Owasso Reporter - 2 February 2012
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Owasso Reporter
Thursday, February 2, 2012 /
SCOREBOARD
with 5:34 left and Summit led just 36-33. Wise hit a free throw, then answered a Summit trey with one of his own to cut it to 39-37 with 1:58 left. Unfortunately for Rejoice, they couldn’t muster enough stops defensively, as Summit quickly pushed the edge back up to six with two baskets. Luke White then made a bucket, and Wise followed with his steal and basket to get within 43-41, setting up the final commotion. Wise led Rejoice with 17 points. Strathe finished with 12. Nelms was next with five. “I thought that was two good teams that played,” Poplin said. “And I can live with that.”
Eagles fall in nail-biter, 47-41
throughout the contest, but at the end of the game, continually battling from you’re not going to get that behind. The Eagles trailed call. Either way.” Rejoice came into Tues- by as many as 14 — midSummit took advantage day’s battle with Summit way through the third — of its size early. All 10 of Christian having won five but clawed back to within the home team’s firstin a row to get to a season- two points at 43-41 after quarter points came inside best five games above Wise stole the inbound the paint. The only answer .500. pass and knocked down Rejoice had in the openThe Eagles hadn’t tasted a turnaround with 52 sec- ing quarter was Wise’s defeat since Jan. 14, which onds to play. RHS then first bucket — an alley-oop happened to be the last forced another turnover at layup at the 5:09 mark that time RHS squared off with the defensive end, and had cut Summit’s lead to 4-2. Summit. Unfortunately for possession of the ball with Summit then pushed it to the Eagles, their rival would under a minute to play and 10-2 before Austen Nelms once again get the better of a chance to tie or take the made his only basket of them. But, it didn’t come lead. But, amid all the cha- the night, a 3-pointer that without a fight. os, RHS turned it over with he banked in from the left Taylor Wise was solid 23 seconds, easily leading wing with 47 seconds in early, despite RHS falling to a Summit layup. Anoth- the first that cut the deficit behind by as much as 11 in er turnover with nine sec- in half once again, 10-5. the first half. Justin Strathe onds led to another layup, RHS’ offense stayed in a caught fire in the second and suddenly thoughts of a funk in the second frame half to fuel the Eagles’ win, or at the least an extra as well. If not for the play comeback. But, in the end, period, vanished in what of Wise, especially in the the turnover bug bit RHS turned out to be a 23-sec- second frame, the Eagles late and the home squad ond span of madness and would have been blown escaped with a 47-41 win confusion. out. The sophomore netted against Rejoice. “I was out of timeouts, all seven of the Eagles secWith the loss, the Eagles and I couldn’t bail him out,” ond-quarter points, helpwinning streak was halted was Rejoice head coach ing the visitors stay within at five, and RHS fell to 12-8 Wally Poplin’s explanation striking distance at 23-12 at on the season. Job Number: ORBW5043 of the final sequence. “I the break. The score would Customer:
RCB BANK/ALL LOCATION
Rejoice found itself down thought \${customer.phone} Phone: we were fouled, have been even closer if
By John DeJarnett Reporter Correspondent
not for a desperation heave at the buzzer by Summit that somehow found the bottom of the net. “I just thought the first half we were tentative,” Poplin said, describing his team’s play. “They’re (Summit) long and they’re big, but I thought we just gave them too much respect that first half.” Finally, the Eagles settled down after intermission. And Strathe finally got going. The junior sharpshooter unleashed a shooting clinic in the second half — particularly in the third period — that started the comeback. Held scoreless in the first half, Strathe made the first of his four 3-pointers at the 6:04 mark of the third to cut the defi-
cit to 23-17. Summit followed with an 8-0 run to give the Eagles their largest deficit at 31-17 with 4:46 left in the quarter. Then it was Strathe once again, sandwiching two more treys between a Summit basket to get Rejoice to within 10 at 3323. Clay Madden, who had been held scoreless the first 23 minutes, made his lone basket — a 3-pointer 22 seconds before the final quarter — to slice the Summit cushion to seven headed into the final eight minutes. “We weren’t tentative the second half,” Poplin said. “Our stuff is good enough, we just got to run our stuff.” Strathe hit his final trey
Lady Eagles continue winning streak
By John DeJarnett Reporter Correspondent
BROKEN ARROW —
