For the second year in a row, Oak Grove’s basketball teams are Lamar County Tournament champs. The Lady Warriors and Warriors cruised past Lumberton Tuesday night in their respective championship games.
Oak Grove Lady Warriors 56, Lumberton 17
The Lady Warriors made quick work of the Lady Panthers, racing out to a 16-0 lead late in Tuesday’s first quarter. And from start to finish, Oak Grove’s defense shined as they held Lumberton, who scored 19 in a single quarter the day prior against Sumrall, to just 17 points.
“We just moved our feet pretty good and made some plays,” Oak Grove head coach Mark Swindle said. “Just glad to get the win.”
Offensively, Swindle’s Lady Warriors were led by Alesha Temple (15 points) and Jazmin Grayson (13 points).
“She’s real special,” Swindle said of the 6-foot-1 Temple. “Great length.”
As for Grayson?
“She came in and just fits real well with what we’re doing,” Swindle added. “She can really shoot the ball.”
Oak Grove, playing without star point guard Lekera Hughes, improved to 8-3 with the win.
“I’m really proud of what we’re doing so far. We’ve got a lot of work left to do, but the team chemistry is getting better,” Swindle said. “Without Lekera, we’re trying to patch it together, and it’s starting to come together.”
“We’re going to surprise some people. Really excited about the rest of the season.”
Oak Grove Warriors 80, Lumberton 46
Lumberton kept it close in the first half, but Oak Grove was just too much in the second, outscoring the Panthers 42-17 in the period.
Oak Grove got things cooking to start the third quarter as they opened on a 10-2 scoring run in pushing their lead to 48-31. It only got bigger the rest of the way.
“I think it was all because of our defense,” Oak Grove head coach LaRon Brumfield said. “We really played hard on defense, and that’s what we’ve got to do, because we’re so small. We’ve got to play hard on the defensive end of the court. Your defense turns into offense, and that’s what we did. Had a good third quarter.”
Brumfield’s Warriors, who improved to 7-3 with the win, were led by Noah Harris’ 14 points. Their other big man, Jeric Franklin, added 6. Both players made the All-Tournament team.
“We’ve really been working hard and focusing during practice on that, because we know we do not have a lot of depth at that position,” Brumfield said. “We know they’ve got to play tough. It just showed up tonight. I tell ya what, they were strong around the basket. They were huge.”
