Jenks tournament, Day 2 close to wrapping up
Jenks’ girls hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer but it wasn’t enough as Kickapoo (Mo.) held on for a 59-58 win in the second girls semifinal.
Jenks’ Tia McGee was particularly impressive, scoring more than 20 points in the loss. Jenks led much of the way before the Lady Chiefs closed the gap throughout the third and fourth quarters.
Right now, Jenks has an early lead over Class 5A No. 1 Tulsa Washington. The Hornets are in their first year playing under former TU standout and short-term NBA player Shea Seals.
Today has brought back some memories for me. When I worked in Muskogee several years ago, I covered a couple games here at Jenks, and also covered Connors State College basketball. Former CSC standout Junior Blount, who is from Tulsa, is now an assistant under Seals. It’s also not the first time I’ve covered Kickapoo (Mo.). The Lady Chiefs played in the Tournament of Champions in Fort Smith, Ark., when I worked in the border town. Arkansas also had an assistant coach watching the Midwest City-Stillwater girls semifinal earlier in the day.
EDIT: I’ve been getting Junior Blount and Junior Amous confused for a long time.
Great action so far at Jenks
Today is definitely the most quality basketball we’ve seen all week and that’s taking nothing away from any of the other venues.
Tulsa East Central just wrapped up a 56-55 win over Edmond Santa Fe in the first boys semifinal, with Ken Holdman hitting a put-back with 3.7 seconds left and then blocking Nic Combs shot to secure the win. Holdman scored 9 in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 27. Combs led Santa Fe with 21.
Holdman has become accustomed to big finishes. He also hit a game-winner against Broken Arrow earlier in the week.
East Central will play the winner of the Jenks-Tulsa Washington game later tonight. Either way, it’d be an interesting matchup. Tulsa Washington handed East Central its first loss of the season and Jenks has been a thorn in East Central’s side as well.
On the girls side, Midwest City cruised to a 49-32 win over Stillwater in the first girls semifinal. The Lady Bombers did it with a very balanced attack that sxtarts with very solid defense. Midwest City made a habit of taking advantage of Stillwater’s turnovers to stay undefeated. Midwest City plays the winner of the Jenks-Kickapoo (Mo.) game that’s going on right now. Jenks leads that game 20-12 in the second quarter.
