NORMAN — Pure joy reverberated off their faces as the Eisenhower girls claimed the Area consolation trophy, marking their first trip to State in 12 years.
They had just played their hearts out and knocked off the defending state champs, No. 8 Woodward, 61-44 on Saturday afternoon, and after the ups and downs the first three months of the season, the Eagles were feeling nothing but bliss as they began to celebrate with the Ike faithful.
“I’m super proud of our girls. Lawton doesn’t get the greatest rep, but those are great girls and hard workers and they deserve this,” Ike coach Daniel Wall said. “I just want to thank the Lord for allowing me to coach this great group.”
For an Eisenhower (9-17) squad who hadn’t won back-to-back games all season, a Cinderella run in March was the perfect time to start. It’s an impressive turnaround considering the Eagles had only won three games entering February.
“We just needed to keep our head up throughout the season heading into playoffs to be able to show that toughness we’ve developed against the top team’s we’ve had to play,” Ginger Reece said.
Ike was firing on all cylinders against Woodward. Reece sank three triples and was unstoppable in isolation offense en route to 20 points. Delicia Brown, who matched Reece with 20 points of her own, canned a 3-pointer on the wing as the first half horn sounded to give Ike a 25-14 lead and all the momentum heading into the locker room.
“It means everything,” Brown said of making it to State. “It’s amazing making it. This hasn’t happened for a long time, especially for the girls.”
From there, Ike turned to its defense to protect the lead. By closing out on shooters and taking away driving lanes to prevent penetration, the Eagles were able to hold Woodward to 4-of-17 shooting from downtown, with two of those coming in the final minutes with the game well in hand.
“The girls did a great job of closing out on their shooters and shading them across the court,” Wall said. “We limited their shot selection and boxed out well. Everybody played their part defensively. That type of defense is what’s going to win you games.”
When Woodward, (17-10) who was led by 19 points from Kaylee Hurst, did get looks inside, the Boomers were swallowed by the Eagles interior. Multiple timely blocks, including two emphatic ones from Reece, provided critical stops as Ike began to extend its second half lead.
“I think it just got us pumped up,” Reece said. “That told us that we knew we could stop them. We knew when we got those big stops, they couldn’t shut us down offensively.”
The effort and the heart were present all season, but it took plenty of time, until the playoffs no less, to manifest itself on the court with results.
“It’s surreal making it,” Wall said. “But these girls have worked their rear ends off. We set the bar of excellence pretty high in December as far as practice goes. They’ve lived up to it and worked hard every single day to earn this.”
Slowly but surely, their agonizing losses and sluggish fourth quarters began to turn into teaching points and helped the team’s maturation.
There would be no fourth quarter collapse in the Area Tournament —neither against MacArthur or Woodward.
The Lady Eagles jumped out to early leads on both the Highlanders and the Boomers this weekend, only to be tested late in the second half with Mac and Woodward summoning late runs to save their seasons.
“We wanted to stay steady,” Reece said of the team’s mentality after taking a commanding lead. “We didn’t want to get to high. And we didn’t want to get too low.”
Ike led 42-25 after the third and despite Woodward’s valiant effort to make a comeback, the Eagles wouldn’t budge. After all, the late blown leads and seven losses by five points or less had conditioned Ike for when it mattered most.
“My coaching staff has been amazing and has been their every step of the way and they play a huge part into our success,” Wall said.
Now, Ike will turn to Tulsa next weekend, hoping to continue the remarkable playoff run. Despite coming in as significant underdogs, the Eagles are determined to show –like they did Saturday –that they can go toe-to-toe with the top teams in the state.
“I truly believe when we play our game, we’re as good as anybody in 5A in the state of Oklahoma,” Wall said. “We’re going to keep doing what we do –playing inside out. And if we play with that same intensity on defense, we’re going to be just fine.
“My plan is not just for us to show up in Tulsa and say we’re happy to be here. We want to go out, play hard and try to win a couple games.”
Eisenhower 61, Woodward 44, Girls
Eisenhower – Ginger Reece 7-3-20, Delicia Brown 7-5-20, Jaeda Reed 4-2-10, Rogers 3-1-7, Pagan 0-4-4. Totals 21-15-61.
Woodward – Kaylee Hurst 3-11-19, Brendley Cloyd 4-1-10, Addison Rowley 3-6-12, Maison Moseley 0-3-3. Totals 10-21-44.
Score by quarters:
Ike 10 15 17 19 —61
Mac 10 4 11 19 —44
3-point goals: Ike —Reece 3, Brown. Woodward —Hurst 2, Cloyd.