MUSKOGEE, OK —
Ned Adair muscled his way to 14 points and 11 rebounds to power Fort Gibson to a 71-54 victory against Locust Grove in the Class 4A Area IV consolation boys playoff game at the Muskogee Civic Center on Thursday.
Adair played his best in the second half with 10 points and six rebounds and made all four of his free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.
Fort Gibson started strongly, jumping out to a 22-4 lead after the first quarter and that included a 15-0 scoring run over the last two and one-half minutes of the period. Jordan London had seven points and Jordan Hill six in the first period and finished with 22 and 20, respectively. Zack Lindley added 12.
The Tigers shot 48.1 percent (13 of 27) from the floor in the first half and finished the game shooting 42.3 percent.
Locust Grove (19-7) battled back to slice Fort Gibson’s lead to six points three times in the second half and the last time was at 49-43 on Colton Pike’s basket early in the fourth quarter.
“We came out timid,” Locust Grove coach Ronnie Maple said. “We were playing not to make mistakes instead of playing basketball. We just couldn’t get in rhythm after that first quarter.”
Freshman Mason Fine, sinking 3 of 4 3-pointers in the first period, led the Pirates with 14 points, while Pike had 13 and junior Taylor Halpain added all of his 11 points in the second half. Pike had a team-high eight rebounds.
Halpain said his team’s struggles to shoot, particularly early, proved costly.
“We gave it our all,” he said. “They just shot the ball better than we did and got the win.”
The win is Fort Gibson’s third this season against the Pirates. Fort Gibson won the Dec. 18 meeting 57-43 and the Feb. 11 game 82-67.
The Tigers, ranked No. 6 in the final Okrankings.com poll, improved to 23-4.
Four Locust Grove seniors ― David Stone, Jason Helton, Tyler Fields and Reed Bryant ― were playing in what would be their final game in a Pirate uniform. Stone scored six points, while Bryant added four.
Locust Grove Scorers — Mason Fine 14, Colton Pike 13, Taylor Halpain 11, David Stone 6, Jason Pirtle 4, Reed Bryant 4, Tyler Rowland 2.
Fort Gibson Scorers — Jordan London 22, Jordan Hill 20, Ned Adair 14, Zack Lindley 12, Collin Abdallah 3.
Note: Report provided by Kenton Brooks of the Muskogee Phoenix.
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