THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Skiatook High School Athletics

Behind a third quarter offensive explosion, the Skiatook Bulldogs managed to earn a double-digit lead over Beggs and defend it to the final buzzer for a nail-biting second win of the year. The game was the first round of the Sperry Tournament, in which the Skiatook Boys drew Beggs, who was ranked #13 in Class 3A. Beggs’ works around a centerpiece of 6’11 senior Ege DeBock, who was 10 inches taller than any of the Skiatook starters. To go along with DeBock, the Demons had a very athletic and sharpshooting bunch of perimeter players, and it was a tough matchup for Skiatook. That didn’t faze the Bulldogs. Riding the confidence of their first win of the season, Skiatook used an 18 point third quarter to blow open the lead that eventually turned into a win. Skiatook was far from leading the entire game. At first, the Bulldogs seemed to struggle to adjust to fast-tempo play from the Demons, and Skiatook fell into a 16-8 hole in the opening minutes. The team rallied to cut the deficit to four, 18-14, at the end of the one after senior Gavin Jackson buried a deep three at the buzzer. Skiatook opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run with four points coming from Jayden Garner and six from Jackson, but Beggs clawed back into the game to tie it at 28. Justin Mead checked in and scored in the post, faking inside and then spinning against a Beggs defender before a nice finish under the rim. He scored two more points from the free throw line just seconds before halftime, and that helped Skiatook carry 33-30 lead into the locker room. The third quarter started slow for both teams. A converted and-1 for Beggs tied the game at 33, and Skiatook failed to score for the first four minutes. When they did finally score, however, the scores came in bunches. Jackson scored, Garner scored, and Braiden Blackwell—fresh off a 31 point game—buried two deep 3’s. Skiatook quickly extended the lead to 43-34 after the scoring outburst, and the onslaught continued to the end of the quarter. Skiatook led 51-39 after three. Beggs made a run at the start of the fourth, cutting the lead down to 8 despite 6 points from Skiatook’s Eric Mitchell. The Demons stole a wild pass and broke away in transition with 4:15 on the clock with a chance to cut the lead to six, but Jayden Garner channeled his inner-LeBron and made a chase-down block, pinning the layup against the backboard and denying the score. And yet, the Demons comeback continued. Jackson scored a clutch layup for Skiatook, but then Beggs hit a layup and three. The lead shrank to 1 with 1:13 left. But Gavin Jackson was cold-blooded. He caught the ball at the top of the key, faked a pass, and then drove to the rim, drawing contact and scoring a contested floater as he faded away from the goal. He then drew a foul on the next possession, missed the front end of a one-and-one, but snagged his own rebound and laid the ball in. His two scores were the dagger, and despite a three from Beggs, Skiatook held on to win 70-67 when the Demons missed a deep three at the buzzer. Jackson ended the game with 27 and Garner also 14 added in a stellar performance. After the game, Jackson weighed in on the win. “We all played well together, tonight. There’s just a few things to touch up, but we will work on them as we move deeper into the season.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Skiatook High School Athletics

SKIATOOK UPSETS #13 BEGGS BEHIND JACKSON AND GARNER’S BIG NIGHTS

JESSE HAYNES

Skiatook Journal | 12/16/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Amy Garner