Coach Grant Bates
Boys Win Fourth Place In
Tournament At Lindsay
The Sulphur boys went 1-2 over the weekend in their return to action from Christmas break at the Charles K. Heatly Invitational in Lindsay, bringing home 4th place.
Sulphur (5-6) beat Dickson on Thursday 55-50 to advance to the semifinals, but fell to tournament host Lindsay 52-32 on Friday.
The Dogs lost in the 3rd place game 48-45 to No. 19 Pauls Valley, losing closely to the Panthers for the second time in the last month.
“We are still trying to find our way,” said Sulphur head coach Grant Bates. “We just need to execute a little better and more wins will start coming our way.”
The Dogs were at Tishomingo on Tuesday and will travel to Byng again this Friday.
Sulphur fell to Byng before Christmas, losing 60-50.
SULPHUR 55, DICKSON 50
The Dogs got a hard fought win to open the tournament on Thursday, as Sulphur held on to an early lead throughout the game.
Sulphur took the lead to start the game and never trailed, but the game remained close throughout the second half.
“It was a really physical game,” Bates said. “Dickson is like us they are pretty young. They played extremely hard and it was a battle the whole game.”
The Dogs led 14-7 after a quarter and 26-19 at half. Sulphur’s lead was cut to 41-37 heading to the 4th, where Dickson would get as close as two late.
Sulphur led just 52-50 late, but the Dogs held on, despite shooting just 33% from the floor and 10-of-25 (40%) from the free throw line.
“We found a way to win despite not shooting well, especially from the foul line,” Bates said.
Sulphur had a huge advantage on the glass, with 28 offensive rebounds and a 52-27 edge overall.
The Dogs also had a 18-9 edge in second chance points, but 22 Sulphur turnovers allowed the Comets to score 19 points and keep them in the game.
Devin Willis was outstanding, finishing with 24 points and 14 rebounds on 10-of-17 shooting.
Trace Todd had 12 points and eight rebounds in the win, while Bridge Barrett had 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
LINDSAY 52, SULPHUR 32
The Dogs got behind early in the semifinals and could never recover, losing to Lindsay on Friday.
Sulphur trailed 12-6 after a quarter and 31-12 at half. “Lindsay was a perfect storm,” Bates said. “We could not get anything going from the start. They executed their game plan and we were unable to make the adjustments to climb back in the game.”
Lindsay shot 45% from the field. while the Dogs made just 22% of their shots from the floor.
Sulphur was also just 6-of-32 (19%) from three. Lindsay had an advantage on the glass (40-26), in fastbreak points (8-0) and in paint scoring (26-10).
Briar Davenport had 11 points to lead the way for Sulphur. Willis had 10 points and six rebounds in the loss.
PAULS VALLEY 48, SULPHUR 45
Sulphur battled late in the 3rd place game on Saturday, but came up just a little short, falling to Pauls Valley for the second time this season.
The Dogs got off to a slow start, trailing 16-9 after the 1st, but battled back to take the lead.
Sulphur trailed 25-20 at half but led 34-33, thanks to a big 3rd quarter. Pauls Valley regained the lead in the early 4th, but Sulphur went back in front 40-39 midway through the final quarter.
However, that would be the last time the Dogs had the lead, as Pauls Valley made the plays down the stretch to pull it out.
“Pauls Valley is a ranked 4A team and we played hard,” Bates said. “We had the lead late in the game but were just unable to execute down the stretch.”
The Dogs were just 8-of-18 (45%) from the foul line in the loss. “Again, we did not shoot well from the foul line,” Bates said. Sulphur shot 38% from the floor and held Pauls Valley to just 33% shooting.
“I was proud of the response we had after coming off of one of our worst games of the year against Lindsay.That shows that these guys are competitors and that’s the first requirement to build a foundation on,” Bates said.
Barrett led the way with 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Willis had 13 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-11 from the floor.
