Senior Night was a success for Lawton High basketball.
The Wolverines hosted a rare Saturday series at Wolverines Gymnasium, sending Enid on its three-hour roadtrip home with a sweep. The girls used a fourth-quarter surge to escape the Pacers, 47-39, and the boys took the nightcap with a convincing 84-62 outing over the Plainsmen.
LHS now prepares for a five-game road stretch to end the regular season, starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday with a doubleheader against Choctaw, which sports a pair of ranked teams.
LHS girls outpace Pacers
It could've been considered an experimental game for LHS.
The Lady Wolverines (3-11) tested a new game plan against Enid, and it all worked according to plan, giving them their first taste of success since Jan. 6 with an eight-point victory over the Pacers.
The win ended LHS' six-game losing streak, a stretch in which it was outscored 394-255.
One of the staples of the updated approach was getting more players involved in the offensive production. Tyeshia Anderson, a volume shooter, normally carries the scoring load for the Lady Wolverines, but the sophomore took on more of a passive role this time around.
Anderson surrendered many looks at the basket to give her supporting cast more opportunities, and it didn't disappoint. Alie Warner, Demetreonia Woods and Tamara Toles combined for nearly 64 percent of the team's points, as each finished with 10 points.
Anderson, in the meantime, managed only three points.
LHS coach Otis Gentry said it was nice to take some of the pressure off Anderson. As a result, the Lady Wolverines cut their turnovers, which regularly surpass 20, significantly, committing only 10 such miscues.
"We wanted to get more girls involved because sometimes (Anderson) gets locked in and tunes everybody out," Gentry said. "Getting her to spread the wealth to open players helped out a lot."
Enid trailed by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, but the Pacers made a game of it with runs of 6-0 and 7-1 at the beginning and end of the third to cut the deficit to 31-30 going into the fourth. However, LHS answered with a 10-2 run of its own in the opening minutes of the fourth to seal the win.
Gentry said his team's improved effort on both sides of ball contributed to the win in more ways than one.
"We took care of the basketball, and I think our defense was a little bit better and our rebounding offensively and defensively," Gentry said. "Plus we made a few shots."
'Big 3' lift LHS over Plainsmen
LHS is peaking at the right time.
The Wolverines (8-8) began their late-season surge earlier this week with a season-high 82 points in a win over city rival and Class 5A No. 11 MacArthur, and they followed that up with yet another season-high in an 84-62 drubbing of Enid. Prior to this week, LHS cracked 70 points only three times, averaging 60.64 points per game.
Wolverines coach Eric Wiley said he gave his team the numbers they needed to hit to be competitive against playoff-caliber teams, and the players responded accordingly.
"I said, 'At playoff time, you gotta average a little over 70 points, maybe 80," Wiley said. "And I told them how many points I needed from each person individually. Since I've done that, they've lived up to it."
Ashawnti Hunter and Emajhawun Kelly continued their outstanding years, leading LHS with 21 and 20 points, respectively. However, perhaps the most impressive performance of the night came from Laquan Williams.
The 6-4 sophomore has emerged as a threat from deep in recent games, and he proved that against the Plainsmen, hitting five 3-pointers on the way to a 19-point night. Williams' 12 points helped the Wolverines grab a 26-9 lead in the first quarter, putting the game out of reach early.
Wiley said Williams' ability to score from behind the arc helps open things up for his teammates, especially Hunter, who is a dominating presence in the paint.
"He started hitting them again against Mac, and that's something we needed, especially at playoff time," Wiley said. "When he's hitting shots from outside, that lets Ashawnti get his points, and when Ashawnti is getting his points inside, that's how Laquan gets his looks outside. Today they were falling, and I'm glad they're starting to fall now."
With everything seemingly clicking on all cylinders, LHS is quickly becoming a squad other teams might not want to play in the playoffs. Regardless of where the Wolverines end up, they will be a dangerous wild card that could catch an unsuspecting higher-seeded team off guard.
"I told them the playoffs started against Mac — we had to win these two," Wiley said. "A lot of coaches already voted, and Lawton usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to voting, but we had to win these two. Our record is not where it should be, but we're .500 right now. We're just getting ready for the playoffs."