SKIATOOK FALLS SHORT TO GROVE, 51-49

The Ridgerunners got off to a slow start, only scoring eleven points in the first quarter. Skiatook held a 16-11 lead at the end of the first. At the half, Grove trailed the Bulldogs 30-23. The third quarter was when the Ridgerunners finally closed the lead. Skiatook was held to a mere five points during the quarter, which ended with a score of 33-35. Regulation ended on a 44-44 tie. Overtime resulted in seven points for Grove and only five for Skiatook, giving the Ridgerunners the two point win. "It's always good to win the first game of the season. It was on the road and a tough environment to play in. We didn't play our best, by any means, but we played hard and with good effort and when you do that, a lot of times you give yourself a chance to win, and that's what our guys did," said Grove head coach Zach Trimble. Senior Dillan Miller led scoring for Grove with 15 points, followed by Tommy Horton with 13 and Jeff Crawford with nine. For the Bulldogs, Gavin Jackson and Shae Garner led scoring with 15 each. Braiden Blackwell rounded out the top three with eight points. "I was really proud of their effort and battling through adversity and battling through not making shots that we normally make, that type of thing and somehow found a way to win," said Trimble. "We had been battling from behind the entire game and we had some momentum in the fourth quarter." Trimble says his team lost the momentum though, and the game ended in a tie. "We had guys step up, Zane Knox made an unbelievable bounce pass through the lane to Tommy [Horton] for the lead," said Trimble. Next Trimble drew up a play for Miller, who executed it to perfection to win the game. Grove will host Tahlequah on Friday, November 2. The Tigers are coming off of a 60-58 loss to Pryor. Tahlequah's leading scorers were seniors Clint Kelley and Daniel Hubbard, who scored 19 and 17, respectively. "They're a good team. They have a point guard that is one of the best that we're going to see. They play extremely hard, they mix it up on defense, so you have to be ready for a little bit of everything. They're going to get up and pressure you, to try to make you play at their pace," said Trimble. "We have to do a good job of handling that pressure and playing at the pace we want to. If we can do that I think we'll give ourselves a shot to win."

SKIATOOK FALLS SHORT TO GROVE, 51-49

Photo Credit: Bulldogs Athletics

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