Lady Tigers earn season sweep over the Ridgerunners

The Lady Tigers improved their record to 16-1 and their conference/district winning streak to an incredible 52 in a row, dating back to Feb. 14, 2020. The Lady Ridgerunners fell for the second time of the season, 47-40.

As the score would imply, this wasn’t an easy win for Tahlequah. The Lady Tigers jumped out on top early with a pair of Kori Rainwater free throws but went cold from the court, not scoring a goal until the 2:12 mark on a Jadyn Buttery’s bucket and making the score 4-13. The Lady Tigers went 3-12 from the court in the first ending the quarter, down 8-15.

The second quarter was a big bounce back quarter with the Lady Tigers taking the lead back with a Rainwater jumper at the 3:14 mark, making the score 18-17. The quarter would end with Tahlequah retaining the lead 20-19.

The second half began with Tahlequah determined not to come out flat. The defense was on full display, with Grove not being able to score until less than two minutes remaining, making the score 30-23.

The fourth quarter began with the Lady Tigers leading 33-27. Tahlequah extended the lead, 41-29 early in the quarter with a Talyn Dick three and forcing Grove to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Lady Ridgerunners got hot from deep and hitting three 3’s, forcing Lady Tigers Head Coach David Qualls to call a timeout of his own.

Coming out of the timeout, Tahlequah went into a box and one defense. That’s where a player plays man-to-man on an opposing offensive player while the other four players play a zone.

The strategy worked, cooling off the Grove offense and allowing only one more basket for the rest of the game. Jadyn Buttery and Dick were able to hit huge free throws in the final minutes to seal the game for the Lady Tigers, 47-40.

The Lady Tigers had balanced scoring with Rainwater leading the way with 12 and eight rebounds, Buttery had 10 and six rebounds, Dick had 10 and five assists, Madi Mathews had eight with 50 percent shooting from deep, and Jersey Retzloff had seven.

What’s next

The Lady Tigers will host Pryor at the TMAC for senior night on Tuesday, Jan. 30.