Bluejays finish season with four straight wins; regionals this week

By Jamie Bowie
Special to Guthrie Sports Page

The Guthrie Bluejays (9-14) went on the road to beat the El Reno Indians (11-9) in a hostile environment in Jenks Simmons Fieldhouse behind 17 points from L’liott Curry.

L’liott Curry and Jerrick Warren make their move along the baseline. Photos by Glimmer Photo – Mickey Staudt

The Bluejays got off to a quick start – making their first three field goals within two minutes of the game to create a 6-0 lead.

The Indians got on track late in the first quarter from the help of their home crowd, who was irate and demanding the entire game. Hustle plays got the Indians going to tie the game at 16-all midway through the second quarter.

The Indians changed up a lot of their looks from the defensive side from zone matchup, full court press and traps. As a result of the constant change, they stay in striking distance only trailing at halftime 24-20.

Throughout the third quarter the Bluejays built a lead to as big as nine. Shutting down sharp shooter Chris Harris that made 5-of-10 three pointers back in December when the Indians defeated the Bluejays in their season opener.

Coach Tim Flangian said, “we needed to limit Harris shooting, make him put the ball on the floor doing that would increase our chances of winning”. Junior guard Jeremy Brown shadowed Harris the entire game limiting him to 2-12 shooting and a total of six points.

The game got close in the final quarter when the Bluejays were up by six with 1:47 remaining. The Indians got two buckets, with one coming from a Bluejay turnover and another from a back screen alley hoop lob. The Indians were then down by two and forced another turnover from a blocked shot.

The Indians then had numbers to tie the game at 41-all when a half court pass was caught by a El Reno player tip toeing out of bounce giving the Bluejays free throw opportunities to claim a 43-39 victory.

Guthrie vs. Western Heights

The Guthrie Blue Jays then made their way to Western Heights playing spoiler on senior night with a 56-48 win on Monday evening. The game was rescheduled after weather caused the game to be postponed on Friday.

The Bluejays got off to a 18-4 lead shooting 66 percent from the field through running their secondary and Guthrie offenses.

Senior Jerrick Warren led all scorers with 26 points, three steals and making all five of his free throws. J.T. McFadden chipped in with 10 points.

In the second quarter the Jets fought back with a three-point play from senior Tim Tullens, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds to bring the deficit to 10. By halftime, the Jets were down 29-20 after not playing to their standards in the first half.

Following halftime, the Jets forced seven bluejay turnovers on their way to a 6-0 run. Even with the run, Guthrie outscored the Jets in every quarter of the game which has only happened against opponents four times all year.

The Jets knocked down a key 3-pointer from Tullens to keep the Jets within striking distance. The Jets got to within a point at the start of the fourth quarter. But the experience from Warren helped keep the foot on the pedal to bring home a Bluejay win.

Now, the Bluejays turn their attention to the Class 5A east regionals where they will face the East Central Cardinals (4-15), who have lost six straight games since beating the Bluejays back in January in the Jenks/Union Tournament by a score of 60-30.

Tip time is set for 6:30 p.m. at Tulsa Edison High School. The game can be heard on Triple Play Sports Radio 105.1 FM and world-wide at GuthrieSportsPage.com.