MULDROW — Last week, the Muldrow Lady Bulldogs came in second place at the Tournament of Champions in Tulsa.
They were determined not to settle for another runner-up finish, especially at the Armstrong Bank Sequoyah County Area Classic and especially on their home court.
Muldrow was able to get the job done, using a pivotal 14-2 second-half run to pull away from a determined Roland squad, 55-41, in Saturday's championship game.
"I thought both teams played great," Muldrow coach Jana Armer said. "It was a good, hard-fought battle, Muldrow-Roland always is, so I'm proud of my kids for (coming through); we faced some adversity there in the second quarter when they took the lead.
"We kept our composure, we switched our defense. Then Taylen (Collins) came up big with big steals, big plays. We've still got a lot of things we've got to clean up and improve on, but thank goodness it's early January and we've got time to do that."
The Lady Bulldogs (11-1) also repeated as SCAC champions and won their eighth county championship, the most by a girls team in the 19-year history of the tournament.
Muldrow, which won by 14 points at Roland last month, got off to a hot start in running off the game's first seven points, capped by a 3-pointer from Alicia McCloria. But the Lady Rangers (8-3) gradually settled down, and was able to run off eight straight points, starting with back-to-back 3's from Kyleigh Harrell, in taking a 26-22 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs answered with a 6-0 spurt in the final 35 seconds of the first half, regaining a 28-26 lead on a short jumper from Madison Chambers.
Muldrow then extended its lead to eight points in the third quarter, but the Lady Rangers got to within two, 37-35, when freshman Kaitlyn Martinez hit a 3.
However, the Lady Bulldogs went back ahead by six, 43-37, to end the third quarter. Muldrow then started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run, which began by a baseline drive from Chambers.
Chambers finished the game in double figures with 10 points despite picking up two fouls in the first 14 seconds of the game.
"Coming out, I knew that coach had to keep me out of foul trouble and I knew when I went back in, I had to pick it up on the defensive side and I knew I had to make some smarter choices," Chambers said.
Four different players scored baskets in the important 8-0 run. Hannah Boyett followed with a putback shot, Chalynn Mayes made a move to the basket in the low post and Collins rebounded her own miss for a finishing basket and a 51-37 Lady Bulldog lead with less than three minutes left.
"The second half (our defense was) much better, the first half a little shaky at times," Armer said. "We just gave up too many easy looks and easy baskets in the first half and we did a little bit in the second half, but we held them to 15 points in the second half."
Boyett led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 points and Collins had 15, and the two combined to score 19 of the Lady Bulldogs' 27 second-half points. Collins also had nine rebounds, five steals and three assists while Boyett grabbed five boards.
Martinez had 15 points and made two 3's for Roland.