The Wilson varsity basketball program advanced to the winner’s bracket semifinals of its annual home tournament – the Wilson Tiger Classic – with convincing opening-round win earlier this week.
The host Tigers and Lady Tigers were scheduled to battle the cage squads from Weleetka in Thursday’s winner’s bracket semifinals with a spot in Saturday’s championship games on the line.
The Wilson gentlemen punched their ticket to the semifinal round on Monday evening with a 66-21 thrashing of Tulsa’s Epic Charter, while the Wilson ladies advanced with a 49-27 victory Tuesday evening over Riverfield Country Day School.
The Lady Tigers’ win over Riverfield was the 160th career win for head coach Rikki Wolfe, who came to the Okmulgee County school during the offseason after nine seasons at Sasakwa.
In Tuesday’s girls opening-round contest, the Lady Tigers led by a 19-3 margin after one quarter of action, then went into halftime with a 34-8 advantage after outscoring the Lady Ravens 15-5 in the second stanza.
The Wilson ladies edged past their opponents by an 8-7 margin in the third period for a 42-15 lead, heading into the final eight minutes of action.
Riverfield came out of the final frame with a 12-7 advantage, but it was the host Lady Tigers that advanced to the semifinal round with the 49-27 decision.
Janelle Proctor was tops offensively for Wilson with a team-best 18 points, followed by Kaozong Yang with 13.
Other Lady Tiger scorers against Riverfield were Brooklyn Weeks with seven, Reese Herring four, Kaylee Earhart three, and Kayla McCracken and Jamie Proctor two apiece.
In Monday’s boys first-round battle, the Tigers put the game out of reach early on, leading 28-2 after the first period and 51-6 at halftime. The Wilson gentlemen took the third quarter by an 11-7 margin for a 62-13 advantage, while Epic Charter came out of the final stanza with an 8-4 margin to award the host Tigers the convincing 66-21 victory.
Zabrien Shelburn led all scorers with a game-high 18 points. Keshon Shelburn and Esiah King also finished in double figures for Wilson in the opening-round win with 11 points apiece. Other Tiger scorers against Epic Charter were Zion Shelburn with nine, Charles Shelburn five, and Andrew Wilson, Peyton Proctor, Zachariah Tecumseh, Tepoyv Williams, Aiden Barnard, and Alec Ganote two each.
— Wilson Tiger Classic First Round Girls Bracket
Wilson 49, Riverfield 27
Riverfield: 3 – 5 – 7 – 12 (27) Wilson: 19 – 15 – 8 – 7 (49) Wilson Scoring: Janelle Proctor 18, Kaozong Yang 13, Brooklyn Weeks 7, Reese Herring 4, Kaylee Earhart 3, Kayla McCracken 2, Jamie Proctor 2.
— Boys Bracket
Wilson 66, Epic Charter 21
Epic: 2 – 4 – 7 – 8 (21) Wilson: 28 – 23 – 11 – 4 (66) Wilson Scoring: Zabrien Shelburn 18, Keshon Shelburn 11, Esiah King 11, Zion Shelburn 9, Charles Shelburn 5, Andrew Wilson 2, Peyton Proctor 2, Zachariah Tecumseh 2, Tepoyv Williams 2, Aiden Barnard 2, Alec Ganote 2.
