14 WITHIN REACH
No. 1 Lomega dominates pair of foes to make return to Class B title game
LOMEGA COACH Kevin Lewallen high-fives Emma Duffy (33) after the Lady Raiders beat Lookeba-Sickles 80-48 Friday morning in the Class B state semifinals at State Fair Arena. [KT&FP Staff Photo]
Lomega has already added to its state tournament legacy this weekend.
It gets a chance to contribute even more on Saturday.
The No. 1-ranked Lady Raiders blew out a pair of foes Thursday and Friday to punch their ticket into the Class B state title game.
They’ll play the LeFlore-Varnum winner (they played after press time) at noon Saturday at State Fair Arena.
Lomega got into the title game with Friday’s 80-48 thumping of No. 13 Lookeba-Sickles in a semifinal game that tipped off at 9 a.m.
“They’re quick, they’re athletic and they like to play fast,” said Lomega coach Kevin Lewallen of the semifinal foe.
“We’ll try to see if they can keep up.”
The Lady Panthers couldn’t.
Their style of play helped the pull off upsets of No. 2 Duke, No. 6 Varnum and No. 3 Boise City in consecutive games, but Lomega scored within five seconds of the tipoff and essentially kickstarted the rout early.
Darcy Roberts scored that first bucket and hit again with 5:36 left in the first for a 9-2 lead.
It eventually was an 11-2 start for Lomega that grew to 18 points by half.
The Lady Raiders then went on a 22-9 run in the third quarter as Lookeba-Sickles ran out of gas.
The Lady Raiders forced 26 turnovers and scored 27 points off of them while holding the Lady Panthers to 30 percent shooting.
Meanwhile, the Lady Raiders were 50 percent from the field, both inside the arc (20 of 40) and beyond it (8 of 16).
Five Lady Raiders finished in double figures, led by Roberts’ 19 points. Hensley Eaton poured in 17 and Adysen Wilson 16.
Sydni Walker contributed 12 points and Emma Duffy 10 as Lomega improved to 29-2 with its 26th straight win.
An early scoring flurry also helped put the Lady Raiders into the semifinals.
They scored 24 first-quarter points in Thursday’s 62-40 quarterfinal win against No. 8 McCurtain.
Lomega went to Walker inside and she answered with 10 of her 15 points in the first.
Roberts scored all 11 of Lomega’s points in the second as it extended its halftime lead to 12 points.
Roberts eventually led the team with 17.
Wilson finished with 11 and Duffy 10.
It was the 24th consecutive time for Lomega to win a quarterfinal game. The Lady Raiders haven’t lost a first-round game since 1989 against Leedey.
The win also gave Lomega another state tournament record. It was the 62nd win for Lomega at state, breaking its tie with Byng.
The Lady Raiders already own the record for most state championships by a girls program with 13.