The Sallisaw Black Diamonds pulled off a huge win Friday night with a 46-41 victory over the Checotah Wildcats. (1-9) Checotah continued to face challenges in the second half of the game. Checotah had a huge obstacle with Cooper Cox and Brodie Nickell of Sallisaw, both giving R.J Womack and Cole Rolland a tough battle in the paint.

However, the Wildcats’ defense forced a couple of turnovers and shut down shooting lanes as they held Sallisaw to just seven points scored and trailed 7-6 after the first period.

The second period was a threepoint bonanza for the Black Diamonds as they hit four three-pointers to outscore Checotah 12-9 and take a 19-15 lead into the halftime break.

Aum Patel hit a long three-pointer in the second period while Checotah head coach Malcolm Warrior rotated players. Cole Rolland, Wes Brown and Rowan Chapman each scored two points for the Wildcats in the second period. The third period was the Rowan Chapman show as he scored six of his nine game points. It appeared that the Wildcats’ defense played better when R.J. Womack, Cole Rolland and Tyler Orman were on the court as they played great defense, scored on shots where they had great looks and outscored Sallisaw 13-11, making it a 30-28 ballgame.

Cooper Jackson gave the Black Diamonds a spark when he hit a threepoint basket and Joe Muskrey added another to fire up the home crowd. Tyler Orman would answer the call as he made a jump shot and made both of his free throws. Rolland also hushed the crowd as he hit a long perimeter shot but in the end, it proved to be too little too late as Sallisaw won the game 46-41.

Rowan Chapman scored nine points for Checotah, Rolland eight, Brown six, Orman seven and Patel six.