Zabrien Shelburn’s 27 paces Wilson in opening-round victory

The Wilson Tiger varsity basketball team made school history Wednesday night at the Jim Norick State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City.

The Tigers (27-2, ranked 7th in Class B) closed out the first day of the Class B state basketball championships with a 65-50 victory over fourth-ranked and 6-time state champion Frontier.

The double-digit win was first in three tries for the Wilson boys basketball team, as the Tigers were ousted in the first round of their other two state tournament appearances (1970, 2002). Wilson was defeated in the Class B quarterfinals in 1970 by Deer Creek by a 74-62 decision and were on the losing end of a 71-55 outcome in 2002 against Indiahoma.

The opening-round win puts the Tigers into Friday’s semifinal round and a 1:30 p.m. meeting with second- ranked and 2023 state runner-up Duke, who advanced with a 51-41 victory over ninth-ranked Braggs on Wednesday.

A semifinal win over Duke will put the Wilson squad into Saturday’s state championship game at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of Friday’s other semifinal contest between top-ranked Calumet and fifth-ranked Leedey, who advanced with opening round wins over lOth-ranked Varnum and 1 lth-ranked Granite, respectively.

Freshman Zabrien Shelburn finished with a game-high 27 points in the Tigers’ opening-round win. The 27-point total was also the top individual scoring performance in the boys bracket on Wednesday, topping Varnum’s C.J. Penard, who finished with 26 points in the Whippets’ opening-round loss to Calumet. Zion Shelburn was next offensively for the Tigers with 15, followed by Keshon Shelburn with 13 and Charles Shelburn with six. Andrew Wilson rounded out Wilson’s opening-round total with four points.

The Tigers trailed 17-15 after one quarter of action following a buzzer- beating 3-pointer by the Mustangs and used a late run in the second stanza, which included back-to-back 3-point baskets, to take a 31-25 lead into the halftime break.

The Wilson squad extended its lead to 47-33 with eight minutes remaining in regulation after outscoring the Mustangs 16-8 in the third quarter, then came out of the final frame with a narrow 18-17 advantage to walk away with the history-making 65-50 victory.

Class B State Tournament Quarterfinals

Wilson 65, Frontier 50

Wilson: 15 – 16 – 16 – 18 (65) Frontier: 17 – 8 – 8 – 17 (50) Wilson Scoring: Zabrien Shelburn 27, Zion Shelburn 15, Keshon Shelburn 13, Charles Shelburn 6, Andrew Wilson 4.