PHS girls rally past Perry in Hall-of-Fame night win

After almost skipping her senior basketball season, Andie Sweeden helped rally the Pawhuska High School Lady Huskies past the Perry Maroons, 60-52, last Friday on a special night at Oren Terrill Field House.

The Lady Huskies all-star performance came on the night four new members of the Pawhuska Basketball Hall of Fame were introduced following induction ceremonies at a banquet held across the street from PHS’s Oren Terrill Field House.

Perry’s girls surged out to an 11-5 lead before Pawhuska turned up its defensive pressure en route to tying the contest. Another barrage put the visitors up by four points before Sweeden connected from the baseline to get the home team back within a pair, 17-15, at the end of the opening period.

The Lady Huskies took their first lead of the game (18-17) on a bucket by Keylee Kirk two minutes into the second quarter. After the Lady Maroons tied the score at 24-24 midway through the stanza, a lay-in by Kailee Hambright put Pawhuska back on top and Genie Herren’s three-pointer sent the Lady Huskies into the break with a five-point advantage, 29-24.

Perry began the third period with a three-point bucket that cut the Pawhuska lead to two, but Kirk answered by scoring off an offensive rebound. Although the Lady Maroons managed to stay within striking distance, the Lady Huskies continued to respond as they stretched their lead to seven points — 42-35 — at the start of the final quarter.

Consecutive three-pointers by Mya Hambright gave the Pawhuskans a double-digit advantage with less than for minutes to play.

Kirk scored 18 points, Kailee Hambright had 14 points and Mya Hambright added 11 for the home team. Perry’s Jessica Kenard tallied 26, which included six timely three-pointers. Megan Drake chipped in 16 for the Maroon. Pawhuska hit 23 of 50 shots from the field and went four-for-10 from three-point range while Perry made 16-of-46 overall with seven-for-18 success from behind the bonus line.

On free throws, the Lady Maroons converted 13 of 24 attempts and the Lady Huskies managed to make only 10 of 26. After having some problems early in the game, the PHS girls committed just 10 turnovers on the night — half as many as were made by Perry. That helped offset the visitors’ 36 to 25 edge in rebounds, with Olivia Buck grabbing eight for the Lady Maroon and Kailee Hambright getting seven for Pawhuska.

The victory marked a big turnaround for the Lady Huskies (7-12), who lost to the Lady Maroon by 20 points (64-44) in the Dec. 2 season opener at Perry. In that contest, Pawhuska was without injured players Sweeden, Kirk and freshman Mya Hambright. Perry (6-12) has dropped eight of its last 10 games.

Sweeden originally had decided to forego this basketball campaign in order to protect a surgically-repaired shoulder for the upcoming Lady Huskie soccer season. The two-year starter at guard rejoined the PHS squad in late December and is now a role-playing forward. Before fouling out with 35 seconds left Friday, Sweeden scored seven points, with six rebounds, two steals and a shot block.

“Andie is a leader,” said Austin Minshall, the Pawhuska coach. ” She’s always done whatever was necessary to help our team.”

Pawhuska’s girls were defeated in their previous outing on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at Nowata High School. In their first-ever visit to the new Nowata gymnasium, the Lady Huskies fell, 55-44. Mya Hambright scored 15 points to pace PHS.

HUSKIES DROP PAIR

The Perry boys — ranked No. 18 in Oklahoma Class 2A — had too much firepower for the Huskies in last Friday night’s late game at the local gym.

Pawhuska lost to the Maroon by 26 points — 68-42. The Huskies trailed by a 12-2 margin after three minutes, but fought back to within four points (15-11) on a three-point play by Trent Barnett at the start of the second quarter.

The PHS squad then went on an eight-minute scoring drought that enabled the visitors to run up a 35-11 halftime lead.

Star center Chris Adams finished with 25 points for the Maroon, while Trey Red Eagle scored 17 and J.R. Young added 14 for the Huskies, who are 5-14 for the year. Perry (13-5) had topped Pawhuska by 27 in their earlier meeting

In their Jan. 27 game at Nowata, the Huskies came out on the short end of a 55-32 contest. The PHS boys fell behind, 20-9, in the opening period and got down by 20 (37-17) at halftime. Trey Red Eagle led the Huskies with 10 points and William Merrill tallied seven. Matt Callahan scored 15 to top Nowata’s scorers.

Following a week-long break, the Huskies and Lady Huskies will return to action on their home court next Tuesday, Feb. 10, against visiting squads from Pawnee. Varsity girls action begins at 6:30 p.m., with the boys’ game following around 8. Pawhuska will host rematches with Nowata on Thursday, Feb. 12, and then hit the road to Newkirk for Friday, Feb. 13, varsity contests with the Tigers.

On Monday, Feb. 16, the Huskies and Lady Huskies will play Caney Valley at Ramona. The final high school home game of the regular season is set for Tuesday, Feb. 17, when Hominy comes to Pawhuska. In December, both PHS teams captured close wins at the Hominy gym, so the Bucks will be looking to return the favors. Class 3A District games are slated for Feb. 20-21, with Regional Tournaments to be held the following week.

LADY HUSKIES 60, MAROON 52

Perry girls: 17 - 7 - 11 - 17 — 52

Pawhuska: 15 - 14 - 13 - 18 — 60

Perry Lady Maroon (6-12) — Jessica Kenard 26, Megan Drake 16, Olivia Buck 5, Maddy Dwyer 3, McKenzi Richards 2, Kaylie Arnold 0, Korbyn Carter 0. Coach: Ron Dwyer.

Pawhuska Huskies (7-12) — Keylee Kirk 18, Kailee Hambright 16, Mya Hambright 11, Andie Sweeden 7, Sarah Phillippi 2, Genie Herren 5, Sydney Sellers 0, Kyleigh Riebel 1. Coach: Austin Minshall.

PERRY 68, PAWHUSKA 42

Maroon: 15 - 20 - 15 - 18 — 68

Huskies: 8 - 3 - 20 - 11 — 42

Perry Maroon (13-5) — Chris Adams 25, Josh Albritten 14, Sean Chambers 8, Landon Matteson 7, Logan Lewis 5, Braden Sweet 5, Joe Rupp 4, Bakker Shield 0, James Boone 0, Blake Weaver 0. Coach: Brandon Hight.

Pawhuska Huskies (5-14) — Trey Redeagle 17, J.R. Young 14, Trent Barnett 5 , William Merrell 2, Lance Harden 2, Bailey Thompson 2, Hayden Henley 0, Tucker Helmer 0, Brandon Hicks 0, Tristen Tucker 0. Coach: Monty Unruh.