Kenny Howell
ADAIR - The Adair Warriors may have been bruised, battered and bloody after their battle with 3A No. 5 Verdigris Saturday night, but they were something more important when it was all said and done - regional champs.
“Wow,” was the first word that Adair Head Coach Brad Rogers could summon after Verdigris last second shot attempt clanged off.
Adair had fought from beginning to end with a big, athletic Cardinal team for 40 minutes, and the difference was a senior coming up with a big layup with 17
seconds to go, and a freshman that is making a name for himself.
That freshman is point guard Brady Bradbury, who, in playing just his third postseason game, went off on the Cardinals, scoring 28 points including five, three-pointers.
“It was my night and they got me the ball,” said Bradbury after the game. “And we played great team defense.”
“I’ve seen him do that since the sixth grade,” Rogers said of his freshman point guard. “He’s ready.”
On paper, the Warriors probably weren’t supposed to be in the game. Verdigris had bigger wins, bigger players and had been a marquee team in 3A all season. But that is why they don’t play the game on paper.
“We were loose,” said Rogers. “We didn’t have anything to lose. The pressure was all on them.”
Austin Monroe got things started for the Cardinals with a three right after the tip. Later in the quarter, Bradbury’s first three gave Adair their first lead, 10-9. Verdigris would get one more bucket before the end of the quarter and take a 11-10 lead into the second.
In the second, Verdigris started to get a little distance. They built a lead as big as eight points and had a 27-21 lead going into the break.
But Adair wasn’t going to let the Cardinals take over the game. The Warriors started the second half on a 9-3 run as Mason Hudson’s jumper tied it at 30-30. A few seconds later, Hudson added a layup to give Adair the lead 32-30. Verdigris would take the lead back, but Heath Peper got the traditional three-point play, a bucket, a foul, and a free throw to tie the game at 40-40 going into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was a slugfest. It was extremely physical and saw three stoppages of play - one to change blood stained jerseys, one to close a gash that opened on Peper’s eye in a collision and clean up the blood trail that Peper had left going to the locker room, and one to tend to an injured Verdigris player. Neither team would get more than a three-point lead.
Brett Knaust got Verdigris started with a three-pointer, and Seth Stricklen answered with a two. Brian Phillips hit a layup, and Bradbury added a three-pointer to tie it at 45-45. Verdigris was then called for a technical foul. Bradbury would add two free throws, but the Cardinals would get a stop and convert two free throws at the other end by Jake Culver.
Bradbury got to the bucket and drew another foul and hit two freebies to give Adair the 49-47 lead. Monroe added another big three for the Cardinals to make it 50-49, but Bradbury drew another foul and convereted at the line to get the lead back.
Verdigris would respond with four straight points and build a three-point lead, 54-51. But Bradbury again had an answer. He hit two more free throws, then after a Monroe free throw, nailed a huge three-pointer to give Adair a 56-55 lead. Monroe would add two free throws to take the lead back, 57-56, but Adair turned to a senior to get the game winning shot. With around 20 seconds left, Hudson found a crease and took it to the hole, laying it off the glass for the lead.
Verdigris took a timeout to set up a play. They brought it up the floor. The first shot clanged off, but Monroe wrangled the rebound in the corner. With less than two seconds remaining, it appeared that Monroe wasn’t going to get the shot off, but he did and the ball hung in the air forever, but hit the front rim and the celebration started.
Bradbury led all scorers with 28 points in a performance that even got his name mentioned on News Channel 8’s “You Make the Call” Sunday night. Peper showed true grit, battling a much bigger post all night, coming back from the head gash, and scoring 11 points for his team. Hudson only hit three shots on the night, but they were three of the biggest for the Warriors all season. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Monroe led Verdigris with 16 points.
Adair is now one win from the state tournament, and Bradbury and the Warriors are ready.
“Bring it on,” a pumped up, smiling Bradbury said after the game.
Adair will play 3A No. 3 Cascia Hall Friday, 8 p.m. at Bixby.
Adair 58 Verdigris 57
V - 11 16 13 17 - 57
A - 10 11 19 18 - 58
V - Monroe 16, Knaust 10, Culver 9, Smith 8, Whitmire 7, Phillips 4, Parker 2, Bernier 1.
A - Brady Bradbury 28, Heath Peper 11, Seth Stricklen 9, Mason Hudson 8, Logan Crawford 2.
Lady Warriors win another regional championship
The Adair Lady Warriors got one step closer to defending their state tournament title Saturday with a 52-45 win over Victory Christian.
The Lady Warriors held off a Lady Conqueror team that wouldn’t go away, but never was able to take the game over, and a talented future division I player in Christian Key, who had 27 points.
Adair started the game quick, as usual, going up 10-2. Victory Christian would calm down and go on a 8-0 run of their own to tie the game up.
Chelsey Stricklen’s phenomanal fade away three-pointer at the buzzer gave Adair a 13-10 lead at the end of the first.
Victory took the lead in the second quarter. Bailey Bergman’s three-pointer put the Lady Conquerors up 15-13. But Sarah Costas came off the bench and nailed two big three-pointers to put Adair back up and put them in the lead, 21-17 going into the break.
Adair just kept Victory Christian at bay during the second half. Key would help make a charge, but Adair always seemed to have an answer. Costas nailed another big three pointer, and Katey Hatzenbuehler and Tamara Harris would each add one in the fourth to help seal the game.
Stricklen led Adair with 20 points. Harris added 11 and eight rebounds. Chelsie Root would lead the Lady Warriors with nine rebounds.
The Lady Warriors are also one win from the state tournament. The Lady Warriors will play a talented Beggs club Friday, 6:30 p.m. in Bixby.
Adair 52 Victory Christian 45
VC - 10 7 8 20 - 45
A - 13 8 12 19 - 52
VC - Ch. Key 27, Graham 8, Burkman 5, Thomas 2, Hill 2, Feeley 1. A - Chelsey Stricklen 20, Tamara Harris 11, Sarah Costas 9, Katey Hatzenbuehler 5, Chelsie Root 4, Shanna Harrison 3.
