Five Takeaways: Fort Gibson vs Tahlequah Sequoyah
Fort Gibson took on Tahlequah Sequoyah in one of the biggest match-ups of the week. The game was tight throughout the first quarter and then Fort Gibson had a huge second quarter to take an 18-point lead into the half. The Tigers stretched their lead to more than 20 points at different times in the third quarter but the Indians never gave in. They chipped away at the Tigers lead and got back within five before eventually falling to the Tigers by six, 64-56.
- As Good as Promised
Carson Calavan 2018 Fort Gibson Guard is the real deal. Calavan has some of the best handles in the state and they were on display for all to see against Tahlequah Sequoyah. On a couple separate occasions Fort Gibson gave the ball to Calavan and told him to stall for the last shot. At these moments he put on a show. He dazzled the crowd with tricks and got the ball to teammates to finish before the buzzer. Throughout the game, Calavan was always in control. He found his teammates with great vision and showed off a beautiful stroke. He was the best player on the court and showed how important he is to the Tigers’ success. He finished the game with 17 points on the night.
- The Beast
Seth Martin 2019 Fort Gibson Post was a beast on the inside. He grabbed rebounds throughout the night and scored hard baskets at the rim. Tahlequah Sequoyah fell down early in the second quarter because they were giving up second chance points to Martin and could not grab any on the other side because Martin and the entire Tiger squad did an excellent job blocking out. Martin was the top scoring Tiger on the night with 18 points.
- One Shy of a 30-piece
Bobby Cade 2018 Tahlequah Sequoyah Guard was on fire for Tahlequah Sequoyah throughout the night. The Tigers keyed on another Sequoyah guard and it left Cade more room to work. He was good on all three levels for the Indians and shot the ball very well. When the Indians fell behind big in the second half, Cade just kept chipping away. He put his head down and went to work. Cade kept the Indians in the game in the second half and made the score respectable. Cade finished the game with a game-high 29 points.
- The Comeback
Fort Gibson took off in the second quarter. They built a huge lead and went into halftime with an 18 point lead. In the second half, the Tigers led by more than 20 for long stretches and it was not until the Indians started pressing that they started to chip away at the Tiger’s lead. They forced the Tigers into dumb turnovers and mistakes that were costly. Sequoyah came all the way back to trail only by five and ended up falling to the Tigers by 6 after a very impressive fourth quarter.
- Dominating the Paint
The reason the Tigers were able to build such a dominant lead was their play on the inside. They dominated down low and caused the Indians to struggle on their end of the court. Martin caused the Indians problems and forced them to shoot from the outside. Calavan on the outside forced turnover after turnover. He got steals and was dominant on both ends of the court. The Tigers lead continued to build because the Indians could not stop them in the paint The Tigers only struggled when they could not find their post on the inside in their offense. While the post may not have scored every possession they drew double teams and kicked to their open guards. The Tigers won this game because of their play on the inside.