The No. 19 ranked Eufaula Ironheads (9-2) dismantled the Okay JV 84-32 in the opening round of the Warner Basketball Cherokee Classic. Keaton Parish and Dacen Hunter led the Ironheads in the first period and scored a combined 13 points. It was a huge mismatch as Eufaula scored at-will and finished the first period with a 12-9 lead.
The second period was an offensive display of shooting for the Ironheads as Maddox Bridges scored 14 of his 23 points. Eufaula dominated the Cougars as Jentry James, Ty Sparks, Logan Plant and Dusty Eby tormented their opponents with great defense and rebounding as Eufaula outscored Okay 25-15 in the second period and 24-2 in the third period.
Bridges led the team with 23 points, James 10, Parish 15, Hunter 12 and Sparks added nine points.
On Tuesday, Eufaula defeated Poteau 54-38. Dusty Eby led the charge for Eufaula as he was hot from the perim- eter, hitting four threepoint buckets and finished with 14 points total. Eufaula led 18-12 at the halftime break.
The Pirates struggled defensively to stop Eufaula in the second half but put up 14 points on the board in the third period. The only problem was Eufaula led 37 to 25 to start the fourth and Poteau failed to adjust defensively as the Ironheads rained four more three-pointers to seal their 54-38 victory.
Eby led Eufaula with 14 points, Maddox Bridges and Keaton Parish had 10 each, to round out the top three scorers.
On Monday in the consolation championship, Class 4A Catoosa handed the Ironheads a 94-66 defeat. Catoosa’s Ethan Bowen (6’9”) was the difference maker along with three-point specialist Sutton Woods. Bowen scored 20 points and Woods 14 points. Catoosa started five seniors.
The Catoosa Indians led 17-8 after the first period and 37-22 at the halftime break. The Ironheads struggled against the more athletic Indians. But, Eufaula would play hard and never gave up as Dusty Eby began to hit three-pointers while Maddox Bridges, Keaton Parish and Dacen Hunter worked the paint for 24 points in the third period. Ty Sparks had a big second half with nine points and five steals.
Just when Eufaula began to make plays Sutton would hit another threepointer and closed out the third period with a 74-46 advantage. Both teams scored 20 points each in the fourth as Catoosa head coach pulled his starters at the 5:00 mark.
Bridges led Eufaula with 15 points, Keaton Parish 13, Ebay and Sparks nine, and Logan Plant added six.
Warner tops Lady Ironheads in consolation bracket The Eufaula Lady Ironheads fell to Warner 35-25 on Monday. The Lady Eagles led 9-6 after the first period. Both teams were physical and played hard. Turnovers and poor shot selection added to the Lady Iron-heads challenges. Johna Bumgarner, Jadence Efurd, Ariel Greenlee and Kate Pippenger played tough in the paint and grabbed key rebounds but Eufaula failed to put points on the board in transition.
Warner on the other hand was able to force turnovers and score at the free-throw line to take a 31-19 lead into the halftime break.
Eufaula battled back with three-point shots from Bumgarner but Adyson Dishman of Warner played a great game on both sides and finished with eight points. The Lady Eagles defense frustrated the Lady Ironheads at times and took them out of the game.
Warner outscored Eufaula 10-8 in the third period and held Maddie Ballard to just two points in the second half while Efurd fouled out at the 2:00 minute mark due the physical nature of the game.
Efurd scored six points, Ballard seven and Bumgarner added nine to round out the top three scorers.
