No. 7 Plainview’s state title run came to a halt Thursday.
Third-ranked Cascia Hall had three players score 15 points or more and put the clamps on Plainview’s inside game, winning 73-64 in the Class 3A quarterfinals at Moore High School. Cascia Hall will face No. 8 Hugo in today’s semifinal; Hugo beat No. 6 Mount St. Mary 53-49 on Thursday.
The Commandoes (22-5) outscored the Indians (25-4) in every quarter except the fourth, utilizing 3-2 and 1-3-1 zones to stall Plainview’s interior scoring and win the rebounding battle.
Cascia Hall held a 33-27 lead at halftime, finding 6-foot-10 post Bear Hawkins for 15 first-half points. He didn’t score in the second.
“We had trouble getting on track early,” Plainview coach Jeremy Stewart said. “We ran zone in first half and made the decision to switch to man-to-man, but they executed really well.”
Even without leading scorer Gary Inglett for much of the fourth quarter, the Indians clawed back. Inglett was held to 16 points and fouled out midway through the fourth, but the final period saw Plainview hit four of its nine 3-pointers and outscore the Commandoes 23-19.
The Indians crept to within six points with 2 minutes to go, but the Commandoes were composed, converting 12-of-18 from the free throw line to advance.
Ryan Wallace paced the Indians with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Harrison Sluice and Gage Stewart scored seven and six points, respectively.
The Indians will graduate eight seniors.
“Those guys had a lot of adversity all season long, on and off the court,” Stewart said of his seniors. “After losing to Holdenville the week before (in regionals), the guys showed a lot of guts in playing the three best games of our season.”
