Guthrie sweeps first round of Duncan Holiday Tournament

The Guthrie basketball programs picked up opening round victories in the Duncan Holiday Tournament. The Lady Jays had zero problem and had their game wrapped up by halftime, but for the boys they could not relax until less than five seconds left in the game.

The Bluejays got a career-high 15 points from junior TC Ellis as the Jays scored their third straight victory with a 53-49 win over Class 4A’s 10th ranked Harding Charter Prep.

Guthrie moves on to the semifinals and will play top-seeded Centennial, who defeated U.S. Grant 88-56 to stay unbeaten (8-0). The game is set for 5:30 p.m. and can be heard on Guthrie Sports Page.

Jalyn Morgan and Chris Hopkins added 10 points each in the four quarter battle.

Guthrie built their largest lead of eight points before Harding tied the game at 47-all. With less than a minute to play, senior Jaron Pryor found the right time to score his only bucket when he scored from the baseline to give the Jays a 49-47 lead. Following a timeout with 21 seconds, Harding missed a 3-point shot and was rebounded by Pryor, who was fouled and drilled both free throws with 4.8 seconds left to secure the win.

No problems for Lady Jays in blow-out win

Perhaps it was not projected, but a slow start could easily be seen for the Lady Jays, who last played a game 10 days ago. Following a 5-4 first quarter lead, Guthrie opened the game open while Southeast struggled to find points.

Freshmen guard Nakiya Stevenson sparked Guthrie off the bench to finish with 13 points as Guthrie ran away with a 45-18 win over Southeast.

Junior guard Aislin Ballard gave Guthrie the first quarter lead by scoring all five points, including two field goals.

Guthrie, who remains the only undefeated team in Class 5A, improves to 4-0 and advances to the semifinals and will take on former head coach Pete Papahronis and Edmond North (4 p.m.) Guthrie Sports Page. Edmond North had no issues with a 62-36 win over Northwest Classen.

Senior Micayla Haynes finished with a game high 16 points, including four straight field goals off of Southeast turnovers in the second quarter. The offensive spurt gave the Lady Jays a 19-8 halftime lead.