The Gore High School basketball teams split their Thursday night road games against Gans at Bryant “Big Country” Reeves Fieldhouse.
The Pirates ended the night with a 63-33 rout of the Grizzlies, but a last-second shot doomed the Lady Pirates in a 3534 loss to the Lady Grizzlies.
The following night saw the Gore teams welcome the Okay squads to town Friday night at Gore Event Center, meaning the Pirates got to meet Class A’s topranked Mustangs — who showed them why they’re No. 1 as they corralled the Pirates 74-34 after the Lady Mustangs did the same thing to the Lady Pirates in a 73-31 victory.
In the boys’ win over Gans, a 3-point basket by Gans player Mayson Clifton gave the Grizzlies a 12-10 lead with 3:25 left in the first quarter, but the Pirates (7-7) ended the period on a 10-2 run to take a 22-14 lead heading into the second period.
The Pirates got as much as a 12-point lead in the second quarter as Burr Jaymes hit a basket to put Gore ahead 33-21 with 4:01 left before halftime.
After Gans big man Josh Brunk scored with 2:56 remaining in the first half to cut his team’s deficit to 33-23, the Pirates ended the first half with a 7-0 run, capped by four free throws by Jaymes to give Gore a 4023 halftime advantage.
The Pirates got as much as a 31-point lead in the fourth quarter as Tate Brooksher’s basket with 3:41 left to play put Gore up 62-31.
For the game, Brooksher stroked the nylon for a game-high 27 points, which included seven 3-point baskets, to lead Gore. Jaymes had 15 points, followed by Cain Cooper with 10 points, Journey Shells with nine points and Byron McDuffie with two points.
In the girls’ loss to Gans, Gans senior Melania Paniagua scored a lay-up with seven seconds left to play for the game-winning basket.
With the game tied at 30-all with 4:18 left in the game, the Lady Pirates (2-11) went on a 4-1 run, capped by Natalie Casteel’s free throw with 1:36 remaining in regulation to give Gore a 34-31 lead.
However, the last four points of the game went to the Lady Grizzlies as Aaliyah Taylor’s basket with 1:15 left in the game cut Gore’s lead to 3433, then Paniagua’s layup with seven seconds proved to be the gamewinner.
The first quarter saw a tie and three lead changes, with the last lead going to Gore after a pair of River Shoemake free throws put the Lady Pirates ahead 7-6 after a quarter.
A basket by Shoemake to open the second period upped Gore’s advantage to 9-6. It would end up being Gore’s last lead until the hectic finish in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Grizzlies ended the first half on a 10-4 run to take a 1613 lead at halftime. Both teams scored 10 points in the third quarter as Gans maintained its threepoint lead at 26-23 going into the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back baskets by the Gore duo of Kaitlyn Byrne and Shoemake regained the lead for the Lady Pirates at 27-26, but the Lady Grizzlies went on a 4-0 run themselves as a pair of Paniagua free throws and a basket by Brianna Burris regained the lead for Gans at 30-27.
Three straight free throws by Shoemake got the game tied at 30-all with 4:18 left to play.
In defeat, Shoemake led all scorers with a game-high 19 points to lead Gore, followed by Emily Daily with five points, Casteel and Ricki Huckbay with four points each and Byrne with two points.
In the boys’ loss to Class A’s top-ranked Okay Mustangs, the Mustangs (12-3) scored the game’s first 22 points of the contest before a basket by Brooksher finally got the Pirates on the board, trailing 22-2 with 3:03 left in the first quarter. Okay took a 31-4 lead into the second period, in which the Mustangs outscored the Pirates 18-5 to increase Okay’s advantage to 49-9 at halftime. By the late stages of the third quarter, the running clock started being used.
Okay was led by Piezel Davis, who had a whopping game-high 31 points.
In defeat, Brooksher scored 12 points and Shells added 10 points to lead Gore, followed by Cooper with five points, McDuffie with three points and Ayden Cox and Keeton Rowe with two points apiece.
In the girls’ loss to Okay, the Lady Mustangs (11-4) scored the first 11 points of the game before a free throw by Casteel got the Lady Pirates on the board, down 11-1 with 4:21 left in the opening period. Okay took a 22-4 lead into the second quarter, then stretched the advantage to 36-19 at halftime and 53-23 heading into the fourth quarter.
In defeat, Casteel shared game-high honors with Okay’s Alex Collins as each scored 17 points. Byrne scored five points, followed by Daily with four points, Lily Wooten with three points and Paige Curran with two points.
