ENDRES GAME
Junior helps spark Okarche past Garber in Class A quarterfinal
OKARCHE’S Tyson Endres (32) works against Garber’s Kamilah Gay during Thursday’s Class A quarterfinal at State Fair Arena. Endres scored all 10 of her points in the second half, including eight during a stretch that saw Okarche outscore Garber in th
The 3-pointers just weren’t dropping and the game was on the verge of slipping away.
A timeout and a chance to refocus the game plan completely turned things in Okarche’s favor.
The result was a 19-4 run over the final 6:10 as the Lady Warriors earned a 61- 52 come-from-behind win over Garber in the Class A state quarterfinals at State Fair Arena.
Second-ranked Okarche and Garber battled back and forth for the entirety of the first three quarters with neither team able to mount a sizable lead.
In the second half, Okarche’s 3-pointers continued to miss time and again.
By the time coach Haley Mitchel called a timeout with 6:10 to play, the team was 0 for 11 in the half and trailed 48-42.
“When I called my timeout, we talked about how we had to use our post players and stop relying on the perimeter to score,” Mitchel said.
Her team not only listened, but Tyson Endres and Emma Stover answered in a big way.
Stover, who had picked up her fourth foul earlier in the quarter, responded with a three-point play just 10 seconds after play resumed.
Endres later scored six straight points as part of an 11-1 Okarche run to take a 53-49 lead.
Endres scored again for a 55-50 lead with 2:12 to play and Stover knocked down a pair of buckets in the final 1:15 as Okarche pulled away late.
“They’re capable of doing that,” Mitchel said. “We just had to start giving them the opportunities.”
Stover scored 15 points and had 12 rebounds.
Endres came off the bench to score 10.
The two scored 20 of their 25 in the second half.
Okarche was just 3 of 25 from 3-point range, but 20 of 34 (58.8 percent) inside of it.
Alyssa Johnson led Garber with 18 points.
The Lady Wolverines also got 12 from Leila Washington and 10 from Grace Howry.
But Garber also turned it over 17 times, which Okarche turned into 24 points.
The Lady Warriors out-rebounded Garber 38- 25.
Jalie Rother grabbed 10 boards to go with her 13 points.
Jadyn Rother scored 10 for the Lady Warriors and added eight assists and six rebounds.
Garber led by as many as six in the third quarter and was 44-40 entering the fourth.
Okarche outscored the Lady Wolverines 21-8 overall in the final frame.
The Lady Warriors have won at least one game at state in their last 10 appearances.
Thursday’s win pitted them against top-ranked and two-time defending champion Hydro-Eakly, which beat No. 6 Strother 52-42 in the quarterfinals.
The Lady Bobcats are 28-0 this season and have won 47 straight overall.
They defeated Okarche 43-29 in the semifinals en route to winning the 2020 Class A crown.