FORT GIBSON – Defense does it.

Wagoner coach Mike Blair attested to it.

Forcing his Lady Bulldogs into nine first-quarter turnovers, the Fort Gibson Lady Tigers built a 23-6 lead. Even while managing just two field goals over the first six minutes of the second quarter, they managed to increase the lead and finished with three straight baskets, including a 3-pointer by Allie Glover at the buzzer, taking a 36-13 lead to the locker room.

The end result: a lopsided 66-40 Fort Gibson win in a Old Fort Classic battle of two of last year’s quarterfinalists in Class 4A. But the difference in the two this year is much wider.

“They just keep coming at you in waves,” said Blair, the Lady Bulldogs’ third coach in as many seasons who wasn’t hired until late in the summer and has one starter back off the team that lost in the quarterfinal round in March. His team fell to 2-11.

“Once we settled down against their pressure, I thought we hung in there and played tough against one of the best girls teams in the state. But they do such a good job of anticipating where you want to take the basketball,” he said. “They’re so well taught, so well learned. They’re just solid at every position.”

Jodi Glover, Fort Gibson’s leading scorer with 13 points and a defensive spark Tuesday night, understood those sentiments.

“When we don’t shoot as well as we can or are turning the ball over, our defense is going to be there,” the senior said.

Her team wasn’t exactly shabby shooting-wise, going 13-of-26 in the first half. It did, however, commit seven turnovers. For the night, Wagoner’s total was 17.

Fort Gibson stayed consistent on offense, hitting at a 51 percent clip (26-of-51). Wagoner shot 40 percent (16-of-40) on the night.

The Lady Tigers, 12-1 and ranked No. 1 in the Okrankings.com 4A coaches poll, will meet 14th-ranked Muldrow in a semifinal Thursday at 7:20 p.m.

“We wanted to come out and extend the floor, use our depth and just pressure, pressure, pressure and try to capitalize on their mistakes,” said Lady Tigers coach Jerry Walker, who got his 400th career victory with the win. “They’ve been at a disadvantage with Mike getting hired so late but they’ve got good quick guards who are really athletic.”

One of those guards, Arlandria Freeman, hit a pair of 3-pointers as Wagoner outscored Fort Gibson 18-13 in the third to cut the deficit somewhat at 49-31. Freeman finished with 10 points.

FGHS did play much of the quarter with one starter, Tarylor London, on the floor, and came back with that rotation for another four-minute streak in the fourth.

Julia Hill had 12 points and Savanna Gray added 10 points for the Lady Tigers. Brooke Palmer had nine and London eight.

Muldrow (9-2) beat Inola 52-36 behind Halee Sharp’s game-high 26 points. Inola (5-9) was led by Stevie Rutherford’s 13 points. Inola plays Wagoner at 7:20 p.m. Friday in a consolation game.

 

Boys

Just as occurred on the girls’ side of the ledger, Fort Gibson and Muldrow advanced to Thursday’s semifinals with victories.

Fort Gibson (9-4) took control with an 20-3 run which took them from a 7-6 deficit to a 26-9 lead en route to a 67-48 victory over Inola. Steven Lanham had 11 of his 13 points in the opening quarter which had the Tigers on top 20-9 at the buzzer, hitting nine of their first 13 shots.

“I thought we forced them into some turnovers which led to easy baskets,” FGHS coach Gary Hendrix said. “I thought we did a pretty good job at both ends of the court.”

It was 37-18 at the half with FGHS shooting at 64 percent (16-of-25). Lanham did not score in the second half, and it didn’t matter. Inola got only as close as 12 points.

Taking over the offense for the Tigers was Jordan Hill and Thomas Keith. Hill had 10 in the third and finished with 14 points, same as Keith, who had a double-double with 11 rebounds. He had 17 rebounds in a double-double Saturday against Hilldale. FGHS ended up at 50 percent (24-of-48).

Inola, coached by Clyde Barkley (the father-in-law of FGHS assistant Todd Dickerson), fell to 8-6 and will play Stigler in a 5:50 p.m. Friday consolation semifinal.

Joe McFeeters had 11 points for the Longhorns before fouling out with 1:11 to go.

Wagoner, meanwhile, was Muldrow’s victim, 64-44. Wagoner (6-7) fell into a 12-3 hole and behind Justin Ferrell’s 10-point surge, got back within two points (16-14) at the end of the period. But it was back to a double-digit deficit, 34-23, at the half, and stayed there, reaching 21 at 54-33 in the early moments of the fourth quarter.

“We had two steals and missed two wide-open layups to start the third and just folded after that,” Wagoner coach Jason Giddens said. “We showed (late in the first quarter) we can play good when we want to. Getting the consistency is our problem.”

Nate Hamlton had 19 for Muldrow (8-3), 11 in the second quarter. He was one of three in double figures for his team. Justin Ferrill finished with 15 and Kerwin Thomas nine for Wagoner.

Unlike the girls side, these two winners can’t meet until Saturday’s finals. FGHS plays Locust Grove at 8:45 Thursday in one semifinal with the earlier game being Stilwell and Muldrow, now 8-3, at 5:50 p.m. In consolation play, Stigler plays Inola at 5:50 on Friday and Wagoner gets Eufaula at 8:45