Tigers suffer first loss of season with 65-54 setback
The Wilson varsity basketball program concluded their regular- season schedule Tuesday evening at Oktaha High School and a meeting with the Class 2A powerhouse Oktaha Tigers and Lady Tigers.
The Tigers, ranked seventh in Class B, suffered their first loss of the 2023-2024 campaign in Tuesday’s Top 10 matchup, falling to the ninth-ranked Oktaha Tigers, who are coached by former Preston boys basketball coach Dirk Walden, by a 65-54 decision. The loss puts the Wilson gentlemen at 22-1 on the season.
The Lady Tigers finished their regular season with a 17-6 record following a 77-44 defeat at the hands of the fifthranked Oktaha Lady Tigers.
The Wilson cage squads began postseason play this weekend, hosting the Class B, Area III, District 7 tournament and battling Agra in a pair of elimination games. The Lady Tigers squared off against the Lady Bearcats in Thursday’s second ‘must win’ contest of the 4-team playoff tournament at 7:30 p.m., while the Tigers took on the Bearcats in Friday’s second elimination game at 7:30 p.m.
Wins against Agra will put the Wilson cage squads into Saturday’s district championship games at 6 and 7:30 p.m. against the winner of the other elimination games between Bowlegs and Graham-Dustin, while losses to Agra will bring the 2023-2024 campaigns to a close for the Tigers and Lady Tigers.
In Tuesday’s girls road game at Oktaha, the host Oktaha squad took the opening frame by a 33-8 margin, then edged the visiting Lady Tigers 16-12 in the second period for a 49-20 halftime advantage.
After the Wilson ladies came out of the third quarter with a 16-13 margin for a 62-36 deficit, the second-half rally was thwarted by Oktaha taking the final stanza 15-8 to hand the visiting Lady Tigers the 77-44 defeat.
Kaozong Yang was the top scorer for the Wilson cage squad in the regular-season finale, finishing with 11 points. Jayda Pinkston and Jaslene Proctor just missed double-digit scoring in the loss with nine and eight points, respectively. Other Lady Tiger scorers on Tuesday were Janelle Proctor and Uyen Yang with five apiece, Brooklyn Weeks four, and Reese Herring two.
In Tuesday’s Top 10 boys contest, the host Tigers came out of the first period with a 17-5 advantage. The visitors took the back-and-forth second quarter by a 19-15 margin to send the teams to their respective locker rooms with Wilson trailing by eight, 3224, at halftime.
The Wilson gentlemen gave it their best effort in the second half, but were outscored by a combined 33-30 advantage to suffer the 65-54 setback.
Zion Shelburn was tops offensively for the visiting Tigers with a team-best 21 points, followed by Zabrien Shelburn with 14. Other Wilson scorers in the road contest were Charles Shelburn with eight, Esiah King seven, and Andrew Wilson four.
— Girls Game
Oktaha 77, Wilson 44
Wilson: 8 – 12 – 16 – 8 (44) Oktaha: 33 – 16 – 13 – 15 (77) Wilson Scoring: Kaozong Yang 11, Jayda Pinkston 9, Jaslene Proctor 8, Janelle Proctor 5, Uyen Yang 5, Brooklyn Weeks 4, Reese Herring 2.
— Boys Game
Oktaha 65, Wilson 54
Wilson: 5 – 19 – 12 – 18 (54) Oktaha: 17 – 15 – 18 – 15 (65) Wilson Scoring: Zion Shelburn 21, Zabrien Shelburn 14, Charles Shelburn 8, Esiah King 7, Andrew Wilson 4.
