The Gore Lady Pirates and Pirates got last week’s basketball action off on the right plank as they picked up a pair of road wins Jan. 30 at Keota.
The Lady Pirates snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4323 victory over the Lady Lions, then the Pirates won their third game in four outings as they held off the Lions for a 47-44 win.
On Friday, the Gore squads split their Arkansas River rivalry games at Webbers Falls as the Lady Warriors got past the Lady Pirates 40-34, but the Pirates earned the split with a 60-41 victory over the Warriors.
On Saturday, the Gore teams suffered road losses against Hulbert as the Lady Riders prevailed 48-24 over the Lady Pirates, while the Pirates were nipped 5958 by the Riders.
In the girls’ win over Keota, the Lady Pirates (5-17) jumped out to a 14-8 lead after the first quarter, which became a 21-11 halftime advantage and a 32-20 lead going into the fourth quarter.
For the game, River Shoemake led Gore with a game-high 10 points, followed by Natalie Casteel with nine points, Emily Daily and Kaitlyn Byrne with six points each, Oaklei Thornton and Rayleigh Moore each with four points and Paige Curran and Tristen Colbert with a free throw apiece.
In the boys’ contest, the Pirates (14-9) trailed 33-32 after three quarters, but they outscored the Lions 18-11 in the final period to get the come-from-behind win.
For the game, Journey Shells and Cain Cooper each scored 16 points to lead Gore, followed by Tate Brooksher with seven points, Burr Jaymes with six points and Bryon McDuffie with two points.
In the girls’ loss to Webbers Falls, the Lady Warriors jumped out to a 15-2 lead after a quarter, but the Lady Pirates tried to rally as they outscored the Lady Warriors 28-18 over the next two periods to cut the Webbers Falls lead to 33-30 going into the fourth quarter. However, Webbers Falls kept Gore at bay with a 7-4 final period.
In defeat, Casteel scored 12 points and Byrne added 10 points to lead Gore, followed by Moore with six points, Shoemake with four points and Thornton with two points.
In the boys’ win over Webbers Falls, the Pirates trailed 26-25 at halftime, but they outscored the Warriors 29-4 in the third quarter to take a 53-30 lead into the final period.
For the game, Cooper scored 17 points and Brooksher added 14 points to lead Gore, followed by Shells and Jaymes with eight points each, Keeton Rowe with five points, Nash Thouvenel and Logan Markou each with three points and McDuffie with two points.
In the girls’ loss to Hulbert, the Lady Riders had a 5-3 lead after a quarter, which became a 22-13 halftime advantage and a 35-19 lead going into the final period.
In defeat, Casteel led Gore with nine points, followed by Shoemake with five points, Ricki Huckbay with four points and Thornton, Moore and Daily with two points apiece.
In the boys’ loss to Hulbert, the Pirates had a 28-21 halftime lead, but the Riders outscored them 24-9 in the third quarter to take a 44-39 lead into the final period. The Pirates outscored the Riders 19-15 in the fourth quarter, but the rally just came up short.
In defeat, Gore put a trio of players into double figures, led by Cooper with 18 points, Brooksher with 17 points and Shells with 16 points. Thouvenel had four points, followed by Jaymes with two points and McDuffie with a free throw.
