Lady Rangers, Running Rangers idle until Class 3A Regional Tournament, slated Feb. 22-24 at Ranger Dome

The 2023-24 high school basketball season did not end the way the Roland High School teams had hoped.

The Running Rangers not only saw a 13-game winning streak snapped last week, but ended the final week of the regular season with a three-game losing skid which coincided with the Roland boys not at 100 percent due to injuries.

The Roland boys suffered a 61-51 road loss Feb. 6 against Chectoh, then fell 57-54 to Inola in Inola on Thursday night. On Saturday at the Ranger Dome, the Stilwell Indians avenged their home loss to Roland with a 5338 victory — which made the Running Rangers and the Indians co-NOAA Conference champions.

Last week started well for the Lady Rangers, who routed Checotah 53-33 Feb. 6 at the Checotah Event Center, but they ended the week — and season — with back-to-back losses, losing a 43-33 road game to Inola on Thursday night and falling 57-49 to Stilwell on Saturday night at the Ranger Dome.

In the girls’ win over Checotah, the Lady Rangers (17-6 overall, 6-4 in NOAA Conference play), who led 1413 after a quarter, put away the game with a 19-8 second period to take a 3321 halftime lead, which became a 4925 advantage after a 16-4 third quarter.

For the game, the Lady Rangers put four players into double figures, led by Lilly Medicine Bird’s game-high 15 points, followed by Halle Freeman’s 14 points, Haven Freeman’s 11 points and Ryanne Nelke’s 10 points. Brooklyn Hallbauer and Julianna Trujillo had two points apiece.

In the boys’ loss to Checotah, the Wildcats had a 12-10 lead after a period, which became a 28-20 halftime advantage and a 41-34 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In defeat, Carson Wiggins shared game-high honors with Checotah’s Tyler Orman with 18 points and Kade Shook added 10 points to lead the Running Rangers (19-4, 8-2), followed by Buck Triplett with nine points, Raesean Perryman and Mason Kemp with five points each and Cason Perryman and Paul Johnson with two points apiece.

In the girls’ loss to Inola, the Lady Longhorns broke a 7-all tie after the first quarter with a 14-4 second period to take a 21-11 lead into the locker rooms at halftime. Inola would pretty much keep the lead at 10 points throughout the second half.

In defeat, Halle Freeman led Roland with 19 points, followed by Nelke with seven points, Medicine Bird and Kynlei Earnhart with three points each and Haven Freeman with a free throw.

In the boys’ loss to Inola, the ’Horns trailed 40-29 after three periods but doubled the Running Rangers 28-14 in the fourth quarter to get the comefrom- behind win.

In defeat, Wigins scored a gamehigh 21 points to lead Roland, followed by Kade Shook with 11 points, Kemp with seven points, Cason Perryman and DaVohn Hall with five points each, Triplett with three points and Johnson with two points.

In the girls’ loss to Stilwell, the Lady Indians built as much as a 25-point lead at 45-20 on a 3-point basket by Stilwell’s Kayla Benham with 49 seconds left in the third quarter. However, the Lady Rangers made a furious comeback in the final period, getting their deficit to as small as three points at 49-46 with 1:47 left to play on a basket by Haven Freeman, but that was as close as Roland got.

In defeat, Earnhart scored a gamehigh 16 points to lead Roland, followed by Haven Freeman with nine points, Medicine Bird with eight points, Nelke with seven points, Halle Freeman with five points and Hallbauer with two points.

In the boys’ loss to Stilwell, a conventional three-point play by Wiggins, who was honored prior to the game for reaching 1,000 points in his high school career, to put the Running Rangers ahead 10-6 with 3:54 left in the opening period, but the Indians ended the quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 1512 lead into the second period. Stilwell never lost the lead thereafter.

In defeat, Wiggins scored 12 points and Shook added 10 points to lead Roland, followed by Triplett with nine points, Raesean Perryman with three points and Hall and Kemp with two points apiece.

Since the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA) awarded the Roland teams a bye through the district tournament, the Lady Rangers and Running Rangers will be idle until the Class 3A Regional Tournament, which will take place Feb. 22-24 at the Ranger Dome, with the Roland teams playing at 6 and 7:30 p.m. against the winners of the Class 3A District Tournament between Westville and Heavener, which will take place Friday night at Heavener.