The Racer girls beat Class 6A Mustang on the second day of the Ortho Sweet Pea Invitational Tournament, to earn a spot in the Championship round. The Racers also earned a spot in the boys’ Championship; unfortunately, a predicted snow and ice storm forced officials to reschedule.
On the girls’ side, Newcastle and Grind Prep were scheduled to play to see who would finish first and second in the tournament. Grind Prep is a basketball-focused preparatory school in Oklahoma City, designed to help student athletes meet NCAA eligibility requirements and play at the college level.
The Racer boys set themselves up for a finals match against Classen School of Advanced Studies by beating Class 6A Putnam City, 60-30, and Class 5A Lawton, 39-32.
In the Mustang game of the girls’ tournament, scoring started out with the opponents taking an early firstperiod lead, 15-11. Both teams struggled to score in the second period, with Mustang hitting five, and Newcastle hitting only 4. The Racers showed up in the third period to come back with a 19-8 production, and taking the lead, 33-28. They reproduced that showing in the fourth period, outscoring Mustang, 16-6.
Kalani Kindred continued to show her offensive prowess, leading the Racers’ scoring with 18 points. Bella Allen had 8, and Reagan Greenroyd had 7. Lilly Taliaferro had 5 points, Ziyah Sims had 4, and Emerson Marble and Amara King had 3 each. Jailiana Salas added 2 points.
Regular Season Games Newcastle’s girls beat Duncan, 79-15, on January 20, and then beat John Marshall, 6911, on January 21.
Against Duncan, the Racers hit 28 first period points, while holding their opponent to only 3. In the second period, Duncan managed 5 points, but Newcastle had 16. After the half, the Racers added another 25 and held Duncan to only 7. Neither team scored in the fourth period.
Jordyn Richardson, Jailiana Salas, and Reagan Greenroyd led scoring with 12 each. Ziyah Sims notched 10, while Khloe Young had 9. Kailani Kindred hit 7 points, Ava Snider had 6, and Emerson Marble and Makayla Brown each had 5. Lilly Taliaferro had 2.
In the John Marshall game, the Racers opened with a 34-point first period, while holding John Marshall to only 2 points. Newcastle scored 12 in the second period, 21 in the third, and 2 in the fourth. John Marshall had only 3 in the second period, and then 2 and 2 in the third and fourth periods.
Racer scoring was led by Sims, who had 18 points. Richardson and Kindred each had 14, while Salas had 9. Marble and Taliaferro had 4 each, and Young and Brown had 3 apiece.
Racer boys were to play Classen SAS, Racer girls were to play Grind Prep
Ivan Antwi-Donkor takes the ball in for 2. • photo by Lisa Smith-Longman
• photo by Lisa Smith-Longman Cole Seely looks for the play to develop.
• photo by Lisa Smith-Longman Jailiana Salas ties the ball up as Jordyn Richardson keeps an eye for the outcome.
