In one of the best games of the season, Sulphur caught fire at the regional consolation championship last Saturday and exploded over Cache, a team they lost to in the opening round of the district tournament.
“It was a big moment for the program,” said head coach Grant Bates of the win over the Bulldogs out west. “It was the first time we have been able to advance to area since 2014. I was happy for our guys and all the work they put in this year to earn that opportunity and complete our first goal. We look forward to continuing our run this next weekend in Area Tournament at ECU.”
With their backs to the wall, Sulphur opened last week’s regional consolation round against Lone Grove on Friday in game they had to win to advance in the playoffs.
The Dogs responded against the senior-laden Longhorns with a 12-point win, 54-42, as senior point leader, Bridge Barrett, poured in 24 points with five steals and senior teammate Colten Cole added 13. Garin Watson added six rebounds in the win.
Bates said the Longhorns offered up physicality at both ends of the court, but Sulphur stole the show with excellent defense.
“They are a physical team that does things right on both ends of the court,” said Bates. “I felt like our ability to defend really allowed us to set the tone throughout the game. That combined with our ability to get great looks from the outside (shooting 55% from 3) was the difference. This time of the year is about surviving and advancing. I was proud of our ability to fight through some adversity early in the game and stay focused on playing our way of possession by possession basketball and get a regional win.”
The win advanced Sulphur to Saturday night’s regional consolation finals where they exacted some revenge over Cache, who clipped them in the district tour- nament to open the playoffs.
Dogs Win
Sulphur produced a big, 19-point win over Cache in what Bates said was one of their best games of the season.
“This was a rematch from the district championship and we were able to come out on top this time,” said Bates. “Again we held up well defensively holding them to just 29% from the field. We took on the challenge that if we were going to advance to Area it was going to be because of our ability to defend. We did a much better job on Cache’s role players and didn’t let those guys get going this game like in districts. It was a great team effort from top to bottom and one of our best games of the year at the right time.”
Kale Brakefield led the Dogs with a big night, scoring 23 points and 10 rebounds in the 60-41 triumph. He was followed in scoring by Bridge Barrett’s 15-points and two steals. Ethan Sales added four assists in the game.
The win sets the stage for a big moment in Sulphur basketball as they advance to the first round of the Area Tournament this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be held on the campus of East Central University where they will meet up with old foe Ada. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Ardmore-McLoud game in a contest on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The winner there will then meet up with the loser of the Douglass-Blanchard game for a ticket to the state tournament.
