It's not often a 14-year-old freshman takes over a championship game, but that's exactly what MacArthur's Sep Reese did Saturday night by scoring 29 points to lead the Highlanders past city rival Eisenhower 66-62 to win the Shortgrass Tournament in Altus.
Reese — who was named the Shortgrass Tournament MVP — sank 14-of-15 free throws including two at the end to ice the game for Mac.
He scored 63 points across three games this weekend, a remarkable feat for a 14-year-old freshman who possessed a great deal of poise throughout the tournament as the Highlanders' floor general.
"He's 14 and to play with the composure and the poise that he plays with is very impressive," Mac coach Marco Gagliardi said. "I can't say enough about him."
When explaining how he played with such poise and maturity on a big stage, Reese was timid. But how he played when his team needed him most was everything but timid.
"I'm playing for my team so I have to be confident," Reese said. "I don't really care about the MVP, but the best part was beating Ike after they beat us by 37. It's all about the win."
Although the ice-water in his veins at the charity stripe was impressive, his timely buckets to give Mac much needed momentum at critical moments was even more phenomenal.
After trailing 31-27 at half then surrendering two Ike three-pointers out of the gate, Mac went on a 14-2 run, capped off by a Reese strong putback at the rim before splashing a corner-pocket three to give the Highlanders a 43-40 lead.
Asked if he felt pressure to lead the team as just a freshman, Reese explained how the veterans have helped him grow into this role as their leading floor general who can provide a spark whenever needed.
"I did feel pressure at the beginning of the year, but the upperclassmen on the team helped me out with that so I'm very comfortable now," Reese said.
It was back-and-forth the remainder of the game, but the Highlanders confidence kept growing, realizing they could not only contend with their rival Ike — who had stomped on them 82-45 a week and a half ago — but also beat them.
"I've been preaching, the coaching staff has been preaching: compete," Gagliardi said. "No matter what the score is, just compete and play harder than them. Execute the game plan. Those two things are what we've talked about nonstop. When we compete, we can play with just about anybody. When they beat us by 37 at their place, I felt like we didn't compete. That wasn't us."
Saturday on a neutral court for all the marbles was much different.
Mac competed 10 times harder than they had in the most recent matchup with Ike, as the fourth quarter was filled with numerous physical plays with players from both teams sacrificed their bodies diving for loose balls left and right, realizing every possession was critical.
It was, to say the least. And Ike even had one final possession in the final 30 seconds to win it. Romio Harvey — who led the Eagles with 17 points — launched a deep three that rattled off the rim before multiple offensive rebounds for the Eagles gave them two good looks at the rim on putbacks, but neither fell. In the loose ball scramble, Mac regained possession with 6.5 seconds left and Reese delivered the dagger free throws at the other end for the 66-62 victory that may as well be considered an upset after the last meeting.
"Ball movement," Ike coach Todd Millwee said, when talking about what could've been executed better on the final offensive possession as well as the entire game. "We tried to over-penetrate. We just didn't have very good ball movement. We didn't show up ready to play. Once you show up that way, you can't just turn it on. And Mac was ready to play they were motivated."
RJ Fisher added 15 points for the Eagles, and DeShawn Cruse chipped in 11, but Ike was left searching for answers at times when it needed a bucket or stop.
Still, Millwee believes Saturday's letdown could provide a spark — if the team chooses to embrace it as positive momentum while gearing up for the playoffs.
"If we have a team that wants to go far in the playoffs, that's what we need to use it for," Millwee said. "It's some positive momentum that we need to show up every game and be ready, knowing it's going to be a battle. So hopefully we can turn it into a positive for us."
"It was everybody," Gagliardi said. "All of 'em played big. They all made big shots. Toney (Woods) who went out with a concussion made two big three's. Anthony (Love) played big in the paint. I'm proud of this win, but I'm even more proud of the way they handled themselves."
In additon to Reese, teammate Anthony Love — who scored 16 points in the title game — was named to the Shortgrass All-Tournament team. Joining the Mac duo were Ike's RJ Fisher and Romio Harvey, Lawton High's Tre Vaughn and Altus' Carson Pickett.
"Eisenhower has been really good for a really long time and MacArthur has struggled against them the last four or five years," Gagliardi said. "So to win and give these kids confidence that they can go out there and compete with them is huge for them."
Vaughn takes over, leads Lawton past Star Spencer, 64-57, to win consolation championship
Senior guard Tre Vaughn did a little bit of everything in Saturday's 64-57 consolation championship victory against Star Spencer.
The veteran guard was playing at a level above everyone else on the floor, as he dominated on both ends of the floor, scoring a game-high 32 points and dishing dimes left and right as floor general all the while coming up with key defensive plays, particularly steals late.
"We were playing really well as a team and my teammates kept feeding me the ball," guard Tre Vaughn said. "They saw that I was hot so I just give it all to them."
"He's my go-to guy," Lawton coach Eric Wiley said. "He's been in the system for four years and he's grown for awhile. The game is on the line and the ball is in his hands."
Though his offensive game was superb — as he stepped into every shot he took with supreme confidence, his most clutch play of the game came on the defensive end, where he seized two pivotal steals and turned them into points on the other end.
His first big takeaway turned into his own layup and a 55-50 lead with 4:46 left. A couple minutes later, Vaughn sneakily grabbed a steal near half court then immediately lofted an on-the-money lob in transition to Daryle Alexander (5 points) for a layup that gave the Wolverines a 59-52 lead with two minutes remaining.
By the time the final two minutes rolled around, Lawton only had to milk the clock and convert at the charity stripe. The Wolverines did exactly that. Lawton was near perfect from the foul line, knocking down 23-of-26 free throws—good for 88 percent. Vaughn sank 13 of his 14 free throws, and the only miss came from a team lane violation.
His other main offensive highlight came when he rose for a wing three-pointer with a hand in his face only to swish it and give the Wolverines a 46-37 lead late in the third quarter. It was a turning point for Lawton, Vaughn said.
"I love it," Vaughn said. "When you hit big shots like that, it's a big confidence boost and a momentum swing for the team. My team feeds off of that."
Although Lawton easily could have been playing in the championship game, had Thursday's win against Mac not been nullified for illegal roster substitutions from its JV squad, Wiley was impressed with Saturday's effort against a talented and athletic Star Spencer squad.
However, due to Thursday's dilemma, Lawton High declined to take the consolation championship plaque and it was given to Star Spencer.
"We executed, and that's what matters," Lawton coach Eric Wiley said. "We have to get geared up with Ike on Tuesday."
Meanwhile, the Lawton JV team defeated HCYA (a private school from Houston) 70-59 in the first game of the day to claim 7th place.
Tournament host Altus takes 3rd place
The Altus Bulldogs narrowly lost Friday's semifinal to Mac, but didn't let that stop them from rebounding with a big-time 60-56 win against CHSM (a private school from Houston) to claim third place at the Shortgrass Tournament.
Altus trailed at the end of the third, but the Bulldogs regained the lead at 49-46 with five minutes left. They began milking the clock and slowing the game down in half court, in addition to
getting to the foul line.
Johnny Esquivel (eight points) rolled his ankle for the second straight game only to show his grit and return midway through the fourth when the Bulldogs needed their floor general.
Carson Pickett — who had 13 points — delivered the dagger by swishing a wide-open three-pointer on the wing with four minutes left in the game to give Altus a 53-46 lead.
The lead was trimmed to 54-51 with two minutes left, as CHSM began trapping and forcing turnovers. With a 57-51 lead and a minute left, Altus took a gamble and used its full-court press to grab a steal and head to the free throw line to ice the game.