The Weatherford Eagles basketball team finished third in the Weatherford Classic tournament.
Thursday, they beat Clinton 60- 49 Thursday, lost to Tuttle 66-43, but bounced back by beating John Marshall 68-63 Saturday in the third place game.
“Going into this tournament, we knew it would be tough to get some wins and winning two out of three was really good for our team,” coach Derrick Bull said. “This was a great opportunity to see where we are at right now. I am proud of our guys and am looking forward to keeping our season going.”
Weatherford 60, Clinton 49
The game was low scoring in the first quarter. Clinton slowed the game down with less than a minute left to play as Harrison Clumley held the ball. Weatherford forced an offensive foul, getting the ball back. Clinton was ahead 11-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Weatherford opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run and held Clinton scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter. Weatherford was ahead 16-13 with 4:07 left in the second quarter. Weatherford expanded its lead to six with a backdoor cut from Zach Reherman and an assisted pass by Keenan Musick. Carter Lee hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the second quarter and Weatherford was ahead 24-20 at halftime.
Weatherford built a twopossession lead and maintained it. A.J. Stevenson hit some big jump shots, scoring 6 points in the third quarter. Jennings hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, giving Weatherford a 38-30 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Jennings scored a fast break layup and a 3-pointer, giving Weatherford a 13-point advantage early in the fourth quarter at 43-30.
Clinton’s Atrel Bryson hit a 3-pointer, which sparked a Red Tornado 7-0 run to get it within nine for Clinton at 46-37 with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter. Jennings scored a fast-break layup to stop that run, making it 48-37 with a little more than five minutes left in the game.
Clinton went on a 5-0 run to make the score 48-42 with 3:55 left in the game. With 2:31 left in the game, the score was 50-44 and Jennings was fouled. He made both free throws, making the score 52-44. Clinton’s Jackson Crumley hit a 3-pointer, making it 52-47 with 2:10 left in the game.
Carter Lee hit a big layup, making the score 54-47 with 1:45 left in the game. Reherman scored a layup and had a big block on the other end. Weatherford closed the game on a 6-2 run with plays like Jennings getting fouled at the end of the game and making his foul shots. Weatherford won the game 60-49.
Jennings scored 23 points and Stevenson scored 14 points. Bull said they shot the ball well against Clinton.
“Cade and A.J. are streaky,” Bull said. “When they get it going, they hit shots. Those guys have great shooting abilities and it showed tonight.”
Bull said the key to beating Clinton this year was getting rebounds and keeping Kayden Powell from getting offensive rebounds.
“I thought we rebounded the ball really well,” Bull said. “We struggled with this last year when we played them. We kept Kayden Powell off the glass, which was a big key for us winning. It seemed like there were a few stretches when we turned it over and they got back into it. We stopped their runs at us, which was big and we made some plays when we needed it, which is what a senior led team should do.”
Tuttle 66, Weatherford 43
Kaden Vande from Tuttle hit two 3-pointers, making the score 6-0 one minute into the game. Weatherford got back in it with plays like Stevenson getting a rebound and putting it back up for 2 points. Tuttle hit some shots and ended the quarter on an 8-2 run and Tuttle was ahead 21-11 going into the second quarter.
The Tigers game to play and were ahead 25-11 with 5:59 left in the second quarter, but Musick hit a 3-pointer, making the score 25-14. Musick scored a layup to make it a 9-point game at 31-22. Tuttle closed the first half on a 4-0 run and the Tuttle was ahead 35- 22.
Weatherford trailed 38-27, but it went down to 8 points as Jennings scored a layup, was fouled and made his foul shot, making the score 38-30 with 4:11 left in the third quarter. Tuttle responded, going on an 8-0 run.
Jennings hit a 3-pointer to stop the run, but Weatherford trailed 46-33 with a little more than a minute left in the third quarter. Weatherford trailed Tuttle 46-33 going into the fourth quarter.
Tuttle expanded its lead in the fourth quarter and were ahead 56- 38 with 4:25 left in the ball game. The Tigers maintained the lead they worked so hard to build and won the game 66-43.
“A.J. has the best work ethic on our team,” Bull said. “He gives great effort every night and his hard work is paying off.”
