Lady Warriors handle Woodland need 1 win at area for state spot

Okarche held Woodland to its third-lowest scoring total of the season.

And it has the Lady Warriors within one win of the state tournament.

Okarche forced 21 turnovers and didn’t allow a fourth-quarter field goal Tuesday as it defeated Woodland 45-34 in their Class A regional championship.

The win at home advances the Lady Warriors to an area championship game against Selling at Enid’s Stride Center on Friday night.

The winner of that game is in the Class A state tournament while the loser gets another crack at it on Saturday.

Okarche itself went without a field goal and scored just four points in the third quarter as Woodland cut an 11-point halftime deficit to eight.

But Emma Stover and Jaclyn Rother helped Okarche close strong.

Stover had two field goals and six points in the final eight minutes.

Rother added four points during that stretch.

Woodland nine free throws in the frame.

The Lady Cougars were led by Rylee Clapp’s 16 points. No other Woodland player scored more than six.

Stover paced Okarche with 12 points. She scored half of those in the first quarter when the Lady Warriors got out to a 13-10 lead.

Sage Griswold buried two second-quarter 3-pointers as Okarche pushed its advantage to 29-18 at halftime.

seven as Sophie Vandendriessche and Ryen Wittrock scored six apiece.

The win upped eighthranked Okarche’s record to 15-5.

The area game on Friday (after press time) willbe the Lady Warriors’ first playoff game away from home.

No. 3 Seiling (22-1) defeated Arapaho-Butler 49-41 in its regional title tilt.

Joining Arapaho-Butler and Woodland in the consolation bracket are Shattuck and Thomas.