The Rejoice girls continued their winning ways Tuesday night. The Lady Eagles traveled to Summit Christian, and easily handled the home squad, cruising to their fifth straight win. The visiting Eagles handed Summit a 5129 thumping, improving to 13-7 on the season, with wins in eight of their last nine contests. “The girls are 13-7, and that’s uncharted territory for Rejoice girls,” Eagles head coach Wally Poplin said with a grin. “They’ve won eight of nine and they’re feeling pretty good about that.” The outcome of the game was never really in doubt as RHS raced out to an early 15-3 edge after the opening quarter. Ashton Earnhardt opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 2:17 into the game. On the defensive side, Rejoice only allowed a freethrow and one made field goal — at the 3:16 mark — that cut the score to 8-3 in the Eagles’ favor. RHS then followed with the final seven points of the frame for the 12-point cushion. The Eagles were very balanced in the first. Besides Earnhardt’s three points, Emily Hudgeons — who led Rejoice once again in scoring, this time with a game-high 15 — had four in the first. Earnhardt and Hudgeons were two of six Eagles that scored in the opening stanza. Chelsea Hilbert capped the first with the team’s second trey with 39 seconds left. The RHS defense did nothing but continue to put pressure on Summit in the second quarter. The home team managed just three made baskets and two free throws for another eight points. But, it didn’t quite matter as Rejoice continued to score fairly easily. Hudgeons added five more in the second, matched only by Earnhardt’s five. The junior was one of three Eagles in double figures, as she finished with 10 points. The other was Hilbert, who chipped in 11, with nine of those coming from beyond the arc. Sophomore Hannah Sturgill was another solid contributor in the second with four points as the Eagles pushed the advantage to 32-11 at the break. The tempo and the offense both slowed in the third frame. RHS outscored Summit 7-2 to give the visitors their largest lead at 39-13 after three quarters. Hudgeons scored six of the seven in the period, her last points coming with 1:49 still left in the third. The large margin of separation entering the final quarter seemed to show in Rejoice’s play the final eight minutes. The Eagles allowed more points in the fourth (16) then they did the first three quarters (13) combined. However, RHS easily kept the home team at bay, maintaining a lead of more than 20 until the final two minutes, and even then it only dropped to 19 — twice. Hilbert hit her last 3-pointer of the night with 28 seconds left for the final 22-point margin of victory. “I don’t think the girls want this to end,” Poplin added. “I think they want to keep going, and I like that.” “I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
RCB BANK OF OWASSO CONGRATULATES
Marissa Foore
SCHOLARSHIP WINNER OF THE QUARTER
Marissa Foore is the RCB Bank Scholarship winner for the second quarter. She is the daughter of Dr. Ron Foore and Nanette Foore and has gone to Owasso schools since her first-grade year. She has been in the National Honor Society since the seventh grade and is currently serving as the society’s communications officer. She has served as a band councilor two years. She is also in the Wind Ensemble, which is a top music group in Owasso, and has played the trumpet for seven years since the sixth grade. She is the section leader for the trumpet as well. She is also on the Senior Board. She is also enrolled in two advanced placement classes, calculus and English, and has previously taken two other advanced placement classes, English and psychology. She carries a 4.2 grade-point average. She was employed as a sacker at Reasor’s on East 86th Street North prior to beginning classes her senior year. “I’ve done a lot of missions work,” she said. She attends First United Methodist Church in Owasso and participates in the church’s Youth Force for the sixth year. Her hobbies are music-related, and she spends time completing homework and going to the movies with friends. Her plans are to attend Oklahoma State University and to major in a health-related field, with the goal of earning a doctorate degree in pharmacy. She also plans to minor in music. She will receive an academic scholarship from Oklahoma State University and won the Daughters of the American Revolution’s essay contest this academic year. Member FDIC
Marissa Foore receives the second-quarter RCB Bank Scholarship from Frank Enzbrenner, Owasso branch president, with her parents Dr. Ron Foore and Nanette Foore.
11633 E. 86th St. No. Owasso, OK 74055
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