The Gore Pirates lost a heartbreaking 51-49 loss to the Sallisaw Black Diamonds in the consolation finals of the 2024 Sequoyah County Tournament on Friday night at Sallisaw High School’s Paul Post Field House.
After opening with a 47-32 opening-round loss on Jan. 2 at Gans High School’s Bryant “Big Country” Reeves Fieldhouse, the Pirates got their first win in this season’s SCT by eliminating the Vian Wolverines 51-45 last Wednesday at Paul Post Field House.
The Lady Pirates suffered back-to-back losses to be eliminated from the SCT as they lost 58-27 to Muldrow on Jan. 2 at Bryant “Big Country” Reeves Fieldhouse and dropped a 56-25 decision to Central on Jan. 3 at Paul Post Field House.
In the boys’ consolation finals, the Pirates (5-6) rallied from a 15-point deficit in the early stages of the fourth quarter by ending the game with a 24-11 run to make the Black Diamonds (6-5) come close to losing their luster.
With 18 seconds left in regulation, Gore’s Cain Cooper hit a basket to cut the Sallisaw lead to 51-49.
After two Sallisaw missed free throws, Gore’s Burr Jaymes was fouled on the rebound with 16 seconds left, with a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line but came up short twice. However, Gore got the rebound and missed a point-blank shot, then got that rebound and missed that close-in attempt. Sallisaw got the rebound with a chance to win the game at the place where it struggled all night — the charity stripe.
However, Sallisaw’s 28th and 29th freethrow attempts were just like 17 of its other attempts — missing the mark. Sallisaw was 10-of-29 from the freethrow line. Gore got the rebound, and Cooper had a good shot at a 3-pointer in the closing seconds for the win, but it rimmed in and out. By the time teammate Journey Shells got the ball for an attempted outback, the buzzer sounded — and the Black Diamonds were able to survive.
In defeat, Tate Brooksher led all scorer’s with a game-high 18 points, while Cooper added 11 points. Bryon McDuffie scored eight points, followed by Shells with five points, Jaymes and Nash Thouvenel with three points each and Ayden Cox with a free throw.
In the boys’ consolation semifinals win over Vian, Brooksher had 19 points and Jaymes added 13 points to lead Gore, followed by Cooper with nine points, Shells with six points and McDuffie with four points.
In the openinground boys’ loss to Muldrow, Brooksher scored 13 points to lead Gore, followed by Cooper with seven points, Jaymes with six points, McDuffie with four points and Shells with two points.
In the girls’ loss to Muldrow, Oaklei Thornton led the Lady Pirates (2-8) with nine points, followed by Kaitlyn Byrne with five points, Emily Daily, Rayleigh Moore and Natalie Casteel with three points each and Ricki Huckbay and Paige Curran with two points apiece.
In the girls’ loss to Central, Daily led Gore with nine points, followed by Thornton with six points, Huckbay with five points, River Shoemake with three points and Casteel with two points.