Bull said Tuttle is hard to match up against because of their size and ability to shoot the 3 ball.
“This was a tough matchup for us,” Bull said. “Tuttle got off to a hot start and we did not. We could not overcome our start. There are lots of teams who cannot defend Tuttle and we tried to mix up our defense and mix up some things. We played some zone, but they are just a tough team to defend. We played hard tonight in spurts. We did some good things, but they are a tough team and hard to match up against.”
Weatherford 68, John Marshall 63
It was reigning points early as John Marshall hit back to back 3-pointers early. Cade Jennings scored the first 7 points for the Eagles, but John Marshall was ahead 11-9 midway through the first quarter. John Marshall went on a quick 8-0 run and was ahead, 19-9, with 2:22 left in the first quarter. Weatherford trailed 22-16 at the end of the first quarter, but Jennings scored 13 of those 16 points and he hit three 3-pointers for Weatherford.
John Marshall pressed most of the game and Bull said they just had to dribble around John Marshall when they pressed.
“To be honest, breaking their press was just basketball 101,” Bull said. “They crowded us and we were able to dribble around them. A.J. Stevenson, Cade and Garry Rose did a good job getting around their guys and breaking the press.”
The Eagles opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run with plays like Jennings, Lee and Reherman hitting 3-pointers, making the score 29-22 with a little less than three minutes left in the second quarter. John Marshall finally scored in the second quarter with 2:30 left in the second quarter.
John Marshall responded and closed the second quarter on an 11-6 run and the Eagles were ahead 35-33 at halftime. Weatherford forced five turnovers and Jennings scored 16 points. Reherman had 7 points and 5 rebounds.
The Eagles could not score in the third quarter, until midway through the third quarter. Garry Rose was fouled and made his layup, making the score 38-37. Rose also hit a 3-pointer to give Weatherford a 42-41 advantage with 3:06 left in the third quarter. Jennings scored 4 points in a row, giving Weatherford a 46-41 advantage. Reherman had two blocks, but one was called for a foul. Weatherford was ahead 50- 47 going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was a wild ride and Stevenson hit some shots to give Weatherford the advantage. Stevenson hit a 3- pointer to give Weatherford a 55-52 advantage with 5:15 left in the game. He also hit a 3-pointer to give Weatherford a 58-54 advantage with 4:15 left in the game and he hit a pull up jump shot to make it 60-54 with 3:57 left in the game.
John Marshall answered and hit a 3-pointer, making it 60-57 with 3 minutes left. John Marshall had to foul Weatherford to stop the game. Reherman was fouled and shot free throws with 1:15 left in the game. He made both, giving Weatherford a 62-57 advantage.
John Marshall scored and they fouled Jennings again. He made both shots, making the score 66- 60. John Marshall hit a 3-pointer, making it 66-63 with 14 seconds left.
Weatherford went to Jennings again and he scored both free throws, making it 68-63. Weatherford got a stop and won the game.
“Those were big free throws he made,” Bull said. “He is our best free throw shooter and A.J. is really close. When the game is tight and we have the lead, I want the ball to get into one of those two players’ hands. Cade stepped up tonight and knocked them down.”
Weatherford went 13-15 from the foul line and forced 9 turnovers. Jennings said Weatherford keeps getting better as the season goes on and they just need to find ways to keep winning games.
“We did a good job playing as a team,” Jennings said. “I was able to score points to give us a lead and we just have to keep getting better and winning basketball games.”
Bull said his team always makes plays, they have and will play hard on every single night and this is one of his most memorable wins at Weatherford.
“We had lots of guys step up,” Bull said. “We were a little shorthanded tonight and guys stepped up when we needed them to. We made plays and played really hard. This is one of our best wins as a team since I have been here.”
Bull said Jennings, Rose and Stevenson all played well and hit some big shots to keep them in the game. Jennings scored 22 points and Stevenson scored 15 points.
“I have lots of confidence in this team and those three players really stepped up Saturday,” Bull said. “They filled roles and all played well. I am really proud of them.”
Weatherford played against Chickasha Tuesday night and return to action, 8 p.m. Friday at Newcastle.
“I am glad we get to keep playing basketball,” Bull said. “We just have to guard on defense and shoot well and we will be alright.”