarter. Jordan Clark had seven points during a period where they were outscored by just 20-15 en route to a 49-16 halftime deficit.
“I thought we came in fired up and ready to play but we just couldn’t hit anything,” MHS coach Doyle Rowland said. “Our offense runs off the success of our defense and we couldn’t get that going.”
It was BTW’s 33rd win in a row. The 5A No. Lady Hornets are 19-0 and just a part of what has been a brutal stretch for the Rougherettes where they’ve lost nine straight, six coming against teams ranked in the top 10 of either 6A or 5A.
“They’re 15th in the nation,” Rowland said, citing one national poll in reference to Washington. “They’re better than anyone in our conference, better than Union (No. 3 in 6A and leading the Frontier Conference standings).
“For this bunch, the schedule has hurt. The schedule we’ve had may be better in a couple of years, but as young as we are, it hasn’t helped us. It’s not the kind of schedule you get any confidence from and as young as we are, that’s hurt us.”
It doesn’t get any easier. 6A No. 8 Broken Arrow on the road is next up on Tuesday for both MHS teams and 5A No. 8 McAlester at home on Friday closes the regular season.
