Bring on No. 1.
No. 5 Tishomingo still has shot at a state championship and will meet Kansas tonight in a Class 3A semifinal.
Tish went on a 13-6 run in the fourth period to beat No. 9 Prague 31-27 Thursday in a 3A quarterfinal at Choctaw High School. The Indians (25-2) are in the semifinal round for the first time since 2003, when they lost to Kansas.
“It feels great to be up here,” Tish coach Boyd Houser said. “Really great to be playing (tonight).”
It also means Tish will play in Oklahoma City’s State Fair Arena, also known as “The Big House.”
Kansas (23-1) beat unranked Perry 57-31 on Thursday to advance. Perry upset No. 3 Bethel on Saturday to make the tourney.
The Indians had to win a defensive battle Thursday, having not scored more than seven points in a period until the fourth. Prague (23-3) led 10-7 through the first eight minutes, but didn’t score more than six in any of the other three frames.
“They played really good defense, and we played really good defense,” Houser said. “They held it quite a bit in the last minute, and we didn’t go out and pressure them. They ran their offense for a long time.”
As it did in the Area II championship against Bethel, Tish missed several short-range shots. The Red Devils’ defense, however, didn’t force the Indians into bad shots.
“We seemed to miss more tonight than we did against Bethel,” Houser said. “Hopefully, we’ll relax and play a little bit tonight.”
Lacey Dickerson scored 14 points and Brittney Treas 13 to lead the Indians. Treas hit two free throws late to make it a two-possession margin.
Hillary Dixon was Prague’s only double-digit scorer with 14 points.
