By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Round 2 in what could be four meetings this season between Oak Grove and Petal in boys basketball was a turnabout from the first meeting just one week ago.
This time, it was the host Warriors who prevailed, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 57-49 victory over the Panthers before a full house at Warrior Gymnasium.
Oak Grove (16-4 overall) snapped a three-game losing skid, and both teams evened their Region 5-6A records at 2-2. Petal, ranked fourth in Class 6A and sixth in the Overall rankings, dropped to 15-3 overall.
“We needed this one big,” said Oak Grove senior Tate Ryder, who had 16 points to lead the Warriors. “It definitely gives us some momentum going into Monday for the Rumble in the South, then Tuesday we have Hattiesburg. So, it was real big.”
It was Ryder who put Oak Grove ahead to stay with a 3-point shot early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors played a near-perfect final period, converting 5 of 8 shots from the field – including 3 of 4 from 3-point range – sinking 6 of 7 foul shots and did not commit a turnover.
“I think the difference was we played tougher,” said Oak Grove coach Laron Brumfield. “I thought we played a good game last week (in a 59-52 loss), but we didn’t play tough.
“There were times (last week) where we gave up offensive rebounds; tonight, we blocked out. And, sometimes, when we didn’t block out, we went up and got rebounds. This is playoff basketball, and you have to play tough. Tonight, we did that.”
It was indeed playoff-caliber basketball from start to finish. Until Oak Grove pulled away in the fourth quarter, neither team led by more than four points, and the two teams played through 11 lead changes and six ties.
Despite shooting 65 percent from the field in the first half (13 of 20), Petal only led 30-26, in part because the Panthers were just 2 of 9 from the foul line.
“I thought Oak Grove shot the ball extremely well, and, defensively, we were on our heels a lot,” said Petal coach Todd Kimble. “Offensively, we’ve gotten in a 75 percent mode where we’re not running full-speed and not moving the basketball like we should.
“In the fourth quarter, I thought we took some shots that we didn’t need to take.”
Petal got 17 points each from two of its big guns, 6-foot-5 junior Caleb McGill and 6-4 junior Treylan Smith. But Oak Grove was able to get both players out of rhythm offensively at key points in the game, and the Panthers got little production elsewhere.
“(McGill) is such a hard guy to guard,” said Brumfield. “He’s got good size, but he moves well and he can finish around the rim. I thought the double-team helped out a lot, and we were able to slow him down just enough.”
Although Oak Grove really took command in the fourth quarter, the third quarter was especially key, as the Panthers started the second half slow, committing three turnovers, an offensive foul and a one-and-done on their first five possessions of the third quarter.
Ryder opened the half by sinking a difficult shot from 14 feet along the right baseline, then followed his own missed 3-point shot with a putback and sophomore Dylan Brumfield hit a trey to key a 7-0 Warrior run.
“We just wanted it,” said Oak Grove senior Brandon Tilley, who had 10 points for the Warriors. “One thing we learned from these three losses was to slow it down, don’t push quite as hard and let the game come to us.”
Petal regained the lead, 39-36, when McGill got a three-point play on a drive through the lane, drawing a foul on the made basket and sinking the and-one foul shot. The Panthers led 41-38 after the third quarter.
The Warriors opened the final period with sophomore Jay Barnes making a pair of foul shots. After rebounding a Panther miss, Ryder got free along the right sideline for the final go-ahead trey.
McGill tied it one last time on a putback, but Tilley turned an offensive rebound into another 3-pointer and Oak Grove pulled away from that point on.
“We move the ball and play as a team way better than any Oak Grove team I’ve been on,” said Ryder. “That’s a big part of our game, and we did really well at that tonight.”
In the girls game, Petal sophomore Mackenzie Thomas put on a show, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds as the suddenly-resurgent Lady Panthers won their third straight game, rolling over Oak Grove 43-25.
Thomas scored six points in the first four minutes as the Lady Panthers (5-15, 3-1) opened the game with a 9-0 run and were never challenged the rest of the game. Oak Grove (5-15, 1-3) lost its third straight game.
Both the Oak Grove and Petal boys will be in action on Monday at the Rumble in the South at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Ridgeland. The Warriors play Murrah at 1:30 p.m., then the Panthers follow at 3 p.m. against Center Hill.
Petal returns home Tuesday to face West Jones, while Oak Grove travels to play Tuesday at Hattiesburg.
Prep Basketball Summaries
Friday at Oak Grove
GIRLS
Petal 43, Oak Grove 25
Petal 18 5 9 11 – 43
OG 5 4 10 6 – 25
PETAL (5-15, 3-1 on 5-6A): Lauryn Myers 8, Micah O’Dell 5, Abbeygail Gallager 3, DeAnnah Gallager 2, McKenzie Thomas 21 (9 rebounds), Latoyia Clark 4.
OAK GROVE (5-15, 1-3 in 5-6A): Lexiana Walker 3, Nhariah McDonald 3, Kennidi Dean 4, Asia Ellzey 2, Nya Warrick 3, Jada Tatum 5, Jordan McKenzie 2, Natalyn Magee 1, Ally May 2.
BOYS
Oak Grove 57, Petal 49
Petal 15 15 11 8 – 49
OG 17 9 12 19 – 57
PETAL (15-3, 2-2 in 5-6A): Caleb McGill 17, Treylan Smith 17, Marcel Blackwell 2, Anthony Henderson 5, Don Avila 6, Landyn Shows 2.
OAK GROVE (16-4, 2-2 in 5-6A): Brandon Tilley 10, Jay Barnes 9, Blake Roberts 8, Deon Hall 3, Tate Ryder 16, Dylan Brumfield 9, Johnny Magee 2.
