The Calera girls finished the second weekend of basketball playoff competition as Class 2A regional runner-up while the boys weren’t able to survive the tournament loser’s bracket.
Sixteenth-ranked Colbert boys did advance however, winning a pair of regional contests following an initial loss to powerful Hartshorne.
The Lady Bulldogs ran into a buzz saw in their regional finals matchup against eighth-ranked Howe, dropping a 67-39 verdict in Wilburton. Calera’s boys, meanwhile, saw their season come to an end as Wilburton scored on a conventional three-point play in the closing seconds for a 43-42 decision in the elimination round.
Colbert rebounded from that regional- opening defeat with a second straight victory in the loser’s bracket, dispatching Tushka by a 53-33 count.
Calera girls
Blasting Christian Heritage 58-16 got the Lady Bulldogs to the regional title matchup.
It was only an 8-5 Calera lead through one period before they began to pour it on with at least 15 points in each of the final three stanzas.
Carlaysia Brown poured in 23 points as the Lady Bulldog catalyst, pumping in 14 in the middle two quarters.
Taylynn Conder posted 12, Emma Daniel had 10, Taibree Melton scored seven and Amariah McLaughlin tossed in six.
Things didn’t go nearly as well against Howe with Calera getting off to a cold start and trailing 20-6 after one period. It wasn’t much better for the Lady Bulldogs after that as they were outscored in each stanza.
Conder led the scoring with 14 points. Brown and Daniel contributed nine points each, Melton had five with Jeslyn O’Dell checking in with two.
Calera boys
The Bulldogs survived an elimination contest Saturday, outlasting Howe 39-35 to reach the consolation finale on Monday.
Calera snagged a 13-11 lead in the opening stanza facing Howe but never could extend the advantage much as it was a nip-and-tuck affair throughout. The Bulldogs were up 2018 at halftime and 27-26 heading into the fourth and held on from there.
Zaiden Craige provided 14 points to lead the offensive way with Logan Bumgarner reaching double digits with 12. Talon Rose and Lex Carlton scored six apiece with Nate Ford chipping in one point.
In the Wilburton matchup, it was much the same type of contest as neither team could sustain much of a run offensively.
Calera was up 8-6 after the first but Wilburton went in front 16-15 at the half. The contest was tied at 27 through three stanzas.
It appeared Gavin Chaffin’s three pointer with just over 10 seconds remaining might be the game winner, but the Diggers answered by posting the decisive three-point play in the waning seconds.
Craige pumped in a team-high 15 points for the Bulldogs. Chaffin and Carlton contributed nine apiece, Bumgarner tallied five, Rose had three and Eason Humphers finished with one point.
Colbert boys
The Leopards staved off elimination and advanced to the area playoff round with a strong second half performance.
Colbert was in front 14-8 through one stanza but saw its lead cut to 2320 at intermission. A 13-6 burst by the Leopards extended the margin to double figures in the third frame and they pulled away in the final period with a 17-7 flurry to eliminate the Tigers.
Kyle Peebles drilled three treys on the way to a team-leading 19 points. Tucker Shields caught fire from outside with four three pointers for all of his 12-point total.
Chasien Simes pitched in nine, Adrian Clement had seven with Fernando Arellano and Alex Stogner both adding a trey.