Skiatook girls 43, Claremore 35

A fast start by Kendall Schulte allowed the Lady bulldogs to take control in the opening period as they jumped out 13-4. Over the remaining frames the two teams played near even up.

Except for the early jump, the No. 11 ‘Dogs and No. 12 Lady Zebras were mirror opponents. Both sides saw seven players score. It was the game leading 21 points by Schulte that made the difference. Nine of them came in the opening eight minutes.

Skiatook’s success came mostly by working the ball inside. The visitors attempted eight three-point shots and hit three.

Seven points came at the free throw line and the remainder on layups and short jump shots.

Abby Cox led Claremore in scoring with 10 points. She caused some excitement for the Zebra fans as she dropped two shots in from behind the arc. Her second one came with 3:01 remaining in the third quarter. It lifted Claremore to within six, 26-20.

Skiatook wasn’t about to be caught.

Hannah Dysart rebounded and answered with a layup. A free throw followed.

Then right inside the final period Rylee Massey put in one of the treys.

Lauren Chancellor, held to a game-opening layup, hit two treys in the closing minutes. The second one made for a nine-point difference with 41 seconds left. Emily Heard’s basket ended the scoring. The eight point gap was the closest since the first quarter.

Overall, Claremore made seven out of 29 attempts from behind the three-point stripe.

Skiatook improved to 10-6. Claremore is now 7-9